Text Features are Tools to Promote Reading Comprehension

Title, Table of Contents, Glossary, Captions and Images are all Tools to Help Readers Gain Understanding of What They are Reading!

Use Text Features to Answer Comprehension Questions

Additional Practice with Text Features

Use Text Features to Answer Comprehension Questions

DIY Cupcake Mix & Match - Promotes Cognitive Development!

Cupcake Mix & Match - Create a Felt Board, and Matching Felt Cupcake Bottoms and Tops.  Next, mix them up and have children create matching pairs.

Design matching pairs in which the tops and bottoms can be changed.  This activity is designed to challenge children in making numerous cupcake matches.

Materials Needed: Stiff Felt Sheets in Varied Bright Colors and Template (on this Post )- Using the Template cut out different colored bottoms and tops.  It is important to make matching pairs so that they can be matched.  Next, place felt stickers purchased at any craft store on the tops of the cupcakes.  Again, make sure there are matching pairs.

DIY Felt Board

Cupcake Template

Additional Activity - Patterning

Shades of Meaning

Shades of Meaning are Similar Words of Increased Degrees of Meaning!  For example the word ecstatic demonstrates a stronger emotion compared to the word  happy as shown in the following sentences:  (1)Jimmy was ecstatic when he got his puppy; (2) Jimmy was happy when he got his puppy.  This is a fun collaborative vocabulary activity to teach/practice shades of meaning.  Supplies needed : mini pocket chart, word strength meter, cards and practice pages! In collaborate groups have children discuss sets of words (five in each set) and have them order the words according to the following degrees of intensity: weak, slight, moderate, substantial and strong and ask them to defend their word order.

Word Strength Meter Resource - Sets of words should be ordered accordingly.

Shades of Meaning Practice Page

Blank (fill in ) Shades of Meaning Practice Page

Shades of Meaning Vocabulary Words - Sets are Colored Coded

Easy Storage - Can be kept in binders

Making Icosahedrons - Learning Resources

Combining Geometry with Reading!  What a Find!  I am always on the hunt for highly engaging learning activities!  I found Customizable Icosahedron by Teaching Tree at the Dollar Store! The activity contains 20 blank triangles.

To create the Word Family Icosahedron, I cut out the triangles, drew the pictures, and folded each triangle along the dotted lines.  Then I placed the triangles into 3 rows and glued them together.  Next, I took the middle row and glued the two end tabs together creating a circle!

Success!  I then tucked in and glued each tab to make a Word Family Icosahedron!  Children love reading the Icosahedron and saying words that belong to each  word family.  They also like to count the sides and  talk about the shape.

With older children, I had students select a part of speech or a phonics rule and demonstrate its meaning on a triangle. 

Next, the children folded the triangles, put them in rows and glued them together!

They created an impressive  Icosahedron!