Language-BasedLiteracyActivities

CindyBrunkenM.Ed,M.S.,CCC-SLP

SpecialEducationSupervisor

CertifiedBrainInjurySpecialist

LincolnPublicSchools

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VocabularyDevelopmentPurpose:Toworkonthemeaningofnewwordsfoundinyourclassroomtextbooksandassignments.Material:

Trytousematerialsfromtheclassroomtextbooksforthisactivityandtakealookatacoupleoftheexamplesthatfollow.

Procedures:1.Inthisfirstactivity,pickoutwordsfromanyofthetextbooksyouthinkmightbedifficultforstudentswhostruggletolearn.(Seepage2,Definition&Sentence:WaroftheWorlds).Thesearesomeofthewordsthatmightbedifficultforstudentsinthesixthgrade.2.Next,pickawordtoworkonandwriteitdownontheboardoronthestudents’paper,andreadasentencefromthebookthathasthewordinit.Forexample,forthewordjet,thesentence,“Thejettravelsatahighspeed,”couldberead.3.Next,comeupwithameaningoftheword,apicturefortheword,andawordthatmeansthesamething.4.Workwiththestudentsandprovideprovidesuggestionstomakethisameaningfulactivity.5.Thentakethetextandread,asaclassorinsmallgroups.Havestudentsraisetheirhandsiftheyunderstoodthesetargetwordsastheyoccurinthereadingtext.Provideenough“waittime”forallstudentstotaketurnsandparticipate.Thenletstudentscreatetheirowndefinitionsofthesewords.Ifneeded,thestudentscouldgobacktotheoriginalformcontainingthedefinitions.(Recall,youarefocusingonstudentswhostruggletolearnbutyoucanhaveallstudentsparticipateintheseactivities).AdditionalInformation:6.Therearesomanywaystoworkonwordmeanings/vocabulary.Forexample,youcouldmakeupcrosswordpuzzles,gamesorfunactivities(WaroftheWordsCrosswordPuzzle-seepage4).Itmightevenbeinterestingtohavethestudentswritetheirownsentenceoneachnewword.Possibly,theycouldquizeachotheraboutthewords.Anotherideaistouseamatchingorcompletethesentenceactivity.(Seeactivityonpage5)

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Word

Picture Vocabulary:Activity#1DefinitionandSentenceWaroftheWorlds

Synonym

astronomer Ascientistwhostudiesouterspace

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jet Averyfastplane

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meterorite Largerockfromouterspace

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ventriloquist Entertainerwhoperformswithadummywhoseemstospeak

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announcer Apersonwhomakescommentsorreadsnewsonradioortelevision

____________________________________________________

broadcast Aradioortelevisionprogramortransmission

____________________________________________________

account Awrittenorspokendescriptionofevents

____________________________________________________

script Atextofaplay

____________________________________________________

clues Factsthathelpsolveaproblemormystery

____________________________________________________

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Vocabulary Name:____________________________Date:_____________________________

Word Picture Definition Synonym1

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3

4

5

6

7

8

9

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Name_______________________ Date________________

VocabularyActivity#2WaroftheWorlds

Account Astronomer BroadcastMeteorite Script Announcer Clues

Across5.Apersonwhoannouncesthingsinpublic,ontelevision,orontheradio.6.TheremainsofarockthatfellfromspaceandlandedontheEarth’ssurface.7.Thewrittentextofaplayormovie;incudeseverythingtheperformerssayanddo.Down1. Awrittenorspokendescriptionofwhathappened.2. Ascientistwhostudiesthesun,moon,stars,andplanets.3. Ashortfilmandcommentaryaboutcurrentnewsevens.4. Evidencethathelpssolveaproblem.

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Date:________________ Name:__________________________

WaroftheWorlds

script jet newsreel broadcast ventriloquist

astronomer clues announcer account metorite

MatchingMatcheachdefinitionwithaword__________________________1.Thewrittentextofaplayormovie;includeseverythingthe

performerssayanddo__________________________2.Awrittenorspokendescriptionofwhathappened__________________________3.Averyfastplane__________________________4.Ashortfilmandcommentaryaboutcurrentnewsevents__________________________5.Scientistwhostudiesthesun,moon,stars,planets__________________________6.Someonewhoannouncesthingsinpublic,ontelevision,or

ontheradio__________________________7.Evidencethathelpstosolveaproblem__________________________8.Apersonskilledinspeakinginsuchawaythatthevoice

seemstocomefromanotherperson__________________________9.Theremainsofarockthatfellfromspaceandlandedon

theEarth’ssurface__________________________10.SoundorpicturestransmittedoverradioortelevisionCompletetheSentenceWritethewordthatbestcompleteseachofthefollowingsentences.

1. Actorsreadtheirlinesfromthe__________________________.2. Averyfast__________________________.3. Yearsagomanypeopledependedonthemovie_______________________fornews.4. CraterLakewasadebytheimpactofagiant__________________________.5. Whenthe__________________________performedwecouldn’tseehislipsmove.6. An__________________________usesatelescopetostudystarsandplanets.7. Thepolicemadeasweepofthearea,lookingfor__________________________.8. RodFowleristhe__________________________fortheChannel8eveningnews.9. Thefootballgamewas__________________________onchannel7.10. Judyhadtogivean__________________________ofheractionsduringtherobbery.

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FigurativeLanguagePurpose:Tohelpstudentsunderstandwhatismeantbyfigurativelanguage(usinglanguageinacreativeandimaginaryway,ratherthanhowittypicallyused).Materials:Possiblyabookofexamplesoffigurativelanguage.Procedures:1.Figurativelanguagemeansanylanguagethathasmeaningotherthanthemeaningstated.So,forexample,“She’sawalkingencyclopedia”,meansthatshejustknowsalotofinformation.Anothermightbe,“He’sdrivingmeupawall”.Thismeansthatheisbuggingmeormakingmecrazy.(Seepage7,AMissiontoOshkosh)2.Youcouldintroduceoneidiomtostudentseachdayorduringeachsession.3.Anidiomisawordthatcanhavealiteralmeaningandameaningthatisdifferentfromthewayit’susuallyused.Forexample,“bitoffmorethanyoucanchew”,or“gettheballrolling”,“knockitoff”,“ruleofthumb”,“sinkorswim”,or“underdog”.4.Askthestudentwhatsomeoftheseidiomsmean.Also,studentscouldthinkofotheridioms.5.Overtime,reviewthesetypesofidiomsandencouragestudentstolearnnewconcepts.AdditionalInformation:1.Encouragestudentstothinkofidiomsthattheyhaveheardathome,onTV,inbooks,etc.2.Usesomekindofgametopracticethemeaningsoftheidiomsthathavebeenlearned.

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AMissiontoOshKosh

nervous Millieshouldhavehadcoldfeetuponspyingthegreenalligator-likemonster

being brave changed really hard acrossthestreet.HavingastiffupperlipshehurledherselflikeaGreenBayPackerattheenormousalligator.ShejusthadtokeepherdogJackawayfromthe

flawless dangerousreptiles.Itseemedlikeafoolproofplanatthetime.ButwhenMillie

running into something that doesn’t move rammedintothemonster,itwaslikehittingabrickwall.Shefelltothegroudwith

made her breathless ahalfthewindknockedoutofher.

Millieshouldhavehadcoldfeetuponspyingthegreenalligator-likemonster

acrossthestreet.HavingastiffupperlipshehurledherselflikeaGreenBay

Packerattheenormousalligator.ShejusthadtokeepherdogJackawayfromthe

dangerousreptiles.Itseemedlikeafoolproofplanatthetime.ButwhenMillie

rammedintothemonster,itwaslikehittingabrickwall.Shefelltothegroudwith

ahalfthewindknockedoutofher.

ByC.BrunkenDuplicationpermittedforeducationaluseonly

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ComprehensionofCharactersandSettinginaLiteratureBookPurpose:Tohelpstudentsunderstandcharactersandsettingsinthebooksthattheyreadinschool.Materials:1.Students’classroomliteraturebook.2.Attachedform.Procedure:1.Readtheliteraturebooktofindthesettingofthestoryandthedetailsaboutthecharacters.Thisinformationisusuallyinthefirsttwochapters.2.Then,studentscouldmakeaweborsomekindofchartofcharactersandsettingdetails.(Seepage9,graphicorganizer)3.Asstudentsreadthestory,theycanfillinthegraphicorganizer.4.Thisshouldhelpthemunderstandcharactersandsettingbettersotheycantalkaboutitinaclassdiscussion.Thisisespeciallyhelpfulforbooksthathavealotofcharacters,likeHowToKillaMockingbird.

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ToKillAMockingbirdByHarperLee

Plot

Robinson

Ewell

Haverford

Finch

Setting

CharactersRadley

Cunningham

OtherTownFolk

When Where

Resolution

ConflictRisingAction

Intro.

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InferenceingPurpose:Tohelpstudentsunderstandinferencing.Materials:1.Students’classroomtextbooks.2.Attachedforms.Procedures:1.Inferencingistheprocessthatthereadermustgothroughtounderstandthemeaningofwhatiswrittenandwhatthewritermeant.Forexample,ifatextbooksays,“Itwasfall,andwinterwascomingsoon”,thisimpliesthattheleaveswerechangingcolorsandfallingoffthetrees,theweatherwasbecomingcooler,itwasfootballseason,andschoolhadstartedagain.2.Ifstudentsread“Wehadaveryhardwinter”,theymightthinkthatitwascold,andtherewasalotofsnowandice(Seepage11)3.Takeanytextbookandworktogethertocomeupwithwords,phrases,orsentencesfromaparagraphwhereyouneedtouseinferencing(Showanothertextbookfromtheircurriculum)

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Inferencingis“Theprocessthatthereadermustgothroughtogetliteralmeaningofwhatiswrittentowhatthewriterintendedtoconvey.”Example:MorethanhalfofallaccidentsintheUnitedStateshappenonstreetsandhighways.Almost50,000peoplediedinautomobileaccidentsinarecentyear,andalmost2millionotherswereseriouslyinjured.Thesestatisticsincludepedestrians,bicycleridersandautomobiledriversandpassengers.WhatIinferencedfromtheparagraphabove:It’seasiertonotpayattentionwhendrivingandgetintoanaccident.

1) Whenpeopleinhalepollutedair,harmfulmaterialscalledpollutantsentertheirbodies.Regularlybreathingcertainpollutantsincreaseaperson’schancesofdevelopingcertaindiseases,suchaslungcancerandemphysema.Pollutedaircanalsomakediseasessuchasallergies,asthma,coldsandpneumoniamoresevere.

Whatdidyouinferencefromthisparagraph?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2) Smokersmayusemanydifferentmethodstostop.Somesmokersmaysmokefewerandfewercigaretteseachdayuntiltheyhavestoppedaltogether.Otherpeopleuseasetofspecialfilters,eachofwhichtakesalittlemorenicotinefromthesmoke.Otherpeopleareabletostopsmokingallatonceandneversmokeagain.Intimetheyfindthatthedesiregoesaway.

Whatdidyouinferencefromthisparagraph?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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VisualStrategies

Purpose:Tohelpstudentsunderstandinformationintheirtextbooksbyusingpicturesthatrepresentthekeypointswithinthetext.Materials:1.Students’classroomtextbooks.Procedures:1.Useastorythathaspicturestohelpthestudentsunderstandthestory.(Showatextbookfromtheircurriculum)2.Ifusingastorywithoutpicturesstudentscanworktogethertocomeupwithpicturestohelpmakethestoryeasiertounderstand.(Showatextbookfromtheircurriculum)

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WrittenLanguage:CompleteVersusIncompleteSentencesPurpose:Tohelpstudentsunderstandthedifferencebetweencompleteandincompletesentences.Alotofstudentsdonotwriteincompletesentences,butthisisaveryimportantskilliftheywanttogetajob.Materials:1.Students’classroomtextbooks.2.Attachedforms.Procedures:1.Sentenceshavetwopartsasubjectandapredicate.Thesubjectnamessomeoneorsomething.Predicatestellwhatthesubjectisordoes.Aneasywaytothinkofit;Subject:Whoorwhatisthesentenceabout?Predicate:Whathappened?2.Trytomakeacoupleofcompletesentences.(Talktostudentsaboutsentences,subjectsandpredicates,andexplainwhythesentenceiscomplete)3.Nexthavestudentstrytocomeupwithacoupleofincompletesentences.What’smissingfromthesesentences?Whyaretheynotcomplete?Howcouldyoufixthem?4.Topractice,studentscoulddoaworksheetthathassentencesfromoneoftheirtextbooksinschool.Studentscouldfigureoutifeachsentenceiscompleteorincomplete.(Seepage14)

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Date:____________________Name:__________________________

CompleteorIncompleteSentencesCrash

Directions:WritetheletterCinfrontofthesentenceifitisacompletesentence.WritetheletterIinfrontofthesentenceifitisanincompletesentence.____1.Pennturned,sagging.

____2.Hesniffed.

____3.ButIwashavingproblemshatinghim.

____4.Draw!

____5.Iglaredathim.

____6.ButyourrealnameisJohnPatrickCoogan

____7.Becauseyou’remybestfriendinPennsylvania.

____8.Iwaskindofcurioustogetalookatthebossdorks.

____9.AndIdidn’tlikehimcallingmefriend.

____10.Icouldn’ttellthismoronanything.

____11.Iputtheturtleonitsbackinthemiddleofthesidewalk.

____12.SoIgaveitbacktohim.

____13.Ifyoubeatmeinwrestling.

____14.DidyouknowyoursonisaQuaker?

____15.Idumpedthemeatballinthemiddleoftheirfrontsteps.

ByC.BrunkenDuplicationpermittedforeducationaluseonly

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TestModificationsPurpose:Tohelpstudentsbesuccessfulwhentakingtestsatschoolbyhelpingthemshowwhattheyunderstand.Materials:1.Trytogetacopyofthetestthestudentswouldtakefromtheirteacher.Thenuseittoshowthestudentshowtobemoresuccessfulwhentakingthattest.2.Somechangescouldbemadetothetestssuchas;addingawordbankforfill-in-theblankquestions,reducingthenumberofchoicesinmultiplechoicequestions,andtakingoutconfusingwords.3.Anotherexampleistheuseofhighlightingkeywordsineachquestiontoletthestudentsknowwhattopayattentionto.(Seepage16)

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SocialStudiesChapter9Test

Name:________________________ Date:_______________________Choosethecorrectanswerandwriteitontheline.____1.TheMayasgrewonemaincrop.Itprovidedthepeoplewithplentyoffood.

Whatcropwasit?

a. Tomatoes b.Corn c.Squash

____2.TheMayaswerethefirstpeopletodevelopasystemforwritingdowntheir

ideas.Thesystemwascalled___________.

a. Hieroglyphicsb.Pyramids c.Chinampas

____3.WhowasatthebottomoftheMayansocialpyramid?

a. Priests b.Farmers c.Nobles

____4.WhowsatthetopoftheMayansocialpyramid?

a. Farmers b.Traders c.Priests

____5.TheAztecsusedfloatinggardenstogrowtheirfood.Thesewerecalled______.

a. Chinampas b.Hieroglyphics c.Causeways

____6.TheAztecsrequiredallchildrento____________.

ByC.BrunkenDuplicationpermittedforeducationaluseonly

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ParagraphOrganizersPurpose:Togivestudentsanoutlineforwritingparagraphsinaregularclassroom.Materials:1.Students’classroomtextbooks.2.Hangouts.Procedures:1.Manystudentshaveahardtimewritingparagraphs,eveninhighschool.Often,theorganizationdoesnotmakesensetothem,anditishardtounderstandhowtowriteagoodparagraph.2.Thefirstexamplewehaveisanorganizerthatworkswellwitholderstudents.Studentswouldcomeupwiththemainideaandsupportingdetails.(Seepage18)

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ParagraphOrganizerTopicSentence:_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

SupportingDetails:

1)______________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

2)______________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

3)______________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

4)______________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion:___________________________________________________________________________________

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Paragraph

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_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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ByC.Brunken

Duplicationpermittedforeducationaluseonly

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ClassroomBehaviorRatingScalePurpose:Togivestudentsatoolforratingtheirongoingcommunicationbehaviorintheclassroomsetting.Materials:1.Seeattachedexample.Procedures:1.First,observethestudentsandtalktothem,theirteachers,andtheirparentstofigureoutwhichcommunicationbehaviorstotarget.Forexample,studentsmightneedtoworkontakingturnsinaconversation,stayingontopic,ornotinterruptingthepersontheyaretalkingto.2.Onceseveralcommunicationbehaviorsthatarechallengingforthestudentisdecided,aratingscaleisdeveloped.(Seepage20)Itmaybehelpfultomeetwiththestudent,theirteachers,andtheirparentstoshowhowtousetheratingscale.3.Forexample,thestudentcouldratethemselfattheendofeachclassperiod,andtheteachercouldalsoratethestudentsattheendofeachclass.4.Attheendoftheday,thestudentcouldreviewtheform.Thestudentcouldcomparetheiranswerswiththeteacher’s.

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1=Never2=Occasionally3=Halfofthetime4=Mostofthetime5=Always

1stPeriod SelfRating TeacherRatingIwatchedtheteacherwhilehe/shewastalked. 12345 12345Iignoredotherstudentsintheclass. 12345 12345ILeftmyschoolsuppliesalone. 12345 123452ndPeriod SelfRating TeacherRatingIwatchedtheteacherwhilehe/shewastalked. 12345 12345Iignoredotherstudentsintheclass. 12345 12345ILeftmyschoolsuppliesalone. 12345 123453rdPeriod SelfRating TeacherRatingIwatchedtheteacherwhilehe/shewastalked. 12345 12345Iignoredotherstudentsintheclass. 12345 12345ILeftmyschoolsuppliesalone. 12345 123454thPeriod SelfRating TeacherRatingIwatchedtheteacherwhilehe/shewastalked. 12345 12345Iignoredotherstudentsintheclass. 12345 12345ILeftmyschoolsuppliesalone. 12345 123455thPeriod SelfRating TeacherRatingIwatchedtheteacherwhilehe/shewastalked. 12345 12345Iignoredotherstudentsintheclass. 12345 12345ILeftmyschoolsuppliesalone. 12345 123456thPeriod SelfRating TeacherRatingIwatchedtheteacherwhilehe/shewastalked. 12345 12345Iignoredotherstudentsintheclass. 12345 12345ILeftmyschoolsuppliesalone. 12345 123457thPeriod SelfRating TeacherRatingIwatchedtheteacherwhilehe/shewastalked. 12345 12345Iignoredotherstudentsintheclass. 12345 12345ILeftmyschoolsuppliesalone. 12345 12345

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Date:_______________ StartTime:____:____ EndTime____:____ TotalTime:_________Pretendyouaretheteacheratthelastschoolyouattended.Whatwouldyouhavedoneastheteachertomakeschoolmoresuccessfulforstudentslikeyourselves?StudentIDNumbers:__________________________________________________________________*TrytoprecedeeachutterancewithindividualIDnumbersifpossible.ID# Comments