School Vocabulary FREEBIE!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Do you have little learners who are struggling with the words necessary to read directions in school? I'm thinking of words like "glue", "pencil", "crayons", and "paper". Here's a little freebie to strengthen their reading of school vocabulary.

It includes directions, word cards, and a recording sheet. Plus, when your students shake the bottle, it's a great way to squeeze in a bit of movement without anybody leaving their seats! :)  Just click on the image to download. Enjoy!

If you'd like another way to practice these words, try School Time Riddles. See this set here!

Have a great week!
Happy Teaching!

Happiness is... Building Vocab with Class Books!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Do you remember the Peanuts cartoon, "Happiness is a warm puppy"?



I didn't know until today that the "Love is..." cartoons by Kim Casali are still being drawn. My sister-in-law drew one on a cake for us when I was first pregnant back in (gulp!) 1978! Our newspaper doesn't carry "Love is..." , so I haven't seen those sweet little things in years.

 

I was thinking about both of those cartoons today, and how they can provide a format for class books. What a great way to extend your students' understanding of new vocabulary!

 

 

Let's say you're teaching one of these words.

 

 

 

Not the easiest words to explain, which is why we usually resort to using examples. Creating word pictures to define these terms makes them memorable for us, and writing & illustrating based on their own experiences makes them even more vivid for students. Think about examples like these.

 

 

" Independence is tying your shoes by yourself."

 

 

"Ambivalence is deciding whether to have chocolate or strawberry ice cream."

 

 

If each of your students writes a sentence to define the word and then illustrates it,  you've got a great bulletin board display. But why not keep the learning going by making a simple cover and binding the pages into a class book? You might like to use this template. Or, keep it even simpler and just give your students  a half sheet of picture/story paper.

 

 

 

 

Think of the great examples your students will come up with for these adjectives.

 

 



 

 

" Optimistic is believing that it will snow today."

 

"Inquisitive is when my little brother spread butter on the bottom of his shoes because he wanted to know if he could skate with it."

 

 

This could easily be carried over into content area vocabulary. Science words, math terms, and how about character education?

 

 

 





Can you tell that I was having fun making these word collages?

 

 

I hope you'll find a new way to incorporate this writing experience into your vocabulary instruction.

Please leave a comment to share your idea with us!

 

 

Happy Teaching!

 

Vocab Resource- What a Deal! And a Freebie, Too!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

I want to clue you in to a very special deal on one of my favorite resources over at Teachers Notebook. There's a 40% off Daily Deal today only on Vocabulary Practice for Literacy Centers: Games and Activities for Any Word List.

 

 

Here's a closer look!



 

 

 

 

You might remember Click, Clack, Around the Track, that was a free sample here a few posts ago. It came from Vocabulary Practice for Literacy Centers.  Click here, if you missed it and would like a copy.

And just for fun, here's another vocabulary game freebie, "Up the Rock Wall!", similar to the types of activities that are included in the set, but free only here at Primary Inspiration!

 

 

Happy Teaching!

Vocabulary Game Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

It's the time of year for tying up the loose ends and filling in the gaps... it's time for review, review, and more review! Here's a set of games and activities that will help you do just that with any set of words you choose!

Word Wall words? Sure.
Robust vocabulary? Got it covered.
Spelling words? Yep.
Content area vocabulary? Done.

The nice thing is that you can teach these games once, and use them over and over again for different words.  Also, your students will be doing the writing of the words on these activities, so once you've prepared them once, there's virtually no more for you to do!

Want to try one free? Here you go!

Enjoy!

November Vocabulary Games, Plus a FREEBIE!

Has this happened to you?

I'll never forget ... How could I? It happened on more than one occasion!... asking introductory questions about Pilgrims and the Mayflower and getting totally blank stares from my first graders. Aaagh - you know they spent tons of time on this in kindergarten and probably in preschool, too, elaborate feasts and all! 

But, to be fair, there are a whole lot of facts and concepts to be learned in November, to say nothing of vocabulary like cornucopia and veteran! Tough stuff for our little guys!

Here's a set of seven games and center activities that will help those November vocabulary words stick!  

The set includes 29 word cards with suggestions for using them for differentiated alphabetical order activities, write the room pages, and more. 

You'll also get a set of 14 pairs of picture /word/ definition cards that make a great at-your-desk center., for matching or memory games. 

There are also three easy prep one-page board games (with no cards to print!), plus directions and materials for making a shaker bottle activity. 

Use these activities to stock your literacy centers in November and watch those oh-so-many vocabulary words become automatic for your students!

Click here or the cover to see it at my TPT store.

Here's "Turkey Feathers!", your free sample game from the November vocabulary activity set.

This resource was edited and updated on 11/2/24.

  Happy Teaching!