Vocabulary Words

Overview

The Making Meaning program is designed to help students build their reading comprehension and social skills. The students hear books read aloud and discuss them with partners and with the class. The following week from the story, 4 new vocabulary words are introduced. In the vocabulary lessons, they learn useful and interesting words selected from those books. Children of all ages enjoy learning new words, and research shows that learning words boosts children's speaking, reading, and writing skills.

Students are also taught strategies for unlocking word meanings when they read independently, such as using context clues and recognizing synonyms, antonyms, words with multiple meanings, and shades of meaning.

Below you will find the words we will be teaching along with the book they come from. If you click on the link on each set of words, you will be able to download picture cards with the meanings of each word. You'll be amazed at how rich your child's vocabulary is already becoming!

Ways to Reinforce Vocabulary at Home

  • Post the words at home for everyone to see and use.

  • Invite your child to act out the words.

  • Have your child draw pictures about the words or write sentences or stories that use the words.

  • Tell each other real or imagined stories that include the words.

  • Talk about the words when you hear them used or see them in storybooks, on signs and posters, or elsewhere.

  • Use the words to play games such as “I’m Thinking of a Word,” in which you give each other clues about a word and then try to guess the word.

Vocabulary Words

Quick As Cricket- rapidly, delighted, bold, timid

When I Was Little- memory, independent, disgusting, scrumptious

People in My Neighborhood & Places in My Neighborhood- neighborhood, neighborly, spot, rush

It's Mine!- quarrel, rumble, tremble, peaceful

Matthew and Tilly- rescue, crabby, stomp, wonder

McDuff and the Baby- arrive, admire, hope, squint

Chrysanthemum- miserable, possession, humorous, beam

Curious George Goes Camping- curious, wander, odor, odd

Angelina and Henry- twirl, moan, howl, flash

Peter's Chair- mutter, arrange, collapse, resent

Did You See What I Saw? (Poems about School)- glide, thrilling, bob, tug

In the Tall, Tall Grass- munch, dart, glow, lunge

Sheep Out to Eat- appetite, chomp, commotion, pout

The Snowy Day- frigid, pile, firm, adventure

An Extraordinary Egg- ordinary, extraordinary, exclaim, astonished

George Washington and the General's Dog- hero, track, persevere, respect

The Bumblebee Queen- wriggle, snuggle, cooperate, underground

Down the Road- wobble, meadow, fond, sob

Using Your Senses- audible, inaudible, faint, earsplitting

Sleep Well: Why You need to Rest- essential, relax, trust, nervous

Dinosaur Babies- evidence, discover, protect, gigantic

An Ocean of Animals- habitat, shallow, future, predator

Big Blue Whale- gulp, store, feast, journey

Chameleons are Cool- ridiculous, surroundings, prey, bad-tempered

Birds: Winged and Feathered Animals- migrate, dine, amazing, hover

Throw Your Tooth on the Roof- adult, match, powerful, crush

Velociraptor- ferocious, pack, disappear, study

A Day in the Life of a Garbage Collector- contents, inspect, dump, destination

An Elephant Grows Up- popular, gather, vegetation, remain

Julius- affectionate, impolite, untidy, tidy