![]() ![]() We will define the root and the affix and we will brainstorm other words with the same root and/or affix. We will break the word apart and identify the root and the affix. Each Wednesday, I give my students a “wow word.” It is just a word that has either a prefix or a suffix. Students need to practice using word parts to determine the meanings of new words. ![]() On Wednesdays, we actually take a break from the discussion of our weekly words. Since I have taught them to be respectful, these debates really just deepen their word understanding. Sometimes the kids will start debating a bit about which synonym or antonym we should choose to record. Students start to see that the best synonyms are the same part of speech and tense as the original word. We have conversations about parts of speech and verb tenses. Tuesday is really all about talking about words and why they are or are not good examples. I also like to throw in some unique or fancy antonyms and synonyms from time to time. ![]() The examples and non-examples help to make the new vocabulary words more concrete for my students. This process has really helped my students to expand their vocabulary and understand multiple meaning words. As a class, we come up with two synonyms and two antonyms (or non-examples) for each of our words. On Tuesday we spend another 10 minutes on our meaningful vocabulary. It is not enough to just talk about the words on Monday. This helps my students to practice using the proper tenses, meanings and sentence writing. Sometimes I give the the students the definition and part of speech and then ask students to try and use the word in a sentence.This helps my students to practice context clues and inference. After getting some student responses, I write the correct definition on the board and discuss the clues in the sentence that would help you to determine that meaning. I ask students to use context clues to determine possible meanings. I give the students a sentence with the word in the sentence.I introduce words one of two different ways. Our vocabulary time is dedicated solely to words that will increase my students’ reading comprehension, writing and language skills. I do teach tier 3 (math and science words), but I usually teach those during units of study in those particular subjects. I have chosen tier 2 words that third graders are most likely to see in literature. On Mondays I introduce five new words for the week. ![]() Here is a look at my week of meaningful vocabulary lessons: Monday: After lots of brainstorming and trial and error, I finally have a vocabulary system that works, is easy to implement and that gets my students excited about word study. I loved all of her ideas, but I needed to make the entire process simple and manageable in my busy classroom. My very favorite resource is the book Word Nerds. So I did lots of research! I read blog posts and books about vocabulary and word acquisition. I knew that if I was going to make vocabulary meaningful for my students I was going to have to start from scratch with my own words, lessons, activities and assessments. It was terrible, but it was the only resource that the curriculum provided. Also, the words from the basal rarely ever appeared in other literature that we were reading. The kids passed the tests, but never truly learned the words. I would tell them what they meant on Monday and then give them a multiple choice test on Friday. I struggled with how to teach it and when to squeeze it into an already packed schedule.Įarly in my teaching, I would assign the five words from the weekly anthology story. Figuring out how to teach meaningful vocabulary lessons was another. They key to improving all of these things is meaningful vocabulary lessons.īut knowing I needed better vocabulary lessons was one thing. And when it comes time for standardized testing they often struggle with understanding what is being asked of them because of the tier two words that can be found in the questions. Their writing can be very drab because of their limited word choice. They struggle with reading comprehension because of their limited understanding of words. Every year I am shocked by my students’ underdeveloped vocabulary. ![]()
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