BUILDING VOCABULARY

continued from No. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

How to Learn New Words

Strategies for Building Vocabulary

Unit 11

LEARN WORDS FROM STORIES

I’ve pulled some stories out of my Word Box for you to read. All the stories contain words you have learned or whose meanings you can figure out. Let’s begin with a story about monsters!

Activity 1. Read the story.

Who Is the Monster?

One sunny day Peter Porcupine walked in the woods. Peter was happy. He hummed a happy tune.

Suddenly Peter stopped humming. He saw a strange creature. Peter ran home.

“Mother!” shouted Peter. “I saw a monster come out from behind a thicket.”

“A monster?” said Mother. “What did it look like?”

“It was made of stone,” said Peter. “It had a head and four legs. It crawled. It was horrible.”

“We will go to the woods,” said Mother. “I want to see this monster.”

On that same day Tom Turtle had walked in the woods. Tom was happy. He hummed a happy tune.

Suddenly Tom stopped humming. He saw a strange creature. He dashed home.

“Mother!” shouted Tom. “I saw a monster in the woods.”

“A monster?” said Mother. “What did it look like?”

“It was fat. It had pins all over its body. It was horrible,” said Tom.

“We will go to the woods,” said Mother. “I want to see the monster.”

Finally, the two turtles and the two porcupines met in the woods. Both young animals came face-to-face with their monsters. Mother Turtle and Mother Porcupine laughed.

“You foolish children,” said Mother Turtle. “Neither of you is a monster. You are both animals.”

“You should be friends,” said Mother Porcupine. “Now run along and play.”

And that’s just what Peter and Tom did.

Now write a boldfaced word from the story next to each meaning below.

1. a thick clump of bushes _______
2. a song _____________________
3. raced ______________________
4. silly _______________________
5. awful ______________________
6. an animal __________________

Answers: 1. thicket; 2. tune; 3. dashed; 4. foolish; 5. horrible; 6. creature

LEARN WORDS FROM POEMS

Activity 2. Read the poem.

Bradford’s Adventure

Now write a boldfaced word from the story next to each meaning below.

1. to run, taking long steps ________
2. the living place of a wild animal ________
3. land thickly covered with trees and plants ________
4. odd or strange ________
5. very big ________
6. jumped ________
7. danger ________
8. ran quickly ________

Answers: 1. lope; 2. lair; 3. jungle; 4. peculiar; 5. huge; 6. leaped; 7. peril; 8. scurried

LEARN MORE WORDS FROM STORIES

Activity 3. Read the story.

The Lost Button

“What are you looking for?” Andy asked Rob.
Rob ran his fingers through the damp grass. He felt something round. He picked it up. It was just an old bottle cap. He tossed it away.
“I’m looking for a button,” Rob whispered.
“Is it a valuable button?” Andy asked, whispering back.
“Yes,” Rob whispered.
“Is it a magic button?” whispered Andy. “Or part of some treasure?”
“Don’t be silly,” Rob whispered.
“Why do you have to find it?” Andy whispered.
“Because it fell off my new jacket,” Rob whispered.
Andy sat back on the grass. He looked at his friend. “Is that all?” he whispered. “Then what’s the big secret?”
Rob shook his head. “It isn’t a big secret,” he whispered.
Andy was confused. “Then why are we whispering to each other?” he asked.
Rob started laughing. “I don’t know about you, but I’m whispering because I can’t talk,” he said. “I have a bad cold!”

Now write a boldfaced word from the story next to each meaning below.

1. threw ________
2. mixed-up ________
3. worth a great deal of money ________
4. spoke softly ________
5. slightly wet ________

Answers: 1. tossed; 2. confused; 3. valuable; 4. whispered; 5. damp

Activity 4. Number each list of words in alphabetical order.

Answers: A – 4; 5; 3; 2; 1; B – 4; 1; 5; 2; 3

TEST

Show All You Know About Learning Words from Stories

Below are meanings of words you have learned. Write a word from the Word Box that matches each meaning. Then find and circle each word in the puzzle.

1. a song ___________
2. raced ___________
3. a thick clump of bushes ___________
4. awful ___________
5. an animal ___________
6. the living place of a wild animal ___________
7. land thickly covered with trees and plants ______
8. jumped ___________
9. danger ___________
10. threw ___________
11. worth a great deal of money ___________
12. spoke softly ___________
13. slightly wet ___________

Answers: 1. tune; 2. dashed; 3. thicket; 4. horrible; 5. creature; 6. lair; 7. jungle; 8. leaped; 9. peril; 10. tossed; 11. valuable; 12. whispered; 13. damp

Now finish each sentence below with a word from the Word Box. Hint: Use the words not found in the Word Search puzzle.

1. It is _______________ to think cows can fly.
2. The campers snapped pictures of deer __________ across the open field.
3. The clown was dressed in a _____________ outfit.
4. Tammy’s birthday gift was in a _______________ package.
5. The squirrel gathered some nuts, then __________ up a tree.
6. Bruce became _____________ when he lost his way.

Answers: 1. foolish; 2. loping; 3. peculiar; 4. huge; 5. scurried; 6. confused

Compiled by Erin Bouma

to be continued