ELA Vocabulary

This last year, my team and I worked HARD to get our kids ready for not only the state test, but our rigorous programs in fourth, fifth and sixth grade. We use the Wonders teaching curriculum, which has great stories to go along with the common core standards, but isn't always the most organized when it comes to close reading. We also use Spalding Spelling and Shurley to teach parts of speech and sentence structure. While this last year was a huge learning curve for me, I learned so much! One area we reflected back and identified a need for more direct instruction after receiving our state testing scores is ELA vocabulary terms. Everyday, we go over math vocabulary terms but we do not go over vocabulary terms. So, I set out on a mission! My teammate found a list of vocabulary words recommended by our state testing - ISAT, and I also looked up other words, and looked back and thought about terms that our kids struggled to remember this year. I came up with about 150 vocabulary words to go through over the course of the year. Now, I won't hit all these words daily. Just like everything else we do at our school, it will be done in a spiral format. I will start with the first five words of set 1 and cover those on day 1, day 2 the first 5 words of set 2, etc... So, by the end of the first quarter, they will have heard all of the words at least 5 times (with the words at the beginning of each set being added to every time we go back, so once you've covered the first five words of all four sets, you go back to the first set and do the first 10, then the first 15 and so on and so fourth) . It's what we do to teach math vocabulary and it works wonders!

In each product, there is: a list of all words included, student vocabulary cards with and without pictures to help jog the memory, and a PowerPoint slide show to review slides everyday.

I don't post the cards in the room for the students to see for a few reasons - I want them to memorize the definitions in order to use them when it comes time for end of the year testing, and I just plain don't have the wall space!  


I am so excited to use these products! I cannot wait to see them in action, and know that they will work wonders...

To see them on TPT:

To see my teammates math vocabulary:

Vocabulary Stories: Teaching Vocabulary through Drama and Fun!

Are you bored with vocabulary instruction?

Tired of filling in boxes and coming up with sentences?

Bored with doing the same thing over and over, and want students to take charge?

Have students who don't participate?

This year I was introduced to a new strategy for teaching vocabulary and it is highly engaging, interactive, and fun for the whole class!

The use of Vocabulary Stories helps students define, use, and apply vocabulary words which leads to better reading comprehension skills. 

Steps to Implementation: 

1. Choose 7-10 vocabulary words that are not content based.

2. Create a meaningful story that teaches a moral or a lesson using the vocabulary words in context.

3. Decide on motions to go along with each of the vocabulary words 

4. Introduce the story to your class - discuss the meaning of each vocabulary word and show students the motion you want them to use.

5. Practice daily to see improved vocabulary use - remember to do the motions every time: if there are parts that could require a specific actor, you may have individual students come up and perform that part (you can include dialogue

6. Perform your stories for other classes, your principal, or parents and see how impressed they are! 

Sample Vocabulary Story for Third Grade: 

Egregious: remarkably bad

Distraught: mentally confused, crazed

Duplicity: cunning, trickery

Acrimonious: bitter

Paucity: scarcity

Don’t worry be happy.  If you have ever made an egregious mistake because of someone else’s duplicity, don’t be distraught, or acrimonious. Turn the other cheek.  We can only be a better world with a paucity of negativity and a plethora of kindness.  Turn your frown upside down and smile!

Do you use vocabulary stories in your class? Share them here :) 

Student Led Conferences: How to Set Up Students For Success

This is my first year doing student-led conferences. As a school, we have student led conferences after first quarter and third quarter. This method of conferences seemed daunting at first, but this time around, I'm feeling confident and so much more at ease. After this last round of student led conferences, I will never go back! They teach real life skills and allow students to reflect on their learning. Check out this post for more information on how to set students up for success with student led conferences!

Check out the Reflections Here: 

The Third Grade Nest