Introduce vocabulary: Curious George Rides a Bike (Rey, 1973)
From FreeReading
| Activity Type: Introduce |
| Activity Form: Standard |
| Grade: K, 1 |
| Group Size: Small Group, Whole Class |
| Length: 30 minutes |
| Materials: Curious George Rides a Bike, H. A. Rey |
| Goal: Given a word, the student can say its meaning |
| Items: curious, enormous, fascinated, acquainted, whisked |
What to do
- If more than three words are listed below, choose three. (It's tough for students to take in more than three new words in one go.) Write the three words on sentence strips (so they can easily be displayed after the lesson).
- I'm going to read a new book to you today. It's called Curious George Rides a Bike. It uses some words you might not know, so I'm going to tell you the words now. Then, when I read the story, I want you to raise your hand when you hear the word. Okay?
- Tell students the three words and their meanings. Have them repeat the words back to you.
- Remember, when you hear any of our three words, raise your hand. Ready?
- Read the story. Praise students who correctly identify the words as you read. Repeat each word's meaning as you encounter it.
- When you finish reading, go through the three words giving the complete sequence below for each word. You can give the examples/non-examples either to the whole group or to individual students. Feel free to add your own examples and non-examples, particularly if students seem unclear.
- Optionally, read the story again.
- Students need to encounter a word multiple times before learning it. So:
- Try to find opportunities to use the three words during other activities in the next 24 hours.
- Ask students to use the word themselves and praise them strongly when they do.
- Be particularly excited about usage in contexts different from that in the book you read, since students often have difficulty dissociating a word and the specific context in which they first came across it.
curious
- Curious means to want to know more about something. What's the word?
- I am curious to learn about how sunflowers grow. If you're curious about something, ask your teacher lots of questions.
- I'm going to name some things. If you think you would want to know more about the thing, say curious. Otherwise, stay quiet. Ready?
- A desk in the classroom
- A very big bug
- How people build rockets
- Why the sun comes up in the east
- A bird in a cage
enormous
- Enormous means really, really big. What's the word?
- The ocean is an enormous body of water. You will grow bigger, but you won't become enormous.
- I'm going to name some animals. If you think the animal is much, much bigger than a mouse, say enormous. Otherwise, stay quiet.
- A cat
- An elephant
- A duck
- A giraffe
- A squirrel
fascinating
- Fascinated means very interested in something. What's the word?
- The librarian is fascinated by books. If you enjoy reading all about animals, you could say you're fascinated by them.
- I'm going to name some things. If you think doctors are very interested in the thing, say fascinated. Otherwise, keep quiet. Ready?
- Bones
- Lemonade
- Medicine
- Diseases
- Tires on a car
acquainted
- Acquainted means to get to know someone. What's the word?
- It took me a long time to get acquainted with all the people in my new school. Once you meet everyone in your class, you will be acquainted with them.
- I'm going to name some people. If you have met that person, say acquainted. Otherwise, stay quiet. Ready?
- The president of the United States
- Your brother or sister
- The lady who wrote the Harry Potter books
- The child sitting next to you
- Me
whisked
- Whisked means to move something quickly away. What's the word?
- The wind whisked the leaves off the roof. When you clean up your room in a hurry, you could say I whisked through my chores.
- I'm going to name some items. If the wind could quickly move the item away, say whisked. Otherwise, stay quiet. Ready?
- A load of bricks
- Feathers
- Dust
- A house
- A piece of paper