Cluster 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and UseArchived

In this lesson, students will use the beautiful text Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger to explore how an author uses color words and illustrations to describe various real-world objects. They will identify and explain how the descriptive words provide meaning and how the illustrations support the text. Students will brainstorm real-life objects that can be described and classified using color words and write an expository piece to describe those objects.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, in a hands-on activity, students will practice sorting food items from the grocery store into different categories. The teacher will read aloud Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert and send students on a scavenger hunt to find and record pictures of fruits and vegetables that are hung around the room. Students will be asked to provide an opinion of what they think is the best fruit or vegetable during a writing assignment and explain why they like it. Then each student will draw a picture of that food on a paper plate to display with their writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will have hands-on experience with categorization skills, by sorting objects commonly taken on a beach trip. Students will practice describing objects, sorting objects into categories, and verbalizing category concepts. Students will also practice discussing opinions about objects by writing a Beach Sorting Book.

Type: Lesson Plan

The students will participate in reading the rhyming story The Crayon Box That Talked and help to generate words that rhyme with colors. Then, students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of rhyming words by completing a sorting activity.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will participate in reading the books,  A Mink, a Fink, A Skating Rink, To Root, to Toot, to Parachute, and Hairy, Scary, Ordinary and complete a variety of related activities that allow them to learn about and practice their knowledge of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Students will contribute to a class generated grammar chart and complete a grammar sort. Students will also publish their own sentence which will include a noun, verb, and adjective, as well as an illustration to provide detail.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will begin to understand the concept of maps by describing the path that Little Red Riding Hood took on the way to Grandma's house.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson in a kindergarten unit on classification and categorization. The lesson uses the informational text My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy. In the guided practice activity, students will look at pictures in the book and pay attention to which animals fit into certain groups. In the independent practice activity, students will draw and label four pictures of animals from the book that would fit into the category, "Animals with Four Legs."

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the third lesson in a kindergarten unit on classifying and categorizing. The teacher modeling section utilizes the informational text My Big Truck Book by Roger Priddy. In the independent practice activity, students will cut out pictures of trucks and sort them into categories of their choice.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the second lesson in a kindergarten unit on classification and categorization. The lesson uses the informational text My Big World Book by Roger Priddy. Students will practice sorting pictures from the book into categories. An independent practice activity is included with an accompanying worksheet.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn common antonyms and will participate in an antonym matching game. They will also learn to sort objects based on a common pair of antonyms, "big" and "small". They will use their understanding of the words "big" and "small" to describe objects, both orally and in writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will move like their favorite animal and identify what the movement is called reviewing verbs. Then they will create a chart about ways that animals move and interact with a read aloud as they search for more movement ideas. Students will end the lesson by completing an opinion sentence about their favorite animal movement and why it is their favorite.

Type: Lesson Plan

Determine the meaning of unknown words using context clues in this interactive tutorial. Join Jake as he uses antonyms as clues to figure out what words mean in the observations of his family.

This is part 3 of a 3-part series. Click below to view parts 1 and 2:

Observing Opposites - Part 1: Adjectives and Antonyms

Observing Opposites - Part 2: Verbs and Antonyms

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify verbs and antonyms in this interactive tutorial. Join Jake as he observes opposites and records his observations using action words with opposite meanings.

This is part 2 of a 3-part series. Click below to view parts 1 and 3:

Observing Opposites - Part 1: Adjectives and Antonyms

Observing Opposites - Part 3: Antonyms and Context Clues

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify adjectives and antonyms in this interactive tutorial. Join Jake as he observes opposites and records his observations using describing words that have opposite meanings.

This is part 1 of a 3-part series. Click below to view parts 2 and 3:

Observing Opposites - Part 2: Verbs and Antonyms

Observing Opposites - Part 3: Antonyms and Context Clues

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this activity, students will match affixes to their meanings by playing a memory game.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify antonyms by playing a card game.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify synonyms by playing a domino game.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will exchange antonyms for the underlined word in sentences.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify the features that distinguish one word from another by completing a semantic feature analysis grid.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify connections between words and record their shared attribute/category.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will brainstorm words related to a topic and use books and/or reference materials to answer questions about unknown words on a semantic map.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe a vocabulary word using a four square map.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify the multiple meanings of words.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sort verbs related to a picture.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will use adjectives to describe and identify objects.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will match synonyms.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will match words to corresponding meanings (symbols, contractions, abbreviations) while playing a memory game. As an extension, students can sort matched words into categories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will produce words with affixes to complete sentences while playing a board game.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will compare and contrast the attributes of words using a Venn diagram.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify and sort words by categories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will produce categories and corresponding words. As an adaptation to this activity, the students may sort teacher-selected words into categories and produce a category heading based on shared attributes OR produce words that belong in teacher-selected categories (based on units of study).

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will produce and categorize words by rolling a category cube and writing corresponding words.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will brainstorm categories and corresponding words. As an adaptation to this activity, students can sort teacher-selected words and identify the category title based on shared attributes.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will state words that correspond to specific categories by playing a board game. NOTE: A blank game board is provided to allow teachers to create categories relevant to classroom instruction. As an extension, students may choose the word that does not belong in a set of words and name the category for the remaining words.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between the meanings of words using a Venn diagram.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will compare four words, determine the one that does not belong in the set, and produce a category title for the remaining words based on shared attributes.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sort words by categories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify the relationship among words by placing them on a continuum.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will write simple definitions, sentences, and examples of target words in a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify attributes of words and record them on a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will compare and contrast words using a Venn diagram.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sort transportation words into categories (air, land, water).

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify more precise alternatives (synonyms) for overused words.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify the multiple meaning of words by constructing a web.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, student will determine the meaning of words. NOTE: To fully meet the expectations of the aligned standards, students will need to identify unknown words in text they are reading and use strategies to determine the meanings of the unknown words.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will determine the meaning of words of interest in text.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe a target word using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will write simple definitions, sentences, and synonyms of targeted words found in content-area text.

Type: Student Center Activity