Our room has been bursting with new and advanced vocabulary words lately. Students have been challenged to apply all the recent words we have learned from our last read aloud, Bunnicula.
During each reading, we would stop, predict, and search for clues for those unknown words. This skill is VITAL in their vocabulary development as well as reading comprehension. As students reach higher reading levels, it is up to them to stop and decide the meaning of unknown words. Often, students will read right over them and keep on going. As a result, they end up missing part of the story or this affects their comprehension of the plot.
Each day as we read, we'd make sure to signal if we heard a word we weren't sure on. They learned the fact that not knowing what a word means does NOT mean you have to be embarrassed. There should be about 2-3 unknown words per page if the book they are reading is a 'just right' book.
A common game we have started to play is called, "I have.....who has?" During this game, students are given a card with a vocabulary word on each side. A student first describes the word. Another child in the class has that match and says, "I have..."and then they say the word. Next, they flip their card and ask, "Who has the word that means...." and describe the other word.
For example, if I had a card that had the word "tranquil" and "obliged". I would respond when someone asked, "Who has the word that means peaceful?" I would respond, "I have tranquil. Who has the word that means thankful?" Finally, the child who had obliged would answer, "I have obliged. Who has...and so on and so on. The students LOVE getting active practice seeing, applying, and forming clues with these words. Check the newsletter weekly for the new words we are learning and play some, "Who has..... I have" yourself!
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