Having mastered letters and sounds, it’s now time for more advanced concepts for third graders at Birch Lane Elementary School. In Meagan Vazquez’s class, students recently began a lesson on homographs.
Exploring words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, and might even be pronounced differently, gives them a new layer of linguistic knowledge. Ultimately, it bolsters their reading and writing abilities.
Students began the lesson using Pear Deck and answering the question, “What is a homograph.” They typed their responses, which were shared digitally with the teacher. Some of the answers were then displayed on the classroom screen so students could learn from each other. Following a review of different homographs, such as band, batter, jam and wind, they answered the question again to see their growth of understanding on the topic.
Working in pairs, students then were given a list of words and had to write two different sentences that reflected each word’s different meanings. They also read stories that included the homographs to support their reading comprehension skills.
Ms. Vazquez said the lesson is part of the From Phonics to Reading program. After they wrap up their study of homographs, they will then move on to homophones – words that sound the same but are spelled different.