Race to the Magic Mountain: word detectives

Word detectives Race to the Magic Mountain

Six manuscript-checked words. Look up each printed page in your own copy; a proof or another edition may have different pagination.

1. gripped - printed page 2: reread its sentence and the picture. What clue helps?
2. rare - printed page 5: reread its sentence and the picture. What clue helps?
3. protection - printed page 11: reread its sentence and the picture. What clue helps?
4. permission - printed page 20: reread its sentence and the picture. What clue helps?
5. statue - printed page 46: reread its sentence and the picture. What clue helps?
6. vibrated - printed page 57: reread its sentence and the picture. What clue helps?

Choose one word. My first idea and my context clue ...

Use the word in a new sentence ...

Three words; three clues

Use three of the six checked words or choose others from your copy. Record a page, a clue and a meaning checked with an adult or dictionary.

A meaning I revised after checking ...

Teacher notes Suggested meanings

1. gripped: held firmly (printed p. 2).
2. rare: not often found (printed p. 5).
3. protection: keeping someone or something safe (printed p. 11).
4. permission: agreement that someone may do something (printed p. 20).
5. statue: a shaped figure of a person or animal (printed p. 46).
6. vibrated: moved quickly back and forth (printed p. 57).

Support and stretch

Read the whole sentence aloud. Model a tentative meaning, check it in context and then consult a dictionary. Accept equivalent meanings. Stretch: choose a different meaning of the same word and explain why it does not fit here.

Teaching links

Suggested England KS2 English vocabulary in context; US L.2.4a and L.2.4e, adapted to reading development. Printed references were checked against the supplied interior, not every edition.