---
title: "Knowing What You Don't Know"
description: "Monitor your own vocabulary gaps — notice words you half-know, distinguish confident from uncertain knowledge, and develop strategies to resolve the uncertainty"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/knowing-what-you-dont-know-mt_LH714Riydn
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/knowing-what-you-dont-know-mt_LH714Riydn.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Knowing What You Don't Know

Monitor your own vocabulary gaps — notice words you half-know, distinguish confident from uncertain knowledge, and develop strategies to resolve the uncertainty

Subject: English · Area: English Thinking · Ages 8 to 10
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/knowing-what-you-dont-know-mt_LH714Riydn

## Ready when they can

- Noticing Unfamiliar Words Assessment research (grade 2+)
- word consciousness and vocabulary metacognition research
- Building Word Knowledge e-Book (PMC 2019)

## Lesson: Spotting the words you sort-of know

Some words you know for sure. Some words you have never seen before. But there is a tricky middle group: words you sort of know. You can guess at them, but you are not fully sure. Seeing it often is not knowing it. Knowing is using it and telling a friend. Spotting those middle words helps you use the right word when you talk and write.

*(drawing: Words fall into three groups. The middle one, sort of, is the one to watch for.)*

**Example.** Maya reads: 'The cave was pitch dark.' She thinks pitch might mean very, but she is not fully sure. She notices that fuzzy feeling and stops. She checks a dictionary and finds out she guessed right. If no book is near, she could ask someone or reread the lines for clues.

**Example.** Ben reads the same sentence. He also feels unsure about pitch, but he just keeps reading. Later he uses the word wrong, because he never checked his guess.

**Tip.** When a word gives you that fuzzy, not-quite-sure feeling, that is your signal. Pause and check it: look it up, ask someone, or reread the sentence for more clues.

**Recap.** Notice the fuzzy, sort-of-sure feeling about a word, then pause and check it instead of guessing and moving on.

## Practice

24 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Inference vs Explicit Meaning](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/inference-vs-explicit-meaning-mt_lp3qyEujIv)
- [Analysing your own errors](https://lightmysky.com/learn/learning-to-learn/analysing-your-own-errors-mt_TDUpy57QVM)

## Opens up

- [Reading a whole story in a new language](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/reading-a-whole-story-in-a-new-language-mt__TM_JDJS1F)
- [Cognates and False Friends](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/cognates-and-false-friends-mt_5UdrDnwYCD)
- [Reflecting on Your Language Use](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/reflecting-on-your-language-use-mt_haNr13NIuN)