Binnie Kaur
ED 4363-501
Mini-Lesson on Vocabulary
Mini-Lesson: Homophones
TEKS: 1.8 A – discuss meanings of words and develop vocabulary through meaningful/concrete
experiences
1.8 B – develop vocabulary by listening to and discussing both familiar and conceptually
challenging selections read aloud.
Introduction
I will introduce the topic by asking students, “Does anyone know what Homophones
are?” I will explain to them that homophones are words that sound alike but have different
meanings and are spelled differently. And homophones involve sound and listening, just like
when one talks on the phone. I will tell students that we are going to watch a video clip to find
out what homophones are all about? The video clip is called Homophones, and can be found on
you tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05DMI_6OZTE.
Share Examples
After watching the clip, I will ask students to tell what homophones they hear in the song and
record them on the board. Some examples may include pear/pair, sail/sale, and sell/cell. Other
examples may be trunk (tree trunk), (elephant’s trunk); mule (animal), (shoe); Bat (baseball bat),
(animal).
Depending on students learning needs, I will print out the lyrics to the video and have
them available in class. I will also ask all students to brainstorm some homophones in small
groups and write them on the board. Students may come up with words such as I/eye, here/hear,
be/bee, ate/eight, bear/bare, flew/flu, won/one, hour/our, night/knight etc. The teacher will go
over each homophone orally from the board as well as explain the meaning of each word for
better understanding of students.
Provide Information
I will explain to the class that homophones are one of two or more words pronounced alike but
different in meaning or derivation or spelling (as the words to, too, and two), or character or
group of characters pronounced the same as another character or group. For deeper
understanding, I will show a list of homophones on the transparency for students to see and learn
(handout included at the end).
Practice
Students will be asked to get in groups of two’s, and each group will be given a copy of the book
called “How Groundhog’s Garden Grew” by Lynne Cherry. Each group will be asked to find 5
pairs of homophones and create sentences or paragraphs using each pair of the homophones
found in the book. Each paragraph must be at least 2-4 sentences long. The best way to learn
homophones is by applying them in sentences (handout included in the back).
Ex: Hole/Whole
Look out! There is a hole in the ground up ahead, squirrel said. The squirrel and the groundhog
took five hours to dig the whole garden. They both filled the whole hole with soil and seeds.
Reflect
Finally, I will handout a worksheet, where students will have to create sentences using the given
homophone (handout included in the back), to check their knowledge of the material.
Name________________________________ Date__________
Create sentences using the following common homophones
1. To_____________________________________________________________________
2. Two____________________________________________________________________
3. Too____________________________________________________________________
4. There___________________________________________________________________
5. Their___________________________________________________________________
6. They’re_________________________________________________________________
7. Wear___________________________________________________________________
8. Where__________________________________________________________________
9. Right___________________________________________________________________
10. Write___________________________________________________________________
11. No_____________________________________________________________________
12. Know___________________________________________________________________
13. Fair____________________________________________________________________
14. Fare____________________________________________________________________
15. Cents___________________________________________________________________
16. Sense___________________________________________________________________
Lyrics from the Video
Homophones: what you should know…
What are they?
Homophones are words that sound alike but differ in meaning.
First set of homophones…Trunk (Storage), Trunk (Elephant), Trunk (Tree).
Second set of homophones…Bat (Animal), Bat (Baseball)
Third set of homophones….Mule (Animal), Mule (ATV), Mule (Shoe)
Homophones are also two words that sound the same but differ in spelling.
First set of homophones…Pear (Fruit), Pair (Two)
Second set of homophones…Sail (Boat), Sale (Noun), Sell (Verb), Cell (Phone)
Third set of homophones…Metal (Material), Medal (Winner)
Homophones are best understood when using them in a sentence.
More Homophones:
Read (reed)…I can read.
Read (red)…Jake read this book last night.
Lead (leed)…Who will lead the song today?
Lead (led)…Jamie led the lunch line yesterday
Name_____________________________ Date______________
Find homophones from the given book How Groundhog’s Garden Grew, write 3-4 sentences for
each homophones pair of words.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.