Friday, November 30, 2012

Free Fridays! Vocabulary Word of the Day Sheet

I plan on using this next week in conjunction with some analogies we've been working on. Some of the vocabulary is difficult and this activity will really help the students to better understand the words. Thank you to Teaching Bliss for this excellent activity.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

SAT Vocabulary units for students

Download our free SAT unit from Teachers Pay Teachers! I just shared all 10 units with a colleague and she is so excited to have 10 weeks worth of vocabulary units right at her fingertips. 


SAT Word of the Day: Contemporary


Contemporary: (adj) belonging to the present time
Synonym: fashionable
Antonym: vintage
Sentence: Because he prefers modern things, his house is very contemporary





Saturday, November 24, 2012

SAT Word of the Day: Undermine

Undermine: (v) to gradually make someone or something less strong or effective
Synonym: destabilize
Antonym: bolster
Sentence: I felt like my authority was undermined when my boss excused the worker's behavior. 


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Free Fridays: Fact vs. Opinion High School Musical PowerPoint

Thanks to Melissa Petsch for a PowerPoint that is quick, but provides valuable information, as well as a review. The product says that it's for 3-5th graders, but I think this would appeal to middle school as well, especially at the beginning of the year as a review. I'm trying going to use this in my class next week and have my eighth graders take notes in the Cornell style so as to push it to a higher level.


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Schoolhouse Rock: Conjunction Junction

Let's kick it back old school style today for a little "Conjunction Junction" grammar review. This should put a smile on your face.


                

SAT Word of the Day: Aversion


Aversion: (n) a strong dislike of someone or something
Synonym: distaste
Antonym: liking
Sentence: He has an aversion to green vegetables and refuses to eat them. 

Monday, November 19, 2012

Electric Vocabulary Video

Looking for a resource to teach vocabulary about electricity and electrons, as well as a quick history lesson about the vocabulary? This is a quick video you can show the class. This is aimed more at late middle school and high school than elementary. It would be a little too advanced for elementary students. Just click on the picture below and it will take you to the link.

SAT Word of the Day: Quaint

Quaint: (adj) unusual and attractive, especially in an old-fashioned way
Synonym: charming
Antonym: modern
Sentence: This is such a quaint little home with old-fashioned furniture. 

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Friday, November 16, 2012

Free Fridays! LOL Font

I've told you before, I'm a sucker for fonts. I got a new laptop last week because my old laptop crashed.  Never mind my research, worksheets, and PowerPoints, as I gasped, the first things I mourned were the fonts. No joke. I've invested hours in tracking down fun, creative fonts. Well, I'm happy to share another with you that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers, for FREE! Thanks to Krista Wallden I have a new font to add to my collection. Just click on the font below to go to Krista's page to download the font and bring a little excitement to your boring documents and worksheets!

SAT Word of the Day: Obtuse

Obtuse: (adj) slow to understand things
Synonym: simple-minded
Antonym: astute
Sentence: The fool was obtuse and couldn't figure out how to open the door. 


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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Vocabulary.com Gift of the Magi

As it gets closer to the holidays and I get more sentimental, I get excited to teach "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. This year I wanted to integrate a little technology with the lesson, especially in the area of vocabulary, so I found this resources on vocabulary.com. Then I quickly became addicted at feeding my own competitive urges and tested myself on how many words I could master. This resource will be really helpful to have your students test each other in pairs of students before reading and maybe even after reading "The Gift of the Magi" this winter. 



SAT Word of the Day: Emancipate


Emancipate: (v) to give someone political rights they did not have before
Synonym: liberate
Antonym: enslave
Sentence: The slave were emancipated after the Civil War. 



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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Remind101

I have to take a moment to rave about a service I have been using with my students and their parents this year. At the beginning of the year I received the okay from the district and principal to try it out. Essentially, Remind101 is a program that allows you to send reminders to students and parents via text. It's safe since you never see their phone numbers, they can't see yours, and they can't text back. The night before every test or quiz I send out a reminder to study and sometimes a quick tip or hint. At conferences I explained it to parents who hadn't already signed up and received many positive comments from those who had already been participating. It's free, it's quick, and it's an easy reminder for parents and students. I highly encourage you to check it out and be on the cutting edge of technology at your school. 


SAT Word of the Day: Tangible


Tangible: (adj) clear enough to be easily seen or touch, real
Synonym: concrete
Antonym: intangible
Sentence: Although love is not tangible, I can still feel it in my heart. 


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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Cornell Notes

Several years ago our school brought the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program to campus. AVID is a program that proactively supports at-risk students and helps them stay college bound. One of the strategies utilized is the Cornell Note-taking system. Cornell Notes emphasize a system of organization in which students not only write down and use the notes for recall, but also go beyond and synthesize the information and then apply what they learned. I've been using the system in my class for several years, as have other teachers, and the students have become very skilled in completing their notes. It takes some getting used to but now I feel comfortable having the students set up the notes on their own. I can even collect the notes and use them as a grade several times a semester. The system works for every content area and can be adapted to any lecture. Click on the image below to see a step-by-step instructional of how to set up the notes.

SAT Word of the Day: Decoy


Decoy: (n) something or someone that is used to catch or attack someone through trickery
Synonym: lure
Sentence: When we went hunting, my dad used a decoy to lure the ducks closer. 

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Friday, November 9, 2012

Free Friday!

Please send us your free product so we can feature it on the website!  It doesn't have to be vocabulary related!  All disciplines and skills are needed are welcomed!

Have a wonderful weekend!

SAT Word of the Day: Cacophony

Cacophony: (n) a loud unpleasant mixture of sounds
Synonym: noise
Antonym: silence
Sentence: The cacophony arising from the lunch room made the monitors want to run away.

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

It's raining cats and dogs!

While preparing for class, I ran into and found the following website extremely helpful in identifying cliches.  We all know that cliches can serve a benefit or a detriment to writing and it's important to be able to identify them and use them properly.  This website allows you to enter a single word like "dog" or "night" and a list populates from the more than 3,000 cliches they have in their database.

Try it out and pass it along!


SAT Word of the Day: Kindle


SAT Word of the Day: Kindle

Kindle: (v) to start a fire
Synonym: ignite
Antonym: extinguish
Sentence: The careless driver's discarding of a lit cigarette butt was what kindled the fire along the highway.

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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Funny story...

This actually happened in my class the other day and made me laugh, albeit at the expense of a student getting a question wrong. At least I was grading it alone in my classroom, though! And it was pretty adorable.

The test had Greek and Latin stems and roots, as well as vocabulary words in context using the stems. The student completed the following sentences with the incorrect, underlined words:
* The body was taken to the carnivore for the funeral preparations.
* Creeping through the forest, the mortuary hunted its next meal.

At least both words had to do with flesh and bodies!

SAT Word of the Day: Candid


Captivate: (adj) truthful even when it may be unpleasant or embarrassing 
Synonym: frank
Antonym: guarded
Sentence: She was very candid about her past the embarrassing things she'd done as a teenager. 

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Friday, November 2, 2012

Free Fridays: The Play by Play: Political Propaganda Analysis

I'm not one to use this phrase, especially when it comes to school, but... OMG! You will be overwhelmed by the number of resources this free product includes. Thank you to Arik Durfee for a propaganda analysis activity that I WILL be using in class next week.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Grammar Hopscotch

Grammar hopscotch: a fun and active way to teach grammar!

SAT Word of the Day: Captivate

Captivate: (v) to attract someone and hold their attention
Synonym: enthrall
Antonym: repel
Sentence: The beautiful model captivated the young man's attention.    

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