Standards: W1, W2, L1, L2, L3, L4, L6
Sentence Stems
Adapted
from Bringing Words to Life, 80-81.
Teachers
often assign students to write sentences that include a solid context clue for
vocabulary words. These sentences provide the raw material for sentence stems.
Remove the context clues from the most effective sentences and reassign the
sentence stems for completion. For example, these sentence stems were
constructed from sentences written by grade 10 RHS students who had been assigned
to write sentences using character vocabulary words.
Directions: Complete these sentence stems by
adding words and phrases that vividly explain the meaning of the vocabulary
words in bold.
1.
Some
consumers are so gullible and naïve
that they...
2.
Sometimes
the news media can be very manipulative;
for example,...
3.
One
example in history of a treacherous dictator
is _______________________, who...
4.
I
feel anxious every time I...
5.
Many
people are skeptical of
_____________________ because...
Cloze / Fill-in-the-Blank Passages
Adapted
from Janet Allen, “Mastering the Art of Effective Vocabulary Instruction,”
(87-104).
Select
a short but challenging passage from an assigned text, leaving out words you
want students to put in the context of their reading. Provide a word bank and
have them work in pairs or small groups so they can discuss the words and the
contexts. Leave the first paragraph intact to provide a foundation for the
paragraphs that are incomplete. This can be done before or during the reading
of the text. Try filling in this passage from page 121 of Oh, Yuck!
The Poop on Poop
You
have just eaten a wonderful dinner. A thick, juicy cheeseburger, a tall glass
of milk, a salad (okay, your parents made you eat that part), and a hunk of watermelon
for dessert.
From the moment that _________________________ touches
your tongue,
your ___________________________ starts breaking it
_________________
into smaller and smaller pieces so that it can get to the
parts it needs – the proteins, the
_______________, and _____________________
that ___________________
your engines. Whatever’s left over after that has got
to get
________________________.
Possible Sentences
From
Janet Allen, “Mastering the Art of Effective Vocabulary Instruction,” 99.
This
activity challenges students to choose two or more of the key vocabulary words
from a text or unit of study and write sentences that predict “how they think
those words will be used in the context of their reading.” After students read
the text in pairs or small groups, they revise their possible sentences based
on their new understanding of the words. For a helpful example, view these Possible Sentences: The Digestive System from Janet Allen’s
book.