Vocabulary Lesson
During the read aloud, I will read the story Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington to my 19
kindergarten students. The Tier 2 words that have been chosen to learn more about are: dough,
famous, perfect, sprinkled, customers and stretchy.
Description of explicit teaching strategy:
I will read the list of words to my students that will be introduced to them in the read aloud.
1.
The first word that I want you to listen for in the story is dough. Does anyone
know what the word dough means?
a.
Possible answers: cookie dough, play doh
b.
The dictionary definition of dough is a mixture that consists
essentially of flour or meal and a liquid (as milk or water) and is stiff
enough to knead or roll.
c.
Kid definition: A thick mix that can be rolled.
d.
Sentence: I mixed all the ingredients together for the dough so we
can make cookies.
2.
The second word I want you to listen for is famous. What does the word
famous mean?
a.
Possible answers: Someone that is popular, a movie star, a singer
b.
The dictionary definition of famous is known or recognized by
very many people
c.
Kid definition: Someone that a lot of people know.
d.
3.
Sentence: The Wild Kratt brothers are famous for their movies.
The next word I want you to listen for is perfect. What does it mean to be
perfect?
a.
Possible answers: Just right
b.
The di cti onar y definit ion of perf ect i s havi ng no mi st akes
or fl aws; com pl et el y correct or accurat e
c.
Ki d defi nit ion: When everyt hi ng is ri ght and nothing goes
wrong.
d.
4.
5.
S ent ence: I got a perfect score on m y t est.
The next word I want you to listen for is sprinkled. What does sprinkled mean?
a.
Possible answers: when it rains a little bit
b.
The dictionary definition of sprinkled is to scatter in drops or particles
c.
Kid definition: To spread out
d.
Sentence: It sprinkled this morning, so the slides are wet.
The next word I want you to listen for is stretchy. What does it mean to be
stretchy?
a.
Possible answers: To be flexible.
b.
The dictionary definition of stretchy is to make (something) wider
or longer by pulling it
6.
c.
Kid definition: To pull something to make it longer
d.
Sentence: The toy snake is so stretchy it can reach to the door.
The last word I want you to listen for is customers. What are customers?
a.
Possible answers: Someone that buys something.
b.
The dictionary definition is one that buys a product or service.
c.
Kid definition: A person that is shopping and buys something.
d.
Sentence: The customers were waiting for the store to open so they could
buy their sale items.
When I read the story I want you to raise your hand when you hear one of those words.
(As I read the story, we will look at the sentence that is used in the book.)
1.
Pg. 9 Hungry customers will be arriving soon.
2.
Pg. 12 Sally starts the dough for her famous pizza crust.
3.
Pg. 14 She kneads her stretchy dough and leaves it to rise.
4.
Pg. 18 Then freshly grated cheese is sprinkled on top. Perfect!
Structural Analysis
Using the word sprinkled, I will introduce suffixes. I will explain to the students that a suffix is
an ending that is added to a word to change the meaning. Putting the suffix –ed at the end will
change the meaning from happening now, to have happened in the past.
Independent Vocabulary Activities
Day 1: Discussion of Vocab words
a. Do the customers in a story pay money or take money? Why? Why do you think
a store owner would want lots of customers?
b. Would you make dough to do your homework or to bake bread? Why? Do you
think it would be fun to push, pull, punch, and knead dough? What would you like to
put on pizza dough?
c. Name some famous people. Why are they famous? Do you know of any famous
places near your home? What would make a place famous?
d. Do you like to do things in a perfect way? Why or why not? What is your idea of
a perfect snack? Why would it be perfect for you?
e. If salt were sprinkled on your food, would you be put in one spot or spread
around? Explain. What is sprinkled on top of a pizza?
f. Would a sock or a pencil be stretchy? Explain. Do you have any toys that are
stretchy like the dough in Sally’s pizza? How does stretchy feel?
Day 2: Vocabulary Sketches
Students will fill out the journal page by copying down the vocabulary words and creating a
drawing to illustrate the word (see attachment for a sample).
Day 3: Word Concept Map
See other attached document for the actual worksheet. Students will cut out the pictures
provided and glue the correct images to match the vocab word on the concept map. I included a
sample of one of the vocabulary words, but I could easily create one similar to go along with the
other selected vocab words.
Day 4: What’s the word- Riddles
I will read the following sentences to my students and see if they can guess what word I am
describing.
a.
I am known by many people. What can you call me?
b. You can use me to make pizza. What am I?
c. We go to a store to buy clothes .Who are we?
d. I can be pulled out of my usual shape. How could you describe me?
e. You did this with glitter on top of your artwork. What was it?
f. I am just right in every way. What am I?
Day 5: The Frayer Model
As a class we will fill out the graphic organizer on the chosen word. I may choose to do them
all, but for the purpose of this sample lesson, I will just pick one word.
Day 6: Word Sort
Words for Things
Words that Describe
Words for Actions
I would include pictures of words from the story for the students to cut out and place in the
appropriate category. I could also do this activity one on one with picture cards that students
would simply place under the correct header.
Assessment:
To check if students retained the words learned, I would make a matching game where students
would have to match the word with a corresponding picture.
Reflection:
Word sort
As I was explaining the pictures for the word sort I decided at the last minute to change this
activity to a partner organizer. I paired students up to work as a team to complete the organizer.
My reasoning for the last minute switch was in our review of what the pictures might be some
students had different ideas of what the picture represented than I had envisioned. As I walked
around I could hear the students saying “This is a thing because it is a sign.” But I envisioned it
to go in the category of words that describe “open.” I liked hearing the student discussions and
realized those answers would be correct as long as they were able to tell me why they placed it
into the category they did. I think this activity allowed for a deeper level of thinking and
learning to take place. The conversations enriched the activity and I am thankful for my last
minute decision.
Picture concept web
I had each student in my class complete this worksheet. After doing this assignment I thought
this would be a great assessment tool to check for student understanding on the new vocabulary
words. The students enjoyed this activity and it didn’t take very long to complete. Although I
only chose one word to focus on, I could see myself creating another web for the other words on
the list.
Frayer Model
I decided to do this graphic organizer as an entire class. We chose one of the words together and
took turns discussing the word and providing ideas/examples to include on the organizer. We
stretched out the sounds of the words as a whole and helped each other complete this activity.
The students enjoyed the activity and were engaged. One change I could make if I didn’t have as
much time to devote to this activity is to have myself as the recorder.
Word Sketch
This activity was the most fun. I had all students complete a word sketch on their own word they
chose from the list of words from the story. They copied the word from the list and created their
own drawing to accompany the word. Before breaking out into the activity, we did a
think/pair/share to get the ideas flowing. Again the students were engaged and it was a great
way to check for student understanding.
Final Reflection
Overall, I think as a teacher I do a great job with discussing words in the text, explaining them at
the students’ level and making sure there is an understanding. The students themselves are also
great guides in vocab meaning as they are great questioners. They stop me often to ask what
words mean. However, I do not do graphic organizers a lot. As kids writing skills are limited
for half the year, this task loses its meaning and purpose due to the kids struggling with just the
writing piece of it. I have also found if I do the recording the kids lose interest and are not as
focused. Doing this assignment and having to find and modify different graphic organizers to fit
my grade level abilities allowed me to see the benefits of completing the organizers. The
students’ level of comprehension improved greatly. Comprehension is a huge component to
reading and is important to teach this skill early. I am excited to implement more of these
strategies in the near future.
References:
http://www.sfps.info/documentcenter/view/6986
http://southernearlychildhood.org/upload/pdf/McKenzie_Vol42_2.pdf
Billmeyer, R. (2004). Strategic Reading in the Content Areas: Practical applications for creating a thinking
environment. (2nd ed.). Omaha, NE: Rachel & Associates, Inc.