MCT Building Vocabulary - How to use

[Nicholas_mom]

Hi,

 

We finished Grammar Island, while I am going to start Sentence Island soon, I wanted to begin Building Vocabulary. The BV book doesn't have good ideas for how to use the book like Sentence Island. So I am wondering how you are using it?

 

I read the introduction on arches and then we went to look at real stone arches for train bridges and then drew the arch. But I am wondering how to use it when we do stems like PRE. Do we look up words, write some definitions of PRE and then write a sentence using the new PRE word???

 

How are you using it?

 

Thanks for helping....

[LMD]

Bump - :bigear:

[Nicholas_mom]

Thanks Wendy---ok -- so you just did some of the activities that are thrown throughout the book. so, Nothing added to it? Am I seeking retention of the stems and definition or just introduction because in the TOWN LEvel it goes deeper?

[Marie131]

I am thinking of MCT for next year and was also wondering how this book is used. So basically you just read it?

[SunnyDays]

We did the same as Wendy. We read through it, discussed it, and reviewed the stems periodically. That was mostly it. We're starting CE I and we'll be doing a bit more with it, but I expect there will be some retention of the concepts and stems from BL.

[3peasinapod]

We are reading through a few pages at a time, and DD is notebooking the pages. Like for aqueduct yesterday, she wrote aqua= water, duct=lead. An aqueduct leads water to the ancient Roman cities. Then she drew an aqueduct (she is an artistic kind of gal). She made the connection to aquarium, so she wrote that word out, boxed in aqua, and drew an aquarium. She loves this kind of thing, and it helps her to cement these roots into her brain better if she can see the roots with pictures.

 

I thought about having her make flip-type books with the root on the top, flip it open and a definition and/or picture on the inside, but we haven't gotten to that yet.

[besroma]

So far, I have read it aloud, reviewed stems, and had them brainstorm other words containing the stems.

 

I like 3peasinapod's ideas.

 

My kids love the humor in the stories. They get excited when I get it out to read tk them.

[Nicholas_mom]

Thank you everyone! This helps alot.

 

3peasinapod --- My son is also very visual type, too. We did the Grammar island with pictures and definitions and he loved it, too. I was trying to figure out a way, if it was possible, to do it visually with BV. Now I have some ideas. I wish you had done the flip books because I would love to see how this would look.

[3peasinapod]

Here are some examples of the flip books I intend on doing, probably with a little modification as the mood strikes! These aren't mine; I got them from pinterest. :)

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/60306082481522637/ (this one is a puzzle that would be neat for each part of the word)

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/60306082481322744/ (this is the vocab flip book)

[Mandylubug]

We basically read it, discuss it, and sometimes do some of the writing suggestions as a group for fun. My boys don't do well with creative writing independently but do well if I hand hold and do it with them. We also ALWAYS have a dictionary with us for our lessons. After a stem lesson I will read out a couple words from the dictionary with the appropriate stem and we discuss the possible meanings of the words, etc. Its a great book and seems quite easy at times to the extent you think "wow there isn't much here, maybe it isn't worth it" but then you listen to discussions, etc.. and you realize it sunk in for the most part, they are noticing stems in words and truly benefited from the introduction.

[Momof3littles]

Nevermind my post below. I was talking about Building Language!

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We used it in a once weekly small co-op setting. We did one stem per week as a class (basically reading through one section per week and then discussing a bit, brainstorming words using the stem, etc.), and then the kids came up with a simile and a short poem each week using words with those stems. That was done outside of classtime at home during the week. We shared those in class the following week. THe poem writing also pulled in some of the MoH work. It was neat to see the kids play with techniques and devices they had studied, like alliteration, near rhyme, and so forth. Some weeks we played a memory style matching game with the stems as review, or the kids sketched a picture reflecting something about a few of the stems' personalities. We were going to have the kids write a little play using the stems as characters, but we ran out of time due to illness at the end of the semester. As you read through the book, MCT has each stem have a personality that reflects traits of that "stem," which helps the kids remember what the stem means, so writing a little play with the kids each functioning as one or two characters would really reinforce the meaning and personality of each stem.

[Nicholas_mom]

Wow! Thanks for all the ideas. They are wonderful, except NOW I really do not know what to do. Too many ideas I want to do and so little time :lol:

[Nicholas_mom]

QUOTE >>>>>Nevermind my post below. I was talking about Building Language!<<<<<<

 

YES!!! We are talking about Building Languages! Sorry I didn't mean MCT Building Vocabulary, I meant Building Languages!

:o

 

I am glad some of you understood me anyway!