Lesson Plan: Tier 2 Vocabulary in The Garden of Abdul Gasazi

Teacher: Richelle Colucci-Nunn

I.

Grade Level: Third

Content and Standards:

CC.1.3.3.F: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in grade level
text, distinguishing literal from non-literal meaning as well as shades of meaning among
related words.

R3.A.1.1.1: Identify and/or interpret meaning of multiple-meaning words used in text.

R3.A.1.1.2: Identify and/or interpret a synonym or antonym of a word used in text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3.a: Identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes
and derivational suffixes.

II.

III.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3.b: Decode words with common Latin suffixes.

Prerequisites:

Understanding of the meaning of synonyms and antonyms.

Understanding of the parts of speech.

Using a dictionary and thesaurus.

Essential Questions (provide a framework)

How can I develop a better understanding of an unknown word?

How can using a synonym of a word change the meaning of a sentence or more precisely
convey the authors message?

IV.

What relationships can exist between noun and verb forms of a word?

What suffixes can be used to change a verb to a noun or adjective?

Instructional Objective:

Given synonyms and related words for a target Tier 2 word, SWBAT place synonyms and
target Tier 2 word on a continuum illustrating shades of meaning.

V.

Given three target Tier 2 words, SWBAT use the words correctly in an original composition

(story, cartoon, or sentence).

Instructional Procedures:

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Before
1. On the circle rug, introduce The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. Ask students if they have
read other books by Chris Van Allsburg or seen any of the movies of his books.

Review students background knowledge about formal gardens with high walls.

2. Introduce Tier 2 words for targeted instruction as well as words to be used for student
predictions about the story: disappeared, duck, bolted, hat, incredible, bellowed,
exhausted, fooled, magician, convinced.

Write words on chart paper (orthography).

Ask students if anyone knows the meaning of the words. If not, provide
student-friendly definitions.

3. Have students turn and talk with their neighbor to predict which words relate to each
element of story structure: character, setting, theme, problem, solution (or are not
related).

Survey student predictions for each word, and record predictions on the chart
paper.

4. Teacher and students take turns reading text aloud using interactive reading strategy.
5. Discuss the story.

Ask students if they ever experienced a situation similar to Alan, in which they
were responsible for something and tried very hard to do the right thing, but still
got into trouble.

Introduce the great reader debate: Have students turn and talk to a neighbor
about whether they think the dog was really turned into a duck, and then ask
some students to share their thoughts (and evidence supporting their position)
with the group.

Point out Gasazi laughing on page 362 and ask students what they thought
that means. Discuss the difference between fantasy and reality and how/why
the author left that open for the readers to decide.

Revisit student predictions about what story structure element the words were

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related to. character (duck, magician), setting (garden), theme (incredible,
fooled), problem (bolted, disappeared), solution (home), or are not related
(exhausted, hat, bellowed).
6. Explain that we will be digging into (garden reference!) three (Tier 2) words for our
Word Study this week.
During
DAY ONE ACTIVITIES
The following vocabulary introduction will be completed for each target Tier 2 word, focusing on
one word at a time, followed by the respective Day One activities.
1. Point to word on chart paper (orthography).
2. Have students repeat the word after you (phonology).
3. Restate the definition for the targeted word, and ask students if they remember how the
word was used in the story. If they dont, refer them back to the page. Provide
students with another context for the word using a different sentence (semantics).
4. Ask students what part of speech the word is (syntax).
5. Ask students to provide other forms of the word. Prompt for affixes in addition to
different parts of speech (syntax and morphology).
Multiple Meaning Activity for bolted
1. Assign students to a partner and have them bring a dictionary to the circle rug.
2. Ask students if they have ever heard the word bolt or bolted used differently than in the
story.
Have students take turns reading aloud the definitions of the noun and other verb
forms of bolt from the dictionary and provide clarification as needed. (See Bolted
Reference Sheet.)

Show a nut/bolt fastener and a deadbolt and pass them around.

3. Draw a word web on the board. Have students help you complete the web with words
describing each usage, using the dictionary definitions they just read. Prompt for
connections between some of the noun and verb forms. (See Bolt MindMap for

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example.)
Multiple Meaning Activity for bellowed
1. Ask students if they have ever heard the word bellow or bellowed used differently than
in the story.
Have students take turns reading with their partner the definitions of the noun and
other verb forms of bellowed from the dictionary. (See Bellowed Reference Sheet.)

Show image of a mechanical bellows.

Draw attention to the action of the mechanical bellows ask students if it

makes them think of something they read in one of the verb definitions. (If
you bellow at someone you push out a lot of air just like through a
bellows.)

Ask students if they can think of any other noun that is always used as a
plural (scissors, shears). What similarities are there between these
words? (They function in pairs.)

2. Read the following sentences and have students indicate through thumbs-up,
-sideways, or -down if it describes a situation in which someone or something would
bellow.

A moose with its leg caught in a hunters trap.

A mouse with its leg caught in a mousetrap.

A cat that just caught a mouse.

A boy who tripped over a curb but didnt get hurt.

A boy who broke his leg while snowboarding.

A girl who broke her ankle while playing soccer.

The coach of a soccer team that is losing 4-0 in the final minutes of the
game.

The coach of a baseball team that just won the championship game.

Two cats fighting in an alley.

A boy who woke up in his tent with a spider crawling up his arm.
Multiple Meaning Activity for exhausted

1. Ask students if they have ever heard the word exhausted or its root exhaust used
differently than in the story.
Have students take turns reading with their partner the definitions of the adjective
exhausted, and the noun and verb forms of exhaust. (See Exhausted Reference
Sheet.)

Show images of exhaust pipes and exhaust fumes.

2. Ask students which of the definitions matches the use of the word in the story.
3. Ask students which of the verb definitions is related to the adjective exhausted.

DAY TWO ACTIVITIES

Shades of Meaning Activity for bolted
1. Have students work with a partner to find as many synonyms of bolted or bolting (or
related words) in the story as they can: running (p. 354 & 358), raced (p. 356)/racing
(p. 364), galloped (p. 356), hurried (p. 356 & p. 366), dashing (p. 358), trotting (p. 366).

If students need additional scaffolding: provide students with page

numbers and have partners raise their hands when they find one on that
page.

2. Write the synonyms/related words on the board.

3. Discuss shades of meaning, using freezing-cold-cool and warm-hot-burning as
examples. Introduce a continuum as one type of graphic representation of these
shades of meaning.

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4. On the board, model placing freezing-cold-cool on a continuum. Have students tell you
how to place warm-hot-burning on a continuum. Ask students for examples of other
words that can be placed on these continuums.
5. In heterogeneous groups, have students work to place the synonyms of
bolt/bolted/bolting on a continuum, using the thesaurus to help them.
6. Ask students to share what their group decided and their reasoning.
Synonyms and Antonyms (Semantics) Activity for bellowed
1. Have students turn and talk to a neighbor about possible synonyms and antonyms of
the verb bellow, using the definition of the word and the sentence in the story to help
them.
2. Ask for 1 example each of a synonym and an antonym, and write them on chart paper.
3. Introduce Synonyms and Antonyms Brainstorming worksheet. Explain that students
will work in groups to brainstorm as many synonyms and antonyms of the word as they
can.
4. Students work in groups to brainstorm synonyms and antonyms, but complete their
own worksheet. After they have completed as many as they can on their own, they
may consult a thesaurus.
5. Ask for groups to share some of their favorite synonyms and antonyms. Encourage
students to add any to their worksheet that they hadnt already listed, because they will
be used in another activity. Write examples on the chart paper.
Shades of Meaning Activity for bellowed
1. Explain that there are shades of meaning other than how much (i.e. more/less,
quicker/slower like we saw with bolted), and that we started to get a feel for those
other shades of meaning when working with those bellowed example/non-example
situations describing noises someone or something might make.
Point out that good writers work hard to choose just the right word to describe
something because they want to paint a picture for their readers that is so precise,
the readers will understand not just the facts, but the emotions or feelings of the
situation.
2. Have student volunteers take turns reading the definitions and example sentences for

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the synonyms (including bellow) listed under yell in the thesaurus.
3. Ask students to compare and contrast the synonyms by their characteristics.
4. Model creating a cloze sentence for one of the synonyms, using Think-aloud to
describe constructing a sentence that clearly fits the chosen synonym over the others.
The teacher __________ across the playground to warn Mia that a ball was about
to hit her. (Not a good example, because both yelled and shouted would fit: to
attract attention or be heard above other sounds.)
Mom _________ at the dog just as he was about to snatch the steak off Austins
plate. (Because this was not intended to be heard at a distance or above other
sounds, yelled fits but shouted does not.)
5. Ask for student volunteers to create an oral cloze sentence, substituting the word blank
for the synonym. Have students provide feedback. Repeat as necessary for
understanding.
6. Direct students to work with a partner to write a cloze sentence for any verb form of
bellowed and 2 synonyms of their choosing.
7. Have partner teams exchange their sentences with another partner team to see if they
are able to guess the right synonym.
Syntactic Activity for exhausted
1. Draw a grid on the board with 3 columns labeled Noun-Adjective-Adverb.
2. Ask students to recall what part of speech exhausted was as used in the story. Write
the word on the board in the adjective column.
3. Ask what the verb form would be. Write the word on the board in the verb column. Ask
for other forms of the verb exhaust and write those in the same box.
Point out that exhausted can be both an adjective and adverb.
4. Ask what part of speech word they would use to describe the state of being exhausted.
Write the word on the board in the noun column.
Point out the tion suffix. Ask if students can think of any other words that end in

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tion. If necessary, write the adjectives perfected, polluted, frustrated, and
devastated in the appropriate column.
Ask students to help you fill in the rest of the grid for these words.

Noun
Exhaustion
Perfection
Pollution
Frustration
Devastation

Adjective
Exhausted
Perfected
Polluted
Frustrated
Devastated

Verb
Exhaust
Perfect
Pollute
frustrate
Devastate

After
1. Bring students back together for a discussion about the words they studied. Ask how
using a synonym of a word can change the meaning of a sentence or more precisely
convey the authors thoughts.

Substitute some of the synonyms for the target word in the text, and ask
students if/how it changes the meaning.

2. Invite students to share which activity was most helpful to them in developing a better
understanding of the word.
3. Tell students they have a choice for their final activity:
Complete Semantic Concept Map. Introduce and model completion using hot as
an example. OR
Write a story or create a cartoon using the three Tier 2 words. Students may
choose to use any form or definition of the words.
VI. Materials and Equipment:

The Garden of Abdul Gasazi for interactive reading

Chart paper for teacher to record predictions about story structure

PC and document camera/projector to project images of the noun forms of the words

Scott, Foresman Beginning Dictionary for students reference

Scholastic Childrens Thesaurus for students to research synonyms and their definitions

Target word reference sheets for teacher reference

VII.

Nut & bolt fastener and deadbolt to demonstrate noun forms of bolt

Synonyms and Antonyms Brainstorming worksheet for students to develop a richer

understanding of the words meaning.

Semantic Concept Map to assess student understanding of the semantics of the word.

Assessment/Evaluation:
Formative:

Observation of student pair and group interactions.

Review of worksheets completed by students.

Summative:

VIII.

Semantic Concept Map or story/cartoon.

VII. Differentiation: Individualized Activities:

Students will be paired and grouped heterogeneously to allow students to support each
other in their learning.

Students who would not be sufficiently supported in a heterogeneous pair or group will be
provided with an alternative Synonyms and Antonyms Brainstorming worksheet and
Semantic Concept Map.

Students are provided choice for their assessment activity.

For students with special needs or whose first language is not English, they may illustrate
or dictate their understanding for each activity.

As an extension activity, gifted and talented students may create their own semantic word
map (using their own categories), either in paper or electronic format, using the word

IX.

association website, http://www.snappywords.com/

Technology:
The following interactive mapping websites can be used as differentiation or an extension
activity:

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http://www.softschools.com/teacher_resources/concept_map_maker/

https://www.text2mindmap.com/

The following website can be used by advanced or gifted and talented students to explore even
more word relationships.

X.

http://www.snappywords.com/

Self-Assessment

Were 90% of the students able to meet the objectives?

Did the student compositions reflect a rich understanding of the targeted words?

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References
Allsburg, C. (1979). The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Bollard, J., & Bollard, J. K. (2006). Scholastic Childrens Thesaurus. New York, NY: Scholastic
Inc.
Thorndike, B. (1979). Scott, Foresman Beginning Dictionary. New York, NY: Doubleday Books.