Invite students to color-code important keywords and phrases. If the class is reading about recycling, ask them to use green or blue highlighters to find key vocabulary or commonly repeated phrases that will stick in their brain. If the students are reading about Ancient Greece, offer different colors for different nouns—one color for important people, one color for important places, another color for key things.
CC Cycle 1 Reading Plans for use with Classical Conversations. Reading selections correlating with each week and subject of CC Cycle 1.
Closing the gap between the language rich and the language poor is of upmost importance for educators. A proven way to shrink the literacy gap between the "rich" and the "poor" is by explicitly teaching vocabulary words. Research supports that teachers should be directly teaching 3-5 words per text selection and teaching them in a way that students "own" the words. Owning a word means you have a deep understanding of the word. You can pronounce the word. You understand it's meaning. You have the ability to use the word during conversation and in writing. An owned word is one that is a member of your personal lexicon. Vocabulary instruction is important for all kids, but it is vital for students who have under developed vocabularies. Teaching students vocabulary terms should happen before a text selection is read, and should be done using the following routine. 1. Pronounce the word, write it and read it. Always introduce a word orally first. Kids need to know how to correctly pronounce the word. Say it, and have them repeat it back to you. If the word is multi-syllabic, talk about the syllables and say the word in syllable chunks. Next, write the word. Say each sound, or each syllable as the write the word for all students to see. Example: Our new word is plain. Class, say plain. How many syllables does plain have? Lets clap the syllables in plain. How many sounds does plain have? Lets tap the sounds in plain. There are two spellings for the word plain.....plane and plain. We are going to learn about plain, spelled p....l.....a....i.....n. Plain is an adjective (which means it describes a noun). 2. Tell students what the new word means Use a student friendly definition of the new word. This ensures that students understand what the new word means. However, after a student friendly definition is given....don't be afraid to elevate a student's vocabulary by giving a more technical or advanced definition. Additionally, talk to the students about word origin. Point out prefixes, suffixes or any base words that may exist. Finally, give students a more concrete way to grasp the word by showing pictures, video clips, demonstrating an action or providing a hands on experience. It is always best to find real images to share as opposed to clipart images. Example: Plain means ordinary. Something that is plain is not flashy. Plain looks like this: 3. Say more about the word and give examples Once students have an understanding of the new word's meaning, use the word in several sentences. These sentences should help students further understand what the word is and what it isn't. Example: If I wanted to use plain in a sentence, I could say: My outfit is plain today because it doesn't have a lot of colors. Or, I enjoy eating plain yogurt that is only one flavor and doesn't have any mix-ins. 4. Ask Questions about the Word's Meaning Ask students yes and no questions about the word to really help the meaning sink in. Example: Students, are the outfits you are wearing plain? Is your bedroom at home plain? Do you like plain food, or food that doesn't have a lot of spice or ingredients? 5. Provide opportunities for students to use the word To help students truly "own" a word, they need ample opportunities to use the newly acquired term. Encourage students to use the word in writing and speaking activities. Have students write sentences using the word, or share a sentence verbally. Example: Students, I want you to think of a sentence using our new word plain. After some think time, have students hand up, stand up and pair up to share their sentence with a partner. Interested in seeing the vocabulary routine in action? Check out the following clip of explicit vocabulary instruction taking place in a kindergarten classroom. Make sure to check out this article from Reading Rockets, A Multidimensional Approach to Vocabulary Instruction: Supporting English Language Learners in Inclusive Classrooms, for eight more instructional tips regarding vocabulary instruction.
These Proofreading and Editing Reading Passages are a fun way to practice reading comprehension and proofreading at the same time.This product includes 4 non-fiction reading passages for students to proofread and edit. Each worksheet comes with an editing chart. Also included are 4 Answer Keys so that students may check their work independently, Comprehension Questions ... Read More about Proofreading and Editing Reading Comprehension Passages
Looking for children's books sorted by Guided Reading Levels (Fontas & Pinnell)? Compiled by teachers, this site lists the best books for each level.
Who doesn’t love those illustrated ecards that float around the internet? I’ve seen so many funny sewing ecards, but often when I want to find them again, I can’t. So I went to the Someecards site and below I’ve compiled for you the best selection of sewing humor I found there. You can click on...Read More
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Comprehension Connection is a literacy website dedicated to providing teaching tips and resources for instruction for K-5 teachers focusing on comprehension.
Check out this list of mystery picture book recommendations for your third or fourth grade students!
Includes .otf font file of A-Z, 0-9 + selection of star glyphs.
My professional life before blogs & Pinterest seems like a long, long ago, dark, desperate time. I've been thinking a lot recently about ho...
Kindergarten is a most delightful ages for read alouds–kids are full of wonder and silliness, and the selection of excellent picture books is enormous. Here are 50 of the best books for kindergarten.
Evaluate important geography lessons with the help of these printable geography worksheets. These free geography worksheets collection gives your school student some geography practice with fun and quiz-style worksheet. The printable worksheets are available in the image list below, click to download it to your computer.
Discover the World's Largest McDonald's in Orlando, Florida. This article gives you a detailed tour of its unique features & gourmet offerings.
Do you have a mudroom in your home? Or are you remodeling or building and including one? Not everyone has one, but they are more and more popular and very functional! Today, we're covering how to choose the perfect flooring. There is more to it than meets the eye! Plus, we have some tips for
Whole class novels are still an important part of an English curriculum. Check out this blog post about Teaching Whole Class Novels.
Lines. They seem simple enough, but there can be so much more to them! I remember learning about different types of lines in math class- segments, rays, and the good old line. Then there was line relationships- parallel, perpendicular, intersecting. And after lines intersected you got fun things like angles and shapes. Really- there is…
Joseph Cambell’s The Hero’s Journey: Summary of the Steps Adapted from Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges URL: (Scroll to bottom of page for…
A list of our family's favorite Classical Conversations CC Cycle 1 books. Family read aloud selections organized by history topic with descriptions.
23 Funny Wedding readings that will have your guests in stitches and completely emotional all at the same time!
Another year of homeschool is nearly over, so I'm busy gathering all the resources we'll need for our Charlotte Mason-inspired 3rd grade plans.
Elegir una paleta de colores para las plantas del jardín al igual que en otras disciplinas artísticas tiene sus reglas, conocerlas te ayudará en el camino.
When it comes to book selection, I know that many of my students struggle. The kids in my room consistently go to the same exact genre basket in the library and rarely leave their comfort zone. With this in mind, I created this reading challenge punch card!The goal of this product is to motivate s...
10 chapter books that are perfect to read aloud to children 4-6 years old. The book list includes classic and contemporary titles.
