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Posts Tagged ‘context clues’

Vocabulary Review Baseball Game

Baseball vocabulary review? Of course! Easy to set up, increases motivation to practice, and gets the kids up and moving. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone.

Materials

Flashcards with terms on front and definitions on back. The teacher creates vocabulary, literary terms, poetic devices, or? flashcards with terms on front and definitions or examples on back. On the definitions or examples sides of the cards, the teacher labels each according to levels of difficulty: S for a single, D for a double, T for a triple, or H for a home run. Hint: Have many more singles cards than the others.

Build It and They Will Come

Set up your baseball diamond inside your classroom or outside if it’s a nice day. Divide your students into two teams, appoint a scorekeeper to write on the board or easel, and establish four bases. When in the field, students sit in seats; when “up,” the students stand in line waiting their turn to bat. Shuffle the cards so that your students can see you’re not stacking the deck in favor of one team or another. We don’t need any more Shoeless Joe Jackson Black Sox Scandals (100 years ago in 1919).

Play Ball!

Teacher selects a single, double, triple, or home run card. To “play ball,” the teacher announces S, D, T, or H and either the word or example. The student batter must correctly define or identify the word within 10 seconds or the batter is “out.”

Examples: Teacher says word: S “Alliteration.” Student batter says the definition: “Repetition of initial consonant sounds.” Teacher says example: H “The politician suggests that poverty remains the most important problem in the world today; however, the world has always had its share of poor people.” Student batter says the term: “A red herring argument.”

Three outs per each team per inning. Play as many innings as you want. Re-shuffle the cards if you need to work through the deck again or you wound up in a tie and have to go to extra innings.

Some form of team incentives sparks friendly (or cut-throat) competition.

Of course you want other vocabulary games as fun as this one. Get others in Pennington Publishing’s year-long comprehensive vocabulary programs for grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8? The program includes 56 worksheets, along with vocabulary study guides, and biweekly unit tests to help your students collaboratively practice and master these Common Core Standards:

  • Multiple Meaning Words and Context Clues (L.4.a.)
  • Greek and Latin Word Parts (L.4.a.)
  • Language Resources (L.4.c.d.)
  • Figures of Speech (L.5.a.)
  • Word Relationships (L.5.b.)
  • Connotations (L.5.c.)
  • Academic Language Words (L.6.0)

*****

For full-year vocabulary programs which include multiple meaning words (L.4.a.), Greek and Latin morphology with Morphology Walls (L.4.a.), figures of speech (L.5.a.), words with special relationships (L.5.b.), words with connotative meanings (L.5.c.), and academic language words (L.6.0), check out the assessment-based grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Comprehensive Vocabulary.

Get the Grades 4,5,6,7,8 Vocabulary Sequence of Instruction FREE Resource:

Get the Greek and Latin Morphology Walls FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic Academic Language Assessment FREE Resource:

Worksheets FREE Resource:

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary, Study Skills , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FREE Grade 7 Vocabulary Word Lists

Grade 7 Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 7

If you really want to teach all of the Common Core vocabulary standards this year, you’ve got to have this FREE resource!

The FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 7 may just be that wheel you don’t have to reinvent with your grade-level team this summer. This research-based word list consists of Tier 2 words, developed from Averil Coxhead’s high frequency Academic Word List. The perfect resource for teaching the CCSS grade 7 L.6.0 vocabulary standards.

In addition to these academic language words, I’ve included twice-per-week word or focus lists of the following: multiple meaning words and context clues (L.4.a.; Greek and Latin word parts (L.4.a.c.d.); Language Resources (L.4.c.d.); word relationships (L.5.a.); figures of speech (L.5.a.); and connotations (L.5.c.) to complete a comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence that is perfectly aligned to the Grade 7 Common Core Language Strand vocabulary standards. Just plug these into your grade-level curricular map and you are good to go!

Of course, I’m providing this resource to entice teachers to check out my full-year Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 programs, which provide the lessons and alignment documents to teach to this curricular map. In a nutshell, these grade-level programs provide twice-per-week worksheets (with answers), vocabulary flashcards with games, a complete syllabication program, and bi-weekly tests. Get your colleagues at your site to purchase their grade-level programs to establish a seamless instructional vocabulary continuum from grade to grade for your students.

Download the FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 7 plus the comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence HERE from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click to purchase or check out the extensive previews for the grade-level Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit programs:

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 4

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 5

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 6

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 7

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 8

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but you can get the Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit on my own site for 10% off if you enter DISCOUNT CODE 3716. CLICK HERE.

Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FREE Grade 6 Vocabulary Word Lists

Grade 6 Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 6

If you really want to teach all of the Common Core vocabulary standards this year, you’ve got to have this FREE resource!

The FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 6 may just be that wheel you don’t have to reinvent with your grade-level team this summer. This research-based word list consists of Tier 2 words, developed from Averil Coxhead’s high frequency Academic Word List. The perfect resource for teaching the CCSS grade 6 L.6.0 vocabulary standards.

In addition to these academic language words, I’ve included twice-per-week word or focus lists of the following: multiple meaning words and context clues (L.4.a.; Greek and Latin word parts (L.4.a.c.d.); Language Resources (L.4.c.d.); word relationships (L.5.a.); figures of speech (L.5.a.); and connotations (L.5.c.) to complete a comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence that is perfectly aligned to the Grade 6 Common Core Language Strand vocabulary standards. Just plug these into your grade-level curricular map and you are good to go!

Of course, I’m providing this resource to entice teachers to check out my full-year Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 programs, which provide the lessons and alignment documents to teach to this curricular map. In a nutshell, these grade-level programs provide twice-per-week worksheets (with answers), vocabulary flashcards with games, a complete syllabication program, and bi-weekly tests. Get your colleagues at your site to purchase their grade-level programs to establish a seamless instructional vocabulary continuum from grade to grade for your students.

Download the FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 6 plus the comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence HERE from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click to purchase or check out the extensive previews for the grade-level Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit programs:

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 4

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 5

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 6

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 7

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 8

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but you can get the Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit on my own site for 10% off if you enter DISCOUNT CODE 3716. CLICK HERE.

Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FREE Grade 5 Vocabulary Word Lists

Grade 5 Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 5

If you really want to teach all of the Common Core vocabulary standards this year, you’ve got to have this FREE resource!

The FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 5 may just be that wheel you don’t have to reinvent with your grade-level team this summer. This research-based word list consists of Tier 2 words, developed from Averil Coxhead’s high frequency Academic Word List. The perfect resource for teaching the CCSS grade 5 L.6.0 vocabulary standards.

In addition to these academic language words, I’ve included twice-per-week word or focus lists of the following: multiple meaning words and context clues (L.4.a.; Greek and Latin word parts (L.4.a.c.d.); Language Resources (L.4.c.d.); word relationships (L.5.a.); figures of speech (L.5.a.); and connotations (L.5.c.) to complete a comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence that is perfectly aligned to the Grade 5 Common Core Language Strand vocabulary standards. Just plug these into your grade-level curricular map and you are good to go!

Of course, I’m providing this resource to entice teachers to check out my full-year Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 programs, which provide the lessons and alignment documents to teach to this curricular map. In a nutshell, these grade-level programs provide twice-per-week worksheets (with answers), vocabulary flashcards with games, a complete syllabication program, and bi-weekly tests. Get your colleagues at your site to purchase their grade-level programs to establish a seamless instructional vocabulary continuum from grade to grade for your students.

Download the FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 5 plus the comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence HERE from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click to purchase or check out the extensive previews for the grade-level Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit programs:

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 4

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 5

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 6

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 7

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 8

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but you can get the Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit on my own site for 10% off if you enter DISCOUNT CODE 3716. CLICK HERE.

Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FREE Grade 4 Vocabulary Word Lists

Grade 4 Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 4

If you really want to teach all of the Common Core vocabulary standards this year, you’ve got to have this FREE resource!

The FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 4 may just be that wheel you don’t have to reinvent with your grade-level team this summer. This research-based word list consists of Tier 2 words, developed from Averil Coxhead’s high frequency Academic Word List. The perfect resource for teaching the CCSS grade 4 L.6.0 vocabulary standards.

In addition to these academic language words, I’ve included twice-per-week word or focus lists of the following: multiple meaning words and context clues (L.4.a.; Greek and Latin word parts (L.4.a.c.d.); Language Resources (L.4.c.d.); word relationships (L.5.a.); figures of speech (L.5.a.); and connotations (L.5.c.) to complete a comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence that is perfectly aligned to the Grade 4 Common Core Language Strand vocabulary standards. Just plug these into your grade-level curricular map and you are good to go!

Of course, I’m providing this resource to entice teachers to check out my full-year Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 programs, which provide the lessons and alignment documents to teach to this curricular map. In a nutshell, these grade-level programs provide twice-per-week worksheets (with answers), vocabulary flashcards with games, a complete syllabication program, and bi-weekly tests. Get your colleagues at your site to purchase their grade-level programs to establish a seamless instructional vocabulary continuum from grade to grade for your students.

Download the FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 4 plus the comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence HERE from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click to purchase or check out the extensive previews for the grade-level Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit programs:

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 4

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 5

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 6

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 7

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 8

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but you can get the Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit on my own site for 10% off if you enter DISCOUNT CODE 3716. CLICK HERE.

Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FREE Grade 8 Vocabulary Word Lists

Grade 8 Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 8

If you really want to teach all of the Common Core vocabulary standards this year, you’ve got to have this FREE resource!

The FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 8 may just be that wheel you don’t have to reinvent with your grade-level team this summer. This research-based word list consists of Tier 2 words, developed from Averil Coxhead’s high frequency Academic Word List. The perfect resource for teaching the CCSS grade 8 L.6.0 vocabulary standards.

In addition to these academic language words, I’ve included twice-per-week word or focus lists of the following: multiple meaning words and context clues (L.4.a.; Greek and Latin word parts (L.4.a.c.d.); Language Resources (L.4.c.d.); word relationships (L.5.a.); figures of speech (L.5.a.); and connotations (L.5.c.) to complete a comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence that is perfectly aligned to the Grade 8 Common Core Language Strand vocabulary standards. Just plug these into your grade-level curricular map and you are good to go!

Of course, I’m providing this resource to entice teachers to check out my full-year Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 programs, which provide the lessons and alignment documents to teach to this curricular map. In a nutshell, these grade-level programs provide twice-per-week worksheets (with answers), vocabulary flashcards with games, a complete syllabication program, and bi-weekly tests. Get your colleagues at your site to purchase their grade-level programs to establish a seamless instructional vocabulary continuum from grade to grade for your students.

Download the FREE Vocabulary Word List Grade 8 plus the comprehensive vocabulary instructional scope and sequence HERE from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click to purchase or check out the extensive previews for the grade-level Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit programs:

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 4

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 5

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 6

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 7

Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit Grade 8

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but you can get the Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit on my own site for 10% off if you enter DISCOUNT CODE 3716. CLICK HERE.

Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

r-controlled Vowels for Big Kids

r-controlled Vowels

The r-controlled Vowels

Although r, l, and do control (change from the usual) the vowel sounds, most phonics programs only include the r-controlled vowels. I agree with this approach. Try watching an l-controlled or w-controlled video lesson on YouTube and your head will start spinning. Much better to include the l-controlled vowels in the context of other sounds, such as the /aw/ diphthong for “al” and “all” and the schwa for the “_le” word parts. The w-controlled vowels are so crazy that they are most-easily learned as outlaw words (sight words). I do recommend showing two w-controlled vowels patterns via spelling sorts: the war /or/ as in warm and the wor /er/ as in word. Most speech therapists agree with this balanced approach, and they are the sounds experts.

Following is the explicit, systematic approach to phonics acquisition via small group workshops from my reading intervention program. Download the entire set of r-controlled vowel lessons and assessment at the end of the article. Plus, get the complete set of FREE diagnostic 13 reading assessments to see which of your BIG KIDS need help with which phonics elements.

How to Teach r-Controlled Vowels

The r-controlled vowels of ar, er, and ir.

The r-controlled Vowels

Introductory Definition: When an follows a vowel, the r changes the sound that the vowel makes. The vowel is called an r-controlled vowel. Sometimes teachers refer to the r as the “bossy r” because the r “bosses” the vowel to make the vowel change its sound.

On our animal sound-spelling cards, the names of each card: ermine, armadillo, and orca each have an which controls the vowel sounds. Examples: /er/ as in her, /ar/ as in car, and /or/ as in for. The /er/ ermine has three different spellings, which can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a syllable.

Teaching Tips

To teach phonics to big kids and adults, we have to teach differently than when we teach phonics to beginning readers. Your big kids and adults are smarter and have more life experience than pre-K, kinder, or first graders. They can catch on quickly if taught properly. Intervention students have “heard it all before.” They just haven’t learned all of it.

I suggest a four-pronged approach to teaching r-controlled vowels to your reading intervention students:

1. Use the animal sound-spelling cards (provided for you in a FREE five-lesson long vowels download at the end of this article) to teach the names, sounds, and spellings in isolation.

2. Teach whole-class sound-by-sound spelling blending for all of the r-controlled vowel spellings. Use a hurried pace, but blend every day until each has been mastered. Reinforce with games, using the diphthong cards to blend with the consonant and consonant blend cards.

3. Diagnose and gap-fill. If we use effective, comprehensive diagnostic assessments to determine what students know and don’t know and target instruction accordingly, students will much more likely buy-in to this individualized instruction (even when you use groups). Want my FREE 13 reading assessments, used by hundreds (or more) teachers to teach assessment-based gap-filling? BTW… the two phonics tests have audio files dictated by Yours Truly!

4. Use targeted practice to do the gap-filling and make sure your students have mastered the diphthongs through formative assessment. The FREE five-lesson download includes a short formative assessment. Be willing and able to re-teach if they don’t get it. After all, reading intervention is all about learning, not teaching.

Get the The r-controlled Vowels Lessons and Assessment FREE Resource:

Or… why not buy all the phonics lessons and more?

Intervention Program Science of Reading

The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards and speech articulation songs. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Strategies FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic ELA and Reading Assessments FREE Resource:

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mastery Learning in RtI

Foundation of Mastery Learning

Fix the Foundation with Mastery Learning

I just finished watching a TED TALK by Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy. Sal was talking about mastery learning and the importance of building strong learning foundations before layering on additional information.

As I watched the video, I was thinking about why a stubborn 25% of most students in the upper elementary, middle, and high schools are reading two or more years below grade level.

Sal cites the example of a child who scores an average grade of 75% on a unit test. Most educators would accept 75% as an average score, and in fact most diagnostic assessments would accept 75—80% as mastery level; however, Sal points out the not knowing 25% of the test components is problematic. From the student’s perspective: “I didn’t know 25% of the foundational thing, and now I’m being pushed to the more advanced thing.”

When students try to learn something new that builds upon these shaky foundations, “they hit a wall… and “become disengaged.”

Sal likens the lack of mastery learning to shoddy home construction. What potential homeowner would be happy to buy a new home that has only 75% of its foundation completed (a C), or even 95% (an A)?

Of course, Sal is a math guy and math lends itself to sequential mastery learning more so than does my field of English-language arts and reading intervention. My content area tends to have a mix of sequential and cyclical teaching learning, as reflected in the structure of the Common Core State Standards. The author of the School Improvement Network site puts it nicely:

Many teachers view their work from a lens that acknowledges the cyclical nature of teaching and learning.  This teaching and learning cycle guides the definition of learning targets, the design of instructional delivery, the creation and administration of assessments and the selection of targeted interventions in response to individual student needs.

At this point, our article begins to beg the question: What if a shaky foundation is what we’re dealing with now? We can’t do anything about the past. Teachers can start playing the blame game and complain that we’re stuck teaching reading to students who missed key foundational components, such as phonics. All-too-often, response to intervention teachers are ignoring shaky foundations and are trying to layer on survival skills without fixing the real problems.

Instead, teachers should re-build the foundation. Teachers can figure out what is missing in the individual student skill-sets and fill the gaps… this time with mastery learning.

*****

Intervention Program Science of Reading

The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted, sounds to print instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every grades 4-adult reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards, speech articulation songs, sounds to print games, and morphology walls. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

Click the SCIENCE OF READING INTERVENTION PROGRAM RESOURCES for detailed program description, sample lessons, and video overviews. Click the links to get these ready-to-use resources, developed by a teacher (Mark Pennington, MA reading specialist) for teachers and their students.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Cues FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic ELA and Reading Assessments FREE Resource:

*****

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,