The Third Spelling Activity Page

Take a look at your ten spelling words that you brought home with you on Monday. Each day, you will have to do the following activities on a lined, clean sheet of paper. Be sure to write your name and number at the top of the paper. Also, be sure to use your best handwriting. Spelling and neatness count on this assignment.

Monday:  In class, we have been learning about short, long, and r controlled vowels and silent e  in open and closed syllables.   Open syllables, end in a vowel, and tend to be long.   Closed syllables end with a consonant and tend to be short, although not always. This week, you are to take your spelling words and do the following to them.   

Take a look at the word and locate the vowel sounds.  habitable 

Remembering that syllables are made up at least by a vowel sound, divide the word as you think it is divided.   Remember there are six syllable types:

Remember, first you look for prefixes and suffices, and divide. Then, look for vowels. Determine if any of the vowels go together to make one vowel sound. Then look for VCCV or VCV patters. Divide at what you think is the best place.

And you are done. I do not, however, want to have the dictionary pronunciation key copied. That means very little at the moment and doesn’t tie into what we are learning in class.

Tuesday: You will take each word in turn. Look up the first word in the dictionary. Read the dictionary definition. Think about what the meaning really does mean. Then, think about how you could write it down into kid language so that any student in 4th grade could understand what the word means.

For example: indecision. The dictionary meaning was lack of a decision; tendency to delay or to hesitate. Think! Think! and then write....

indecision- the act of not being able to make a choice when you have to

Then, take all of your 10 words and write down a kid meaning for each one of them.

Wednesday: Now that you know what the word means, you have to find a synonym and an antonym for it. The synonym is a word that means the same thing while an antonym is a word that means the opposite. You can not use the same root word for an answer and the words you do find have to have the same function as the word you are looking up.

indecision: the act of not being able to make a choice. This is a noun. If you are stuck, there is a place right after the word is listed in the dictionary that will tell you what kind of word it is.

synonym: confusion

antonym:  strategy 

Notice these are both nouns.

Thursday: Now, it is time to put your words into sentences. You may combine several words into one sentence ,but remember, I have to know that you know what the word means and it must be clear by the way you used it. Correct punctuation, sentences and neatness are also looked at here.

The boy was a wreck of indecision when he had to choose between taking a million dollars or being able to live in Disneyland free for a whole year.

Friday: You have to bring all your spelling activities in. You will get a grade for you work and you will also have your test.

Good luck,

Mrs. F.