Mrs. Potter Teaches: vocabulary

Showing posts with label vocabulary. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Morning Slides - On This Day in History

My experience in many schools is that social studies instruction often gets put on the back burner. We are told to integrate it into other subjects, but depending on your curriculum that is easier said than done. So a few years ago I started creating these morning slides that give students a little piece of history each day, plus a vocabulary word that goes along with it because vocabulary is another area that students seem to really struggle.

Each day the slide is set up so that you get a fact about something that happened on that particular day in history. There is a vocabulary word with the definition that goes along with the historical fact. In the speaker notes at the bottom is a link to more information about the fact. So depending on how much time you have it can be a quick 5 minute mini-lesson on something from history.

The best part is that these slides are completely customizable. Want a different fact from on this day? Change it out! Don't like the vocabulary word that goes with that day? Pick a different one! Use the checklist to get your students set up for the day and just leave this on the board for students to read as they come into the classroom.

Below are a few examples and then if you want to check out each month, just click on this link!

Monday, January 15, 2024

Post-Winter Break Reset

January is the time that many teachers do a reset. After students have been away for a week or two, it is always important to review the expectations of the classroom.

However, I also use this time to reset my classroom space as well. We are almost halfway done with the school year and I have gotten to know my students better as learners. Honestly, I like to change my space around throughout the entire year, but this is the time that I reflect and think about what my learners truly need on the walls, what learning spaces they need, and what materials they need.

I rearranged my tables and desks to give students options for learning spaces. I have two exercise balls and I have stools that students can use if they want a break from their chairs. I also allow them to sit on the carpet whenever they would like. I am wanting to move towards flexible seating in the entire room, but due to the amount of money this involves, I am slowly working on getting the needed furniture for that.

I also redid my wall space. Being in a new grade level means that it takes time to create the resources that I typically use in my classroom. Things like anchor charts, vocabulary cards, etc. When you teach the same grade level for 9 years, you accumulate items that you can reuse over and over. Luckily, moving from 5th to 4th has allowed me to reuse some items.

One thing I have been working on is redoing my math vocabulary cards that I hang on the wall as we learn about a new topic. I finally decided to sit down and update my math vocabulary for the year. All of my vocabulary cards have the vocabulary word, a definition, an image, and sometimes an example.

Vocabulary Cards:

4th Grade

5th Grade

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@mrspotterteach

Monday, January 11, 2021

Write Around the Room

I've seen many versions of these type of write the room activities, but I wanted one that I could customize to fit my kindergartners needs.

My version has 20 different sets, 10 months worth of words with clipart to match the different months. Each set has 12 word cards and a sheet with primary writing lines for your child/student to practice writing.

Here is a list of what my version includes:

school vocabulary
rhyming words
number words
opposites
compound words
color words
feeling words
position words
zoo animals
articles of clothing
and 10 sets of sight words

The best part of this document is that you can make a copy and change all of the words to anything that you want!

Click here to get a copy of the presentation!

https://sites.google.com/view/amberpotter/home

Instagram: @mrspotterstyle

Twitter: @apotter730

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Personal Dictionary and Vocabulary Instruction

This post is one of my follow-up posts from the book Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning by Sharroky Hollie.

Amazon Image

This book discusses three focuses with vocabulary instruction.

honor the words students bring from home

we need to expand their home vocabulary to include academic vocabulary

equip students with skills for success

we are not teaching memorization of words, we need to teach strategies for word acquisition
we need to help develop usage of the words of academic vocabulary
we need to influence word choice, especially in teaching situational appropriate

utilize tools for success

personal dictionary
personal thesaurus

Here are 5 steps for teachers to use for vocabulary instruction:

Select vocabulary or "tier" words based on frequency and relevance to the topic being taught
Teach the Tier 2 or academic words as concepts, not as words to memorize (focus on 5-7 words during vocabulary instruction)
Use a personal thesaurus to develop synonyms and antonyms
Use vocabulary strategies to develop meaning and representation
Use a personal dictionary to develop Tier 3 or content-specific words

Tiered Words:

Tier One - common, everyday words
Tier Two - "words that students should know as mature language users"
Tier Three - content-specific words that students should be aware of, but will not come across on a regular basis

**remember we are teaching the Tier 2 words during vocabulary instruction

Vocabulary Acquisition Strategies:

using context clues
memorizing the meanings of word parts
developing synonyms and antonyms

I love the idea of a personal dictionary and thesaurus, especially during virtual learning. It is extremely easy to have students use a dictionary and thesaurus digitally. I created two different versions of the dictionary, one for primary students and one for intermediate students.

The primary dictionary is going to be more like a visual dictionary. Remember that these should be those Tier 3, content-specific words that students should be aware of, but not necessarily use or see every day. In the kindergarten and first grade level, these digital dictionaries could be completed as a class rather than individually.

Click here for the Primary Dictionary

The intermediate dictionary is going to be a little more detailed. Rather than having just words and images, we are adding the definition and a personal connection to the word. This allows the students to own the word when they make that personal connection.

Click here for the Intermediate Dictionary

Just like with the dictionary, for the thesaurus there will be 2 versions, one for primary and one for intermediate. The primary thesaurus is going to focus more on using higher-levels words for basic words that students use on a daily basis. There will be one slide for each word that the teacher or student wants to add to the presentation, and then the student or teacher can add synonyms and antonyms for that word on the slide.

Click here for the Primary Thesaurus

The intermediate thesaurus is going to be more for building academic vocabulary. The slides are set up so that students can add the word that they "own". They then will come up with their own synonyms for that word. The teacher is then going to help them come up with those Tier 2, academic vocabulary synonyms and antonyms, to help students deepen their understanding and their academic vocabulary.

Click here for the Intermediate Thesaurus

If you want students to have their own copy of the digital dictionary or thesaurus, I would recommend sharing the presentations with students through Google Classroom and choosing the option to make a copy for each student. When you do this, all students will get their own personal copy, but it also puts a copy of their dictionary/thesaurus in your Google Drive. This is helpful if you want to add anything to a specific child's dictionary.