Table Of ContentQuick Activities to Build a Very
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s by LeAnn Nickelsen
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• • • •
N E W Y O R K T O R O N T O L O N D O N A U C K L A N D S Y D N E Y
• •
M E X I C O C I T Y N E W D E L H I H O N G K O N G
Thank you to:
: Grapevine-Colleyville ISD in Texas for providing the resources and classes
that were needed to write this book.
: Dr.McWhorter,my professor,and Anne Simpson,our district’s Language
Arts Coordinator,for providing ideas,resources,and editing.
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es Karen and Russ Biggs for their computer help! You computer geniuses!
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e : Dove Elementary staff for their ideas,resources,and encouragement.You’re
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Le II
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b dedicate this book to my parents,Jim and Dolores Heim,
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s V who encouraged me to be a teacher and to my helpful,loving,
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min encouraging,giving husband,Joel,who kept up with all of my other
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Ver I could not have done it without you all.I love you!
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Scholastic Inc.grants teachers permission to photocopy the designated reproducible pages from this book for classroom use.No
other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part,or stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or
by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,without written permission of the publisher.For
information regarding permission,write to Scholastic,Inc.,555 Broadway,New York,NY 10012.
Cover design by Jaime Lucero and Vincent Ceci
Interior design by Kathy Massaro
ISBN 0-590-22179-5
Copyright © 1998 by LeAnn Nickelsen
Contents
Introduction ...................................................................... 4 Important Books .......................................................... 37
Vocabulary Plays........................................................ 37
Acronyms, Eponyms,
P A R T 1
and Other Wacky Words.................................. 38
Integrating Vocabulary Instruction Into Super Sentences.......................................................... 39
Your Reading Program Word Contrasts............................................................ 40
Story Hierarchy............................................................ 40
es Pre-Reading and Post-Reading Activities .... 7
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es Reading Roles: Vocabulary Enricher...................... 7 P A R T 4
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ng Teaching Students to Use Context Clues.............. 8 Vocabulary Graphic Organizers
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ac Cloze Activity................................................................ 10
c Te Word Wonder.............................................................. 11 Visual Tools to Learn New Words.................. 44
olasti Vocabulary Inventory................................................ 11 Word Connection Webs.......................................... 44
Sch Connect Two ................................................................ 12 Concept Map................................................................ 45
sen, Predict-o-Gram.............................................................. 12 Noun Web .................................................................... 45
ckel Word Study .................................................................. 13 Hierarchy Word Web................................................ 46
n Ni Flagging New Words................................................ 13 Word Venn Diagram.................................................. 46
eAn Vocabulary Journals .................................................. 14 Create a Unit Web .................................................... 47
© L Guess and Check Chart .......................................... 14
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oc Reviewing Vocabulary Words
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s Learning New Vocabulary
ou Games and Activities To Help Students
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mi Understanding New Words and Remember New Words........................................ 51
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ol Building Vocabulary .............................................. 21
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y Word Files...................................................................... 51
Ver Synonym Webs............................................................ 21 Word Walls .................................................................. 52
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o Build SWeonrtedn Pcyer aSmtairdte..r.s................................................................................................................... 2222 VocOafbf uLliamriyts G...a..m....e..s........................................................................................................... 5533
es t Facts and Feelings Pyramid.................................... 23 What’s Missing?.................................................... 54
k Activiti CPrheafinxg ainngd PSaurftfsix o Wf Sepbese.c..h............................................................................... 2234 HLooompoinngy mG aTamge................................................................................................................ 5544
uic Easy Category Review.............................................. 24 Name That Word.................................................. 55
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Vocabulary Cube........................................................ 25 Word Tic-Tac-Toe.................................................... 56
Relationship Chart...................................................... 26 Vocabulary Concentration ................................ 56
Synonym Wheels........................................................ 26 Wordo Bingo.......................................................... 57
Synonym Gradient...................................................... 27 Tell Me About Myself .......................................... 57
Creating Analogies.................................................... 27 Sentence Sense...................................................... 58
Puzzle Charades.................................................... 58
P A R T 3 Crossword Puzzles................................................ 58
Writing With Vocabulary Words
Homonyms...................................................................... 61
Activities to Put New Words to Work.......... 36 50 Common Affixes & Roots.................................... 62
Bibliography.................................................................. 64
Word Stories ................................................................ 36
Amazing Alliteration.................................................. 37
Introduction
Why Is Teaching Vocabulary Important?
In my classroom,I have noticed students having great difficulty
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n, such as satellite and orbit.Beyond these words,students need to grasp the
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nn In addition to contributing to reading comprehension,developing students’
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y on standardized tests,and teach specific concepts in content areas.
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Buil W hen I discovered that vocabulary was crucial to reading
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Acti vocabulary instruction increases comprehension.As William Nagy states in
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vocabulary instruction is not very effective at producing substantial gains in
overall vocabulary size or in reading comprehension.”Nagy goes on to say:
“It appears that the following are attributes which can make vocabulary
instruction effective at increasing reading comprehension:multiple exposures
to words,exposure to words in meaningful contexts,rich or varied
information about each word,establishment of ties between words and
students’own experience and prior knowledge,and an active role by students
in the word-learning process.”
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According to research there are three key components to effective vocabulary
instruction:integration,repetition, and meaningful use. Instruction that
combines these elements is the most effective method of improving
vocabulary.
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Integration:The first element of effective vocabulary instruction is
connecting new vocabulary words to each other,to the curriculum,and
to students’prior knowledge.Students are better able to learn and
remember sets of words that are connected by theme or subject than
an unorganized list of words.
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© L Organizing Classroom Time to Include
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no If you’re like me,you want to know the best way to organize or manage
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Buil gained in a variety of ways.Here are my strategies for vocabulary instruction.
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use context clues to identify unknown words.
Students’vocabulary grows tremendously when they read
independently and when they hear stories and novels read aloud.To
make this exposure to new words as beneficial as possible,I teach
students to use context clues to discern the meaning of unknown
words.In Part 1 of this book,you’ll find a lesson plan for teaching
students to interpret context clues,as well as other strategies students
can use when they encounter new words.
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Develop vocabulary lists from the novels and texts you will be reading in class.
I choose all vocabulary for instruction from novels,textbooks,and
curriculum themes that we will be studying in class.As I plan a unit or
start a new book,I select twenty to thirty vocabulary words that students
will need to know to understand a new unit or text.This improves
students’reading comprehension and,since they will encounter the words
throughout a unit,also helps them remember the words.
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© opportunity to study new words, learn vocabulary strategies, and put new
ary words to use.
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ery difficult,abstract words for a 5th grader to comprehend and a targeted
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a lesson can create a fuller,richer understanding of these vocabulary
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Graphic organizers are an effective way to get students to think about
a word in new and different ways and to organize their thinking.
You’ll find ideas for graphic organizers in Part 4.
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Spend time reviewing vocabulary words.
Research has shown that in addition to learning words in context,
students must be repeatedly exposed to words to truly retain them.In
Part 5,I’ve included games and other activities to give you and your
students many different ways to review vocabulary words.
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P A R T 1
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Integrating Vocabulary
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I have incorporated vocabulary instruction into both whole class reading
instruction and small reading groups.I schedule a two-hour period for
reading.For the first 20 minutes,I teach a whole class lesson.I use this time
to teach vocabulary mini-lessons,to review context clues strategies,or to
pre-teach new vocabulary words to students.
After the whole class lesson,students meet in small reading groups.Each
student in the group is assigned one of the reading roles listed below,with
one student responsible for new words.I frequently assign new roles,so
everyone has a chance to play every role.
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Literary Luminary: Identifies two passages in the text to discuss or
read aloud.The passages might be funny,exciting,or confusing,or it
might include examples of literary devices such as similes or
metaphors.
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Discussion Director: Prepares five questions about the assigned
reading.The questions need to be more than simply “what”questions.
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Summary Sleuth: Writes a brief summary of the text including the
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standardized test scores in reading improve greatly.
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Day 1: Riddle Clues
OBJECTIVE: Students find clues that help them solve a word riddle.
WWhat ttoo Do
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Read the following riddle aloud and ask students to guess what the
answer is:
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Acti 1. Begin by having students share the riddles they have collected.As you
ck solve the riddles in class,discuss with students how the clues in each
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2.
Explain to students that context clues,like the clues in a riddle,are the
clues in the text that can help them understand an unknown word.
3.
Put the first sample passage from the Context Clues reproducible
(page 16) on the overhead or hand out copies of the page.
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Ask students to read the passage and underline the unknown words.
(The word sandwich has been replaced with wertbet)
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Next,ask students to look for clues in the text that help reveal the
meaning of the word.
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6.
Using the clues they have identified,ask students to predict the meaning of
the word.
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Repeat the same procedure with the remaining passages.The mystery
words in the second and third passages are computer and apples,
respectively.The fourth passage features real words,pachyderms,foliage,
and prehensile,for students to work with.
F o l l o w - U p A c t i v i t y
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nn around the word.
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s Review the steps you take to find context clues in a reading passage.
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olu Ask students to look through the dictionary to find an unknown word.
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To give students additional practice,you might create additional passages for
students to work on independently.
Cloze Activity
OBJECTIVE: To determine their background knowledge about a particular
subject, students fill in missing words in a reading passage.
GROUPING: Individual
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