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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...
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Introduce Vocabulary: Ruby the Copycat (Rathmann)
Have your scholars ever known someone who was a copycat? Approach this issue as you study vocabulary in context by reading Peggy Rathmann's book Ruby the Copycat. Proposed focus words are: recite, murmur,...
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Introduce Vocabulary: Smoky Night (Bunting)
Experience the Los Angeles Riots through the eyes of a child in Even Bunting's poignant story Smoky Night. Use this text as you teach vocabulary in context, using comprehension questions to help scholars make connections to outside...
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Introduce Vocabulary: Some Birthday! (Polacco)
Patricia Polacco weaves an engaging tale for budding readers in her book Some Birthday!, an excellent resource for vocabulary in context. You can use this text to introduce the following words: investigate, snarl, and squawk....
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Introduce Vocabulary: Sorting (Pluckrose)
Find guidance to introduce math vocabulary in context using Henry Pluckrose's book Sorting. This text is an excellent cross-curricular resource for budding readers. Before starting, review some new vocabulary words: collect, common,...
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Hatchet: Vocabulary Strategy
Want your class to use critical thinking when discussing vocabulary? Go beyond the dictionary with a vocabulary activity based on Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. Kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer that also provides...
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Introduce Vocabulary: Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (Raschka)
Get in touch with Charlie Parker's jazz beats as learners explore new words in Chris Raschka's onomatopoeic book Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. Scholars are acquainted with some musical terminology before they hear these terms in the...
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Introducing Vocabulary: Christopher Columbus (Weinberger)
The story of Christopher Columbus has fascinated young historians for centuries; use this vocabulary-in-context strategy to dive into Kimberly Weinberger's picture book about this classic explorer. Begin by introducing the new words:...
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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,...
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Introduce Vocabulary: I Am Planet Earth (Marzollo)
Explore the world's beauty with Jean Marzollo's colorful book I Am Planet Earth, the context of a vocabulary study focused on the following in-text words: globe, jungle, paddy, planet, and valley. Discuss the...
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Introduce Vocabulary: My School's a Zoo (Smith)
Your classroom may feel like a zoo sometimes, but it's nothing like this! Stu Smith's book My School's a Zoo is an excellent way to introduce some fun vocabulary words in context, and it's available on YouTube in case...
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Much Ado About Nothing: Bloom's Taxonomy Questioning Strategy
Do your class members’ questions lack depth? “Sigh no more . . .sigh no more.” Use a questioning strategy based on Bloom’s taxonomy to encourage readers to create questions that probe the themes of any text. The model discussion...
Vocabulary A-Z
5-Day Vocabulary Teaching Plan
Reinforce important reading skills with a set of vocabulary lesson plans. Middle schoolers complete sentences, play word games, finish analogies, and build their growing vocabulary with a packet of helpful and applicable graphic organizers.
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Commas 101: The Basics
Clear up common questions about commas with this handy resource! Useful as a reference page as well as a grammar activity, it presents six different rules for comma usage, including fanboys, lists, and parenthetical words and phrases. A...
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Home Living / Daily Living: Safety Terms
Being able to recognize safety signs in your environment is a great start to staying safe. Kids with severe to moderate disabilities work to recognize and identify safety terms and signs. They use flashcards and decreasing prompts to...
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Fill-In: Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj is a pop and fashion icon to today's youth. Here, they will read an article about her and what she wore to the MTV Music Awards. They read the article, then attempt to fill in the missing words from several of the paragraphs....