vocabulary
Synonym Graphs
Use a two-dimensional scatter plot to dig into the nuances of several synonyms.
Word Pyramids – A Delightful Vocabulary Puzzle
A fun, abstract vocab puzzle in which students can add one letter per line, forming a pyramid of words.
Exploring Palindromes in ELA and Math
Palindromes are one of those fun ideas that some gifted kids just latch onto. We’ll check out palindromic words, phrases, and even numbers in this article.
Going Beyond “Challenge Words” In Spelling
Many students blow past grade-level spelling and vocabulary at a young age. Unfortunately, a common technique to “challenge” them is to find harder and more obscure words for their spelling list. Instead, let’s take advantage of the built-in complexity of common words with multiple-meanings.
Studying Ambiguous Sentences
This type of sentence has great possibilities for classroom application because of its two different interpretations. It’s a perfect tool to: demonstrate careful reading, showcase the need for editing while writing, and encourage creativity and divergent thinking.
Jabberwocky, Parts of Speech, and Context Clues
Let’s see how we can use a classic piece of poetry to enhance a lesson on parts of speech or context clues. This provides exposure to a great work and also increases the complexity of a typical task.
Advanced Vocab: Words With Foreign Origins
Don’t bore students with another dull list of spelling words. Challenge them with weekly lists of common English words and phrases borrowed from another language.
Garden Path Sentences
Garden Path Sentences seem to begin one way, but quickly fall apart, forcing the reader to start over and interpret words in a new way. A simple example is: “The old man the boat.”
Homographs and Homonyms
This product features 125 homographs and homonyms to upgrade your spelling and vocabulary lists. Includes definitions, examples, parts of speech, and pronunciation guides.
Puzzle: Words Within Words
In need of some nice word puzzles that will keep your students busy? Ask them to find as many words as they can within another word. For example: can you find 10 words made from the letters in “soldier”? How about 20? 50?
Puzzle: Word Ladders
One of my favorite tricks in the classroom was having a “puzzle of the day.” The great difficulty was finding puzzles that challenged my students, but didn’t require meticulous work or strange knowledge. Word Ladders were always a consistent hit.
Ideas for Idiom Activities
Here are four idiom activites I’ve used.
Inductive Thinking in Spelling and Vocabulary
Let’s look at a couple ways to bring inductive thinking into word studies. We’ll examine simple plural rules all the way up to etymology of foreign words in English.
Researching Idiom Origins
Learning about idioms is simply a fun activity that students will enjoy far more than writing spelling lists out five times each. Researching idiom origins is a great example of assigning gifted students less, but more complex work than their grade-level peers.
111 Greek and Latin Word Parts
To differentiate spelling and vocabulary for my gifted students, I incorporate words with Greek and Latin origins. This list is a compilation of 111 Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes, along with 35 groups of 5 related English words, plus 5 task cards.
Mega Homophone List
Challenge your gifted students and advanced spellers with this list of 320 homophones arranged into groups of ten. Also includes five task cards for independent work with homophones.
Meeting Advanced Learners’ Needs in Language Arts
To start differentiating in Language Arts, it’s often as simple as upgrading your examples. Bring in authentically interesting novels, paragraphs, sentences, phrases, and words.
Advanced Vocabulary Sets
I know many gifted students slog through the typical vocabulary contract week after week. I know because I put my own students through it. However, gifted students can get more from vocabulary and spelling study than writing the word five times, writing the definition, and then using it in a sentence.