I wish I had something witty or interesting to share with you. I’ve been battling a flu/cold/horribleness that won’t go away!! So instead, I’ll just share a couple of items that build vocabulary in the primary classroom. I’ve used in my classroom for quite a while.

Student “Dictionary”

The first one is a student *dictionary*. It’s not really a dictionary. It’s more of a word book. The kids keep this in their desk in their writing folder. If they need a word spelled that they are having a tough time sounding out or isn’t on our word wall, they can ask me to put it in their *dictionary*. They should have the page with the corresponding beginning sound ready. Students may use each other’s dictionaries if they know a neighbor has a word in theirs that they need to use. The kiddos cannot ask me to add words that can be found on the word wall or words that have been on our spelling lists. I try daily to *encourage them to use all that is around them*. {*this could have said, pay attention, listen, stay on task, stay on topic… but I digress. 😀 }

Here’s the file if your interested. It should be copied 2-sided and folded in half, then stapled in the center. Nothing spectacular – but it does its job.

Just click

Vocabulary Collector

Another thing that is a constant in the room is our Vocabulary Collector.

 

Building vocabulary in the primary classroom is a big part of literacy. Often I assume the kiddos have been exposed to vocabulary they simply haven’t been.  I have to really force myself to check with my kiddos constantly to see if they understand words we come across. That’s where The Vocabulary Collector comes flies in to save the day. The kids write the word and then I give them 2 or 3 synonyms for that word. They draw a picture and then use the word in a meaningful sentence. The form has a spot for a page number under the word. I did that for my team, they like to use words in the curriculum. I just use any word we come across in whatever we’re doing – so I don’t use the page number part. It’s a quick… bird walk kind of activity.

 

 

You can grab this {HERE}. Copy this 2-sided and fold in half. I send the completed books home. The kids get new ones throughout the year.

 

I hope you find them useful.

COMPREHENSIVE WRITING PROGRAM

For a complete and super engaging, empowering, easy to implement yet effective writing program, be sure to check out Engaging Writing. It has everything you need to build the writing confidence and skills in your primary students. Read more about it here.