Vocabulary surprise

This lesson focuses on prediction skills and vocabulary development. Students predict what is in a box from information they are given. In order to determine the contents of the box, vocabulary must be deciphered through contextual meaning. The activity idea could be used in all areas with a few modifications. Science would be easily integrated. Cooperative learning is also used.

A lesson plan for grade 5 English Language Arts

By Jennifer J. Murphy

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Related topics

• Learn more about context clues, inquiry, language arts, reading, and vocabulary.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• determine what is in a box through a descriptive paragraph, dictionary usage, and visualizations skills through group cooperation.
• use the writing process to create their own “Vocabulary Surprise.”

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

45 minutes

Materials/resources

• A box
• Descriptive Paragraph provided
• Surprises or object in box
• Dictionaries and thesauruses
• Tootsie pops

Pre-activities

• Write a descriptive paragraph and make available to students.
• Have a box with surprises that cannot be seen.

Activities

1. For this activity, Tootsie pops in various flavors will be used in the mysterious box.
2. Provide the following paragraph (Board, overhead, handout):
   
   The contents of this box include spherical shapes with a mahogany center. Colors included are crimson, magenta, ocher, and sepia. A narrow cylinder perforates the interior. The contents are mostly edible.
3. In small groups, have students circle three words that they know that can help them figure out the meaning: such as “spherical”, “cylinder”, “crimson,” “edible.” Students make predictions about objects that are spherical, edible, with a narrow cylinder, based on the paragraph. Teacher records or group records.
4. Students use context clues to gain a working definition of the meaning of words in the paragraph. For example: “colors are…”
5. Groups make another prediction of what they feel is in the box after using context clues to figure out unfamiliar words.
6. Class compares ideas of groups, discusses conclusions and is able to give proof or reasons for their second prediction, based on the activity they just completed.
7. Students see what is in the box and eat its contents.

Assessment

Upon completion of this activity, students are to create a similar activity. (Paragraph and object in box that students must be able to predict) Through this they will use descriptive writing and a dictionary and thesaurus. Many students will become competitive in making their puzzles very secretive.

Supplemental information

This would work very well with science to introduce predicting and inferring.

Comments

I know of many teachers who use this concept in Science for the process skills and predicting. This idea could easily be adapted for other subjects- for observation skills and prediction skills, as well as vocabulary building.