On 9/22/09, BethAnn wrote:
> I was wondering how you all introduce the vocab in trade
> books? For our last book, we just discussed words as a
> class. For this book, I had the kids look up definitions
> and use them in a sentence. We put the info on a sheet I
> found on the internet.
>
> Would love to hear ideas!
>
> Thanks so much!

I did Word Wheels with my academically gifted students. I
eventually used them with content area vocabulary and student
novels. The student drew a wheel with 5 spokes dividing the
circle into 6 parts. They wrote 1) the definition; 2) an
original sentence using the word; 3)a sentence from the book
using the word in context; 4) a synonym; 5) an antonym; and 6)
the word derivation. You could also include the word's
pronunciation or respelling or use that instead of the
synonym and antonym in the case of content area words which
may not have either. On content area word tests and regular
spelling tests they had to write dictation sentences using 5
of the words. These were graded for spelling, usage, and
writing conventions, such as capitalization and punctuation.
As a bonus, the students chose a word and used it in context
in an original sentence. I didn't play when it came to self-
expression. Students need to learn to articulate themselves
in every subject.

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