English Language Arts: Evaluation Strategies

K-12: Standard 3

• Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Standards for the English Language Arts, by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, Copyright 1996 by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. Reprinted with permission.

Source: NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts

Phonemic awareness lays the groundwork for successes in both reading and writing. Using fun activity cards, explore middle vowel sounds to create three- or four-letter words. Guide students with word recognition and enable them to use these cards for independent practice. Follow the vowel-consonant-vowel pattern to create additional activity cards for assessment.

Figure A

Figure B

Note: Eggs, Tiny Jelly Beans or Tiny Lima Beans can be used for this project.

Supplies Used: Adhesive Letters, Cardstock, Glue, Pens (Marking), Scissors, Tape, Double-Sided Tape

The teacher will die-cut the materials for student use prior to the lesson.

1. Die-cut XL Activity Card, Elephant using white and gray cardstock or construction paper.
2. Trim along the outside perforated lines outlining the activity card area (Figure A) on the white Elephant. Adhere to the gray Elephant.
3. Put a piece of white paper behind both eyes and adhere with tape. Use a marking pen to add the pupils.
4. Place adhesive letters or use a marking pen to put vowels across the card above the white area.
5. Use adhesive letters or a marking pen to put consonants or blends at the beginning and end of each row (to form a word with the missing vowel). The teacher could provide the letter or blend or students could be asked to come up with their own.
6. Die-cut a handful of Tiny Eggs for each student using brown paper. Trim the Eggs along both sides to look more like a peanut (Figure B).
7. Students now complete the chart, filling in the vowel on each correct word and using a dictionary to be sure they know the proper definition for each word. If a correct word cannot be formed, a peanut is placed in that square (see Main Photo).