LEARNING NEW VOCABULARY:
When you find a new word during your reading, guess what it is before you look it up. If you are right, you will be excited. If you were wrong you will remember the word better than if you just looked it upwithout thinking about it first. This is all part of good learning.
ACADEMIC WORD LIST:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/wordlists.htm has a number of useful lists of words – as well as some good ideas about how to include these in a lesson.
IDIOMS:
In a lot of the reading we do, we find expressions that can be hard to understand. Idioms are groups of words with special meanings that are different from the individual words. One of the first stories we read in class this year was about an ESL student who did really well in the end of year exams. He did feel nervous about the results. They would be important for his family as well as himself. He “felt the weight of the world on his shoulders” according to the article.
Jonas shows us what this might look like – He seems to have missed the real meaning though – as this expression does mean to be worried. Jonas looks like he is enjoying class – not in the least bit worried. Obviously the blow up world isn’t as heavy as the real thing.
During the year, we will be looking at more idioms and their true meanings.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW A WORD:
During our reading this week, we have focused on using word attack strategies to idenify new words instead of going straight to the dictionary. Using these will help you become more fluent in your reading. See the poster in our room for more details.
Are there pictures you can use to work it out?
Sound Out the Word
Sound the first letter, and then the rest. Run the sounds together. Does the word make sense in the sentence?
Look for Chunks in the Word
Look for letter chunks….. beginning, endings, bits in the middle.
Connect to a Word You Know
Think of a word that looks like the new word.
Compare the old word to the new word. Does it help you make sense?
Reread the Sentence
Read the sentence more than once.
Think about what other word might make sense in the sentence.
Use Prior Knowledge
What do you know about the subject of the book, paragraph, or sentence?