Activity Description
Title: Fiction/Non-Fiction Vocabulary - - Context, Word Parts, Figurative Language
This ACTIVITY has a set of teaching-learning strategies proven to increase student mastery of the critical Vocabulary standards in Fiction and Non-Fiction and Language. Vocabulary is always included on high-stakes tests! Students are expected to use context clues, roots and affixes, figurative language, multi-meaning words, shades of meaning, and make real-life connections between words and their use.
The premise of this Activity is that students cannot possibly know every word - - no matter how many Word Walls or weekly vocabulary lists they see. But if students master these vocabulary-attack skills, they can successfully navigate any on-level text - - and some above-level. Students learn a special strategy - - called “Arrowing Out” - - where they predict the meaning of the unfamiliar word or phrase using one or more of the bolded skills above. They work in the margins of the text to keep the familiar word or phrase in the context of the passage. This Activity provides samples and practice items for each of the above, bolded skills - - in both Fiction and Non-Fiction, sentences and texts. [ At Grades K-3, each Activity attaches student-sized texts, templates, and test items that teachers can quickly print and use immediately in class.]
Enabling Skills: (1) the awareness that not all language is literal, and that many words have more than one meaning; (2) the realization that they will not “know” many of the words they encounter but can learn to make effective predictions as to their meaning.
Direct Instruction: Suggested teaching strategies are given that model for students what they need to do to begin their journey toward mastery. These strategies include sample sentences and texts to guide authentic practice, requiring students to construct meaning for themselves. The “Arrowing Out” texts show samples to model what students are to do and give them several practice texts that illustrate each of the bolded Vocabulary-attack skills. Several graphic templates are offered to help students display word relationships.
Quick-Writes: Standards-based writing prompts are provided that require students to document that they have internalized the core ideas of the standard(s) and can show independent mastery.
In this Activity, the Quick-Writes ask students to (a) explain HOW they used the Vocabulary-attack skills; (b) write a story using the newly-discovered words to describe their best birthday ever; and (c) describe a day at an amusement park that includes 3 examples of figurative language.
High-Stakes Look-Alike Assessments: At Grades 3-8, the Activities include two tests - - one for practice - - followed by classroom analysis of errors made - - and the second test to determine mastery. The test items are constructed to look exactly like those items students will encounter on their High-Stakes Tests.
CUSTOMER: Thanks for considering this Activity as part of your approach to your state’s ELA standards. If you have any comments as to how it worked - - or didn’t! - - we’d welcome them! See the contact information to send us feedback. -- the EdFOCUS Team
This teaching activity comes with one hour of online instruction and guidance from a trained EdFOCUS professional. You will be contacted shortly after purchase with more details.