Activity 1: Exercise #3c, page 58
creech- a quiet movement
droogs- a scary creature
glazzies- a structure made of ice
goloss- look at slowly
malenky- something described as being bad
messel- a small bump
millicents- unimportant things
poogly- goofy or awkward
razrez- eccentric or over-the-top
skorry- blurry
spatted- completed quickly
zoobies- ghost figures
When choosing meaning for these words, I found myself using one of two strategies. The first strategy was that I chose the meaning of the word based on the part of speech I believe that it is. I determined this by using the word endings to help me. The second strategy I used was basing these meanings off words that I already know and have similar letters, sounds, or chunks of the word. These were the two best ways I could think of to make sense out of these nonsensical words.
"A Clockwork Orange" Meanings
droogs- friends or people you hang out with
goloss- voice (was used when talking about a singer)
creech- scream or yell (used when a man was obviously afraid and fearful)
poogly- scared or afraid (used when the boys were harassing the teacher)
razrez- rip, tear or destroy (what the boys did to the teacher's belongings)
zoobies- teeth (described when the boys ripped them out of the man's mouth)
I was able to determine the meanings of these words by using clues in the context. However, many of these words took several tries for me to get before finally deciding on a meaning that I thought was best. I was only able to partly knew words that I already knew to help me since the text contained so many other words I was not familiar with in addition to these.
Activity 2: Exercise 7, page 85
- I did not try to read the words letter by letter.
- I instead tried to read the word by chunking them into syllables. I tried to use syllables that I already knew as best I could.
- I did try to read some of these words using all of the letters all at once. When I went back, I noticed that this often made me miss syllable chunks because I moved too quickly.
- I do not immediately know the meanings of any of these words. I think if I studied them for a bit I might be able to determine some meaning using root words. Pulling on prior knowledge might jog my memory as well. Also, seeing the words in context would be helpful, too. The words I would feel the most confident about would be- sycophant, submandibular and demesne.
- Yes, pronouncing the words helped me gain some insight into the meanings of these words. I was able to use my memory to recall where I had heard these words before and the context they were used in. I still would not be totally confident giving a full meaning for any of them.
- When I encounter unknown words in normal reading, I have several strategies that I turn to in order to help me. One of these is reading the word again carefully, using the context it is being used in. I also pull from my prior knowledge to see if I have read or heard it previously. Sometimes I even find myself skipping it and seeing what word would most make sense in its place and coming to a meaning that way. Lastly, in today's world of technology I am often able to highlight a word if I am reading it on a screen and my device will link me to the definition of the word. This is such a convenience in today's society.
- I think this experiment should show us that students are inevitably going to run into words that they are not familiar with. However, instead of letting it go unaddressed or telling them the meaning right away, we should give them some time to think and try to figure it out for themselves. However, they cannot do this unless they are equipped with the strategies to do so. Therefore, it is our jobs to instruct them on how to use their prior knowledge, pull from their schema, use the context (or pictures if they are available), or skip and come back. If they feel confident about their abilities to use these strategies, hopefully they will come to a meaning more often than not. This experiment also showed me that word meanings are much harder to come by when they are in isolation. Therefore, we should give students opportunities to read interesting texts where they will find words that challenge them and ask them to work on finding the meaning themselves.
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