Making Connections

 Our anchor chart – day one

 Using a dictionary

Using a highlighter to keep track of the HOMOPHONES we have done

Making Connections is a part of our word study.  Instead of having weekly spelling tests, we work on a wide variety of word study skills.  We keep track of words they are using in their own writing in WTL (Words To Learn in their weekly letters), we study root words (knowing the root word can help kids figure out a myriad of words when reading), we study spelling patterns (if I can spell weight, I can spell freight), we study sight words (most often using the Fry list of words for each grade level), and do things like Making Connections – studying the word, it’s meaning, composing an illustration (this helps us remember the word) and using the word properly in 4^th grade sentences.  This week, we are working on HOMOPHONES.  I read the book Dear Deer by Gene Barretta which is a brilliant way to illustrate the difference between homophones.  It’s clever, funny, and entertaining.  Oh, and it works!  I hear them saying their favorite pages to one another throughout the days after we finish reading it.  Kids then choose 4 sets of homophones for their Making Connections (they have a week to work on this at school), finding definitions in our classroom dictionaries.  We don’t always need dictionaries (Student reference books are often used too), but when we do, it’s clear that having to look something up is a bit of a challenge for most kids. 

Here are some basic rules for Making Connections:

1.    Write complex sentences. 

2.    Write more than ONE sentence per word.

3.   Illustrations must be complete – nothing should be floating in the box.

4.   Do your sentences make sense?

5.   Check your sentences for capital letters and stop signs.

6.   Do your personal best.

7.   Before you ask Mrs. McGee or Ms. Mann to check your work, check your own work…at least twice!

Our first Making Connections will come home soon.  We used words from our social studies lesson and kids used the student reference book to find definitions.