Billy was a student of mine who was frustrated because he could not read grade-level material. When I asked him how I might help, he knew exactly what he needed: "Teach me what words mean so I can understand what I read."

Vocabulary is so important to comprehending texts that we study it before, during, and after reading. With mini-lesson activities like the following, I guide students toward making connections between what they know about words and what they need to know to understand texts.

• Primary Activity: Vocabulary Connections
• Intermediate Activity: Webbing Roots
• Vocabulary Record Sheet

Materials: chart paper, picture books, a marker, primary dictionaries and thesauruses

Time Needed: two 40-minute periods

Steps:

Here's how I linked what students knew about the word erupt to its meaning in books.

1. Think of a synonym for eruptthat students know, such as burst. Ask: What happens when something bursts? "Stuff shoots out, like when you shake a soda bottle and open it," is a typical response. Write burst on chart paper and list all responses.

2. On the next line, write thenew word erupt, along with various forms of the word they may encounter: erupted, erupting, and eruption, for example. Tell the students, "What you know about burst will help you understand the new word, erupt, when you meet it in books."

3. Have students look at books on volcanoes and discuss the new word. Using their observations, write sentences containing forms of erupt, such as, "When the mountain erupted, ashes flew," or "The eruption's blast flattened trees."

4. Ask kids to come up with other situations in which erupt might be used. Write their ideas on the chart under the heading SITUATIONS.

5. To extend their knowledge of the word, have students think of more synonyms for erupt. Record their suggestions on the chart, under the heading other ways to say erupt. This is an ideal time to model how to use the thesaurus and dictionary.

Materials: chart paper, two different colored markers, dictionaries, reproducible Vocabulary Record Sheet

Time Needed: 15 minutes each day for 5 days

Procedure:

1. Select a word that relates to a topic you're studying, such as meter, derived from the Greek word for measure.

2. Print meter, with its origin and definition, in the center of a large piece of chart paper and draw a circle around it.

3. In teams of four, have students brainstorm words that contain meter.

4. Collect students' suggestions and place them next to lines branching out from the center circle. At first, my sixth graders only offered words connected to their study of metrics, such as centimeter and kilometer. Then they began suggesting words such as barometer, odometer, and iambic pentameter.

5. Distribute the Vocabulary Record Sheet and assign a few new words to each team. Have students record their team's words and predict definitions using their knowledge of the words' roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

6. Ask teams to refine their predictions, using the dictionaries. Students should record adjustments on their sheets.

7. Invite teams to share predictions/adjustments.

8. Record predictions and adjustments on chart paper using different colored markers for each, then have teams collaborate and write meaningful sentences for each of their words.

Date:

Think about and discuss each word below with your team. Then next to each word, predict its meaning using what you know about the root, prefixes, suffixes, as well as your own experiences. Afterward, check dictionaries and other sources, and adjust your predictions.

WORD #1:

WORD #2:

WORD #3:

WORD #4:

Laura Robb, a classroom teacher for 34 years, currently teaches eighth grade at Powhatan School in Boyce, Virginia, and coaches teachers in grades K-8. She is the author of Reading Strategies that Work (Scholastic Professional Books, 1996) and Whole Language, Whole Learners (Morrow, 1994).

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