Miss Alaineus: Vocabulary Disaster
Turn this fun and confusion into a performance that demonstrates what your students know.

Daily Book Boosts:
Each day at the end of their "official" reading time, students give "Book Boosts," one-minute raves about books they've read.

Acquiring New Vocabulary Through Book Discussion Groups
This lesson presents a whole-language approach to a social studies topic (i.e., the Civil War) using the trade book Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco. The approach combines reading comprehension with vocabulary development.
 

Suggestions for English Language Learners (ELLs):
(E/B=Entering/Beginning, D=Developing, E=Expanding) 

E/B: Recognize and produce English phonemes and morphemes students already know in simple phrases or sentences.
E/B: Read one's own writing and/or simple narrative texts and begin to produce phonemes appropriately; D: Read simple narrative and expository texts with some elements of appropriate voice and expression; E: Read narrative and expository texts with appropriate timing, voice, and expression.
E/B: Using English At Your Command pp.80-81 (can check-out from ESL Dept.), read the captions in random order and have students point to the matching pictures. Give a new sentence for just for just one of the meanings. Have students identify which picture shows the same meaning; D, E: In random order, make up a new sentence for each multiple-meaning word. Have students say the word and point to the picture that shows the correct meaning of the word.
E/B: Using English At Your Command pp.37-39 (check-out from ESL Dept.), say synonyms for a key word and have students point to the correct picture as they repeat the word; D: Give students a list of five key words and have them write a sentence for each word. Then ask them to trade papers with a partner. The partner can rewrite each sentence, replacing the key word with a synonym; E: Have students write a fantasy (like the one on pg.167 about a dinosaur or other creature). When the students are done, have them revise their writing by replacing the adjectives and verbs with synonyms.
E/B: Using English At Your Command pp.37-39 (check-out from ESL Dept.), use gestures as you say the sentence under each picture. For example, wipe your forehead as you say "Wow, It's warm today!" Then have students follow your model, but use a synonym for the key word as they repeat the sentence; D: Have each student in a group use a synonym for 'go' and 'laugh' to finish a sentence. Encourage students to compare their sentences and count how many different synonyms for each word they used; E: Have students write a dialogue for a recent conversation they've had with their friends or family, or heard on TV. Encourage them to choose synonyms from the list for talk to tell exactly how the people talked.
D: Using English At Your Command pp.40-41 (check-out from ESL Dept.), have one student use a word in a sentence. Ask a partner to use its antonym in a sentence. Have students continue until each pair has been used; E: Ask groups to brainstorm other antonym pairs (i.e. above/below). Have students write and illustrate their antonym pairs to display in the Writing Center.
D: Recognize and produce some frequently heard synonyms and homographs; E: Understand most frequently heard synonyms, antonyms, and homographs.
E: Apply knowledge of roots and affixes to derive meaning from literature.
E: Identify and interpret words with multiple meanings.