Phonics/SpellingVowel Changes

Rule: Some words related in meaning are also related in spelling, even though the vowel sound may change.

Compare the spelling and pronunciation to the two similar words.

Compare the meanings, spellings, and pronunciations of each pair.

Long Vowel Sound1st syllable

ā ē ī ō ū

Short vowel sound1st syllable

ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ

steal stealth

heal health

breathe breath

deal dealt

athlete athletic

cave cavity

shade shadow

Long Vowel Sound1st syllable

ā ē ī ō ū

Short vowel sound1st syllable

ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ

volcano volcanic

wise wisdom

crime criminal

wild wilderness

revise revision

final finish

cycle bicycle

Long Vowel Sound

1st syllableShort Vowel Sound

1st syllable

steal stealth

heal health

breathe breath

deal dealt

athlete ath lete athletic ath let ic

cave cavity cav i ty

shade shadow shad ow

volcano vol ca no volcanic vol can ic

wise wisdom wis dom

crime criminal crim i nal

wild wilderness wil der ness

revise re vise revision re vi sion

final fi nal finish fin ish

cycle cy cle bicycle bi cy cle

Out on the frontier of the 1800s, American settlers liked to exaggerate. They created heroes and heroines who were larger than life and did amazing deeds. The result was a

new kind of story - the tall tale.

Tall tales are still told today. After you read these examples, add to the tradition and write your own!

Tall Tales

Paul

Bunyan, the

Mightiest

Logger of Them

Allretold

by Mary Pope

OsborneSally Ann

Thunder Ann

Whirlwind

retold by Mary

Pope Osborne

John Henry RacesThe

Steam Drill

retold by Paul

Robert Walker

FebruaryFrom

McBroom’s Almanac

by Sid

Fleischman

Theme 1:Nature’s FuryTeacher Read Aloud: Bess CallRetold by Kevin Supples

Building Background:1. The genre focus is Tall Tales2. What do you know about tall tale characters?

Comprehension Skill: Understanding Tall Tales1. Tall Tales differ from other stories.2. The characters and events are exaggerated.3. Some tall tales explain how a natural phenomenon or event came about.

Theme 1:Nature’s Fury

Setting a Purpose: Pay attention to exaggerated characters and actions as I read aloud, Bess Call.

1.What clues tell you that the story is a tall tale?

2.Which of Bess’s and Joe’s activities are clues that the story is a tall tale?

3. Why do you think Dewey D. finally leaves, never to return to Call Farm?

Loggers

Vocabulary Fluency

How Fast Can You Read the Words?

deeds tale

settler

exaggerate

frontier

tradition

hero

heroine

varmint

forage

dismal

instinct

acts or actions

deeds

The young boy was knighted for his virtuous and brave deeds.

Synonyms:endeavorsaccomplishments

the main male character in a story, poem, or play

hero

The hero was commended with a medal and a key to the city.

Synonym:conqueroridol

to describe something as being greater or larger that it really is

exaggerate

She has a tendency to exaggerate the truth.

Synonyms:

embellishinflate

frontier

The development of the railroad helped to move the American frontier farther west.

a remote area beyond which few people live

the main female character in a story, poem, or play

heroine

Everyone called Mandy a heroine after she saved the kitten from the pond.

Synonyms:conqueroridol

a person who settles in a new region

settler

The settler laid claim to the piece of land.

Synonyms:colonistpioneer

a story, usually an imaginary or made-up one

tale

A good storyteller makes any tale exciting.

Synonyms:fictionnarrative

tradition

an idea, custom, or belief that is passed down from one generation to the next

It is a family tradition to make carmel apples and popcorn balls on Halloween.

Synonyms:ritualpractice

varmint

wild creature

I can outgrin, outsnort, outrun, outlift, outsneeze, outsleep, outlie any varmint from Maine to Louisiana.

forage

search

One evening Mike crept into an old alligator skin and met Sally just as she was taking off to forage in the woods for berries.

Synonyms:scavengerummage

dismal

gloomy

Folks around here call it McBroom’s Natural Winter Extract & Relief for the Summer Dismals.

Synonyms:drabdrearybleak

instinct

knowledge one is born with

That holey black sock had the instinct of a homing pigeon.

Synonymsintuitionsense