Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (Hatkoff & Kahumbu)
The heartfelt true story of Owen the hippopotamus and Mzee the 133-year-old tortoise will have budding readers engaged as they practice vocabulary in the context of Isabella Hatkoff's nonfiction story. Although you could include more,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Red Riding Hood (Marshall)
It's the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood retold by James Marshall; scholars listen for six new words as you read: bouquet, charming, escort, horrid, tarry, and wicked. Introduce the words before reading so they can listen for...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Fancy Nancy (O'Connor)
Get fancy with Jane O'Connor's story Fancy Nancy as scholars learn some elegant new words in context: accessories, chauffeur, plume, stupendous, and tiara. After introducing these new terms (do any scholars already know them?), encourage...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Have You Seen Bugs? (Oppenheim)
Are your scholars interested in bugs? Get future entomologists excited about vocabulary through Joanne Oppenheim's colorful book Have You Seen Bugs? They use the informational text (although this strategy is useful for any book) to learn...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Miss Bindergarten Stays Home (Slate)
What is Miss Bindergarten up to now? Joseph Slate's story Miss Bindergarten Stays Home is an excellent resource for budding readers to practice five vocabulary words in context: advise, lesson, lovely, strum, and substitute. As they...
Curated OER
Introduce vocabulary: Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse (Lionni)
Provide access to new vocabulary words (envy and mysteriously) in context as emerging readers listen to Leo Lionni's Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. Explain these terms before reading the story aloud and help kids utilize context clues...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Clifford's Family (Bridwell)
Do you know Clifford, the big, red dog? Clifford takes an adventure to see his family, and young readers join him to learn some new vocabulary in context! Before reading, introduce the four new words: city, county,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story (Peters)
Lisa Peters presents macroevolution as a large-scale family tree in her book Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story. She suggests the process from single-celled organisms to modern-day humans, and learners explore new vocabulary through the...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Over in the Meadow (Keats)
If you're reading the classic story Over in the Meadow, consider this strategy to cover vocabulary in context with budding readers. After a brief introduction, listeners raise a hand when they hear each word (bask, burrowed, and cawed)...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: A Picture Book of Helen Keller (Adler)
The story of Helen Keller is a fascinating one for young scholars; use it to practice reading comprehension and new vocabulary as learners listen to you read David Adler's picture book (hint: this strategy can be applied to any book)....
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Cross a Bridge (Hunter)
What does suspension mean? Learn this and other bridge-related vocabulary as scholars listen to Ryan Ann Hunter's nonfiction book, Cross a Bridge. This strategy can be applied to any book. Before reading, acquaint pupils with the new...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Animal Action ABC
Explore the meanings of tier two vocabulary words. In small groups, young learners listen to a read-aloud story and evaluate new vocabulary words for their meaning.
Curated OER
Introduce: Cause and Effect
Introduce beginning readers to cause and effect in a story by exploring it together. Learners make predictions about a book based on its cover, title, and a brief flip through the pages. They listen to an explanation of cause and effect...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Animal Tracks (Dorros)
What kind of animal made those tracks? Explore some wild vocabulary in context as learners listen to Arthur Dorros' book, Animal Tracks. Before your read this, introduce the new words like bother, dam, reed,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Gregory, the Terrible Eater (Sharmat)
Help budding readers learn words like develop and revolting as they listen to you read Mitchell Sharmant's Gregory, the Terrible Eater. Get the new vocabulary rolling before reading it aloud so youngsters can raise a hand when they hear...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Make Way for Ducklings (McCloskey)
Use the Caldecott Award-winning book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (which can be found on YouTube if you don't have it) to guide budding readers through vocabulary in context. Although the instruction here is limited to the...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Miss Spider's Tea Party (Kirk)
Learning new vocabulary words is best done in the context of an engaging story like David Kirk's Miss Spider's Tea Party. New readers (or almost-readers) focus on any of 12 new words: conceal, courtesy, demand, descend, dread, fragile,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Swimmy (Lionni)
Learn the importance of leadership as you explore vocabulary in context through Leo Lionni's book Swimmy, which can be found on YouTube in case you don't have it. This text includes some excellent vocabulary words for young readers,...
Curated OER
Salinger and the Vocabulary of the Vernacular
Writers explore vocabulary and expressions used in the English language. They use visual word maps to become aware of the different uses of words which will allow them to more readily interpret texts. Then they listen to/read excerpts...
Curated OER
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Explore storyboards with your pre-reader using the familiar story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." They look at pictures as you read the captions in a comic book style. At the end, they try to finish the story based on a resolution...
Curated OER
Context Clues
Work on context clues with your ninth graders in this lesson, which focuses on identifying and analyzing clues to define unfamiliar words. They identify context clues in a passage to recognize words they haven't seen before, and then...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: I Hate To Be Sick
Engaged in a read aloud, kids use the story to define new vocabulary words, raising their hands when they hear new words in the story. Additionally, individuals refer to the text to show how the word was used in context. Vocabulary words...
Achieve3000
Context Clues and Idioms
Kids practice using five types of context clues (definition, synonym, antonym, example, and general) to decode idiomatic language.
Scholastic
Frindle Lesson Plan
"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this lesson allows children to invent their own terms for common classroom objects,...