Kindergarden - Nursery Rhymes and Fables

Nursery Rhymes and Fables: Supplemental Guide | Preface ix

Multiple Meaning Word Activities

Multiple Meaning Word Activities help students determine and clarify
the different meanings of individual words. This type of activity supports
a deeper knowledge of content-related words and a realization that
many content words have multiple meanings associated with them.
Students with strong oral language skills may be able to navigate
through the different meanings of some words without much effort.
However, students with limited English language proficiency and minimal
vocabulary knowledge may be less likely to disambiguate the meanings
of words. This is why it is important that teachers have a way to call
students’ attention to words in the lesson that have ambiguous meanings
and that students have a chance to explore the nuances of words in
contexts within and outside of the lessons.

Syntactic Awareness Activities

Syntactic Awareness Activities call students’ attention to sentence
structure. During the early elementary grades, students are not expected
to read or write lengthy sentences, but might be able to produce complex
sentences in spoken language when given adequate prompting and
support. Syntactic Awareness Activities support students’ awareness
of the structure of written language, interrelations between words,
and grammar. Developing students’ oral language through syntactic
awareness provides a solid foundation for written language development
in the later elementary grades and beyond.

Vocabulary Instructional Activities

Vocabulary Instructional Activities are included to build students’ general
academic, or Tier 2, vocabulary. These words are salient because they
appear across content areas and in a variety of written texts. These
activities support students’ learning of Tier 2 words and deepen their
knowledge of academic words and the connections of these words to
other words and concepts. The vocabulary knowledge students possess
is intricately connected to reading comprehension, and the ability to
access background knowledge, express ideas, communicate effectively,
and learn about new concepts.