Rebecca Sitton’s Appleseed—Feb 2010 » Sourcebook Teaching Tips 1

Vocabulary

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Model making a Concept of Definition Map (Frayer Model) with the word Winter on a large sheet of chart paper or an interactive whiteboard. Invite the class to define winter and describe its characteristics. Have students write or draw examples and non-examples.

DEFINITION	CHARACTERISTICS
KEY WORD WINTER
EXAMPLES	NON-EXAMPLES

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Brainstorm winter-related words as a class. Challenge groups to find winter words in their reading, science books, in the dictionary, or through various online resources.

Possible words include chill, frost, iciness, freeze, blizzard, avalanche, condensation, weather, shiver, slush, forecast.

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Appoint individual students as resident experts on one winter-related word and have them complete a COD map for this word. Challenge them to teach it to the class.

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Display the COD maps and word lists on the wall or bind them into a class book. Encourage students to use them as reference when they write.

Word Work

•	Write winter on the board.
•	Point out the –er ending.
•	Have teams of students generate a list of words that end in the unstressed /er/, including –er, –or, –ar, and –ur. Sort the words by ending. Which ending occurs most often?
•	What function does the /er/ have in each word? Resort the words by function. Does the /er/ mean "one who", as in teacher, "more", as in larger, or is it part of the base word, as in dinner?