Vocabulary & Technology

Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night by Cynthia Rylant

For Word Work, click on one of the six links below to play your vocabulary game.  Stay on task the entire time.  If you finish a game, choose a new one.  When the timer goes off, please close out of your game. 

• Jigsaw Words
• Match Word
• Speed Word
• Word Search
• Word Web
• Read a Word

For teachers, the following game could be played at the end of Word Work to assess vocabulary knowledge. 

Whole Class Vocabulary Game


Be careful! These games require Flash and therefore do not work on iPads or iPod Touches!

Below is the mini-lesson plan that accompanies these links.

EDTL 6100: Mini-lesson Plan

 Technology & Literacy

Subject Area: Reading

Lesson Topic: Vocabulary               

Grade Level: Second Grade

Text Material: Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night by Cynthia Rylant 

(In Reading Street Basal)

Standards/Objectives for Lesson:

Common Core State Standards- Second Grade

Language

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.

a.              Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

b.              Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).

c.              Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).

d.              Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).

e.              Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.

 Lesson rationale: (Using APA format, explain why the lesson approach you’ve

chosen illustrates best literacy practice. Cite a minimum of 3 sources from your

course readings as support.)

This lesson plan allows students to use technology to learn, apply, and review vocabulary words. According to Tzu-Chien Liu and Po-Han Lin (2011) with advancing technology, vocabulary acquisition and instruction are changing.  Students use book dictionaries less and have access to new web-based tools that allow them to quickly find the meaning of unknown words.  Students will be expected to use web-based tools to find information including vocabulary definitions.  According to David Reinking (1994) students should be using technology tools while reading.  For example, they should be accessing the meaning of difficult vocabulary words through the icons on the screen they are reading on.  Although students are not reading the text independently in its entirety, they are still using the skills necessary to find the meaning of unknown words in text.  David (1994) describes that technological tools allow students to access a richer experience in many ways.  For example, the vocabulary games provided allow for a visual, tactile, and auditory experience.  The games also provide different graphic organizing tools within the construct of the game. According to the International Reading Association (2009) literacy looks different through 21^st-century technologies.  Students need to be equipped with the skills and strategies to navigate text and use its options to their advantage.

 Briefly outline your lesson steps in bullet points:

• As a whole group, students and teacher will read sentences on the SMART Board including each of the vocabulary words from the story before students read it.  Students will describe the strategy they used to determine the meaning of the word.  Teacher will scaffold descriptions to add to understanding.

• Teacher will write the meaning determined by the class and check it against the dictionary answer using an online dictionary.

• Students will be released to do “Word Work” at their tables using the laptops or stationary computers.  Children will be given links to six possible vocabulary practice games.  These games are all listed on the following website: http://amanda-randolph-reading-resources.blogspot.com/2013/03/henry-and-mudge-and-starry-night.html

•  Students will be allowed to play their game for an allotted 7 minutes.  A timer will be set on the SMART Board so that students can monitor their time.  An example of one of the games is shown below. After 7 minutes, students will close out of their games.

• As a culminating activity, the teacher will write vocabulary definitions and sentences with words missing on the board. Students will use the application on the iPad to write their answer and hold it up for the teacher to see.  (In an actual classroom, whiteboards would likely be used to write and display answers.)