Sunday, December 29, 2013

Build Vocabulary with Prefixes and Suffixes

Build Vocabulary with Prefixes and Suffixes


Learning prefixes and suffixes is a great way to boost vocabulary quickly. But, these letter combos are best learned in the context of the words that they create. Here's a game to get your child thinking about these beginnings and endings, in between a lot of shouting and laughing.

What You Need:

  • Index cards
  • Markers
  • Dictionary
What You Do:
Step 1: Go over these lists of prefixes and suffixes with your child:
Common Prefixes
PrefixMeaningExample
pre-beforepreview
un-notunbelievable
dis-notdisagree
re-againrewrite
mis-notmisunderstood
im-notimpossible
bi-twobicycle
de-notderegulated

Common Suffixes
SuffixMeaningExample
-erdoerteacher
-ableable tounbelievable
-ousfull ofdangerous
-nessstate of beinghappiness
-fulfull ofwonderful
-ly or -ylikegently
-mentstate ofgovernment

Step 2: Ask your child to take the stack of index cards and label each card with a prefix or suffix from the list above.
Step 3: Shuffle all the cards and turn them face down in one pile. As the dealer, it's your job to flip over the top card and lay it face up. The first player who can shout out a word that uses the prefix or suffix correctly, and can provide the definition of the prefix or suffix, gets to keep that card for their pile. You may want to keep a dictionary handy, just in case some funny words come tumbling out. The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins!

Jane Oh has taught third and fourth grades for 8 years. She has worked with many diverse groups of students. Most recently, she has written teacher textbook guides.
http://www.education.com/activity/article/build_vocabulary_prefixes_suffixes_third/

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Guided Reading

Reading Tasks 1 - Fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK A – Give your book marks out of ten and explain why you have given it that mark.

TASK B – Draw a picture of your favorite part of the story. Color it in and explain what you’ve drawn.

TASK C – Write down any new words you have come across in your book and look them up in the dictionary. Record what each word means.

TASK D – Draw a picture of your favorite character in the book. Write down their names and what you have learnt about them from your reading.

TASK E – Write about your favorite part in the story and explain why you liked it.

TASK F – Write down 5 questions you could ask someone about this book to check whether they have read it carefully. 




Reading Tasks 2 - Fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK G – Draw a picture of one of the settings in the story. Where is this place? What happens there?

TASK H – Copy out 3 sentences or phrases you really liked in this book. Why did you like each of them?

TASK I – Draw a poster to advertise the book you have read. Make sure you write on the poster why people should read it.

TASK J – Find 5 – 10 interesting words in this book. Write down what each one means. Then use each word in a sentence of your own.

TASK K – Draw a picture of one of the characters in the book. Find and copy at least 3 things the writer says about this person.






Reading Tasks 3 - Fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK L – Pretend you are one of the characters in the book. Who will you be? Write your diary for one day in the story.

TASK M – Draw a large picture of one of the settings used in the story. Label everything in the picture, using words and phrases from the book if you can.

TASK N – Which chapter or part of the story is the most important? Explain what happens in this section and why you think it’s important.

TASK O – Write a letter to your friend telling him or her a bit about this book. Explain why you think they ought to read it.

TASK P – Do you think the writer uses language (words) in an interesting way? Find 3 – 5 examples, copy them out and explain why you like them.





Reading Tasks 4 - Fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading

TASK Q – Make notes about the story under these headings: *opening *build-up *dilemma *resolution.

TASK R - Make up a wordsearch or crossword based on the book.

TASK S - Write about the main character in the story. Choose 5 – 10 words to describe his or her behavior. Give an example for each one. E.g. Sally is foolish when she goes to the mill by herself.

TASK T – Pick a descriptive word from the text, write it down and use a thesaurus to find 5 words that mean something similar and 5 words that mean the opposite.

TASK U – Re-write a section as a playscript. Remember to include the correct features of a playscript, including setting, props, stage directions and names of characters.




Reading Tasks 5 - Fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK V – Think of 5 questions you would like to ask one of the characters in your book. Then swap these with another person in your group and write the answers as if you were that character.

TASK W – Write an interview between you and the main character of your book. Be sure you write detailed responses for your characters.

TASK X – Which character in this book are you most like? Explain your answer. Which character do you like the most? Which character do you least like? Explain your answer.

TASK Y – Construct a timeline to show all the main events in the story in the order they happen.

TASK Z – Write a summary of the story in 50 words only.





Reading Tasks 6 - Fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK 1 – Make a list of as many adjectives and adverbs as you can from the book. Choose 5 and use a thesaurus to write other words that mean something similar.

TASK 2 – What do other characters think or say about the main character? Why do they feel this way?

TASK 3 – Write a poem describing a place or a person in the story you’re reading.

TASK 4 – Write a newspaper report about an important event including a headline, interviews with people involved and pictures.

TASK 5 – Imagine you are one of the characters. Draw a picture diary recording the key events that happened in the story. Add a comment about how you felt.





Reading Tasks 1 – Non-fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK A – Write a list of features of your non-fiction book. Does it have a contents? An index? How many features can you find?

TASK B – Copy a sentence from your book and answer these questions: What tense is it written in? (past/present/future) How do you know? Is it written in 1st or 3rd person or is no-one referred to at all? Does it contain any speech? What is the sentence about?

TASK C – Find 5 – 10 technical words that you don’t know and write your own glossary to explain what they mean. Use a dictionary to help you.

TASK D – Find any 10 words in your book. Now put them into alphabetical order.



Reading Tasks 2 – Non-fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK E – Read through 3 paragraphs in your book and make notes on the most important points.

TASK F - Make a list of as many adjectives and adverbs as you can from the book. Choose 5 and use a thesaurus to write other words that mean something similar.

TASK G - Make up a word search or crossword based on the book.

TASK H – Draw a poster to advertise the book you have read. Make sure you write on the poster why people should read it.

TASK I – Think about 5 questions you would like to find out answers to when reading your book.




Reading Tasks 3 – Non-fiction

Choose an activity to complete about the book you are reading.

TASK J – Write down 5 – 10 interesting facts that you have found out in your reading.

TASK K – Choose your favorite section from your book. Read each sentence and write down the key words and phrases to summarize it.

TASK L – Choose your favorite section from your book and summarize the main points.

TASK M – Thought shower what you have learnt from reading this book.

TASK N – Draw a diagram of something mentioned in your book and label it with relevant information.

 Adapted from a resource contributed to TES Connect by liz_alston




Friday, December 27, 2013

Count 'N Catch: A Skip Counting Game SECOND GRADE VOCABULARY


Count 'N Catch: A Skip Counting Game


Encourage your child to practice skip counting by turning number patterns into an interactive game of catch. It will get your child moving and learning, ball in hand!

What You Need:

  • One soft ball, two players

What You Do:

  1. Begin by telling your child you are going to practice skip counting while playing catch with the ball. Be sure to briefly review counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.
  2. Sit or stand about six feet away from your child with the ball in your hands. Say the first number in the skip counting pattern aloud, and as you're saying it, toss the ball to your child. Now it's his turn to say the next number in the pattern! For example, when skip counting by 2’s, you say, “two,” and pass the ball to your child who will say, “four" and then pass the ball back to you. Then you say “six,” the next number in the pattern, and toss it back to him. Continue to play the counting game this way, and challenge your child to count as high as he can.
  3. After playing the counting game with multiples of 2, play the same way with multiples of 5 and 10. For an extra challenge, try skip counting by 3’s and 4’s.
Variations:
Turn the counting game into a fun language arts activity by practicing with parts of speech in place of numbers. Play catch back and forth as you take turns listing nouns. See how many nouns your child can list before getting stuck! Next, pass the ball to each other while naming adjectives. Afterwards, play the game while listing verbs. For an extra challenge, try playing the game with adverbs, too. The possibilities are endless with Count 'N Catch. And getting some of those terms and concepts off the page and into the body, really helps kids remember them!

Carrie Ann Cain has been teaching second grade for three years. She is certified in elementary education, special education, Spanish, and ESOL (teaching english to speakers of other languages).
http://www.education.com/activity/article/count_n_catch_second/