Homonyms

Submitted by: Cindy Garosshen
School or Affiliation: Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, CT
Adapted from: an idea by Rochelle Chenoweth (http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/)

Date: June 10, 1998

Grade Level: Designed for grades 2 or 3, depending on reading level

Instructional Objective:

The students will demonstrate knowledge and use of homonyms in spoken and written contexts.

Materials:

Riddles or jokes from various sources (cartoons, joke books, riddles on popsicle sticks, riddles on Dixie cups, etc.)

Homonym pear tree display made out of construction paper

Velcro tabs, wall mounting tabs, or tape

Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish and copies for the students if desired

Tree notepads or other writing devices / writing utensils for students

Blackboard/chalk

Set/Initiation:

Begin by sharing some jokes containing homonyms. These can come from a variety of sources ( see materials list). Ask students to tell you why they are funny. Write the homonym words on the board. Ask how the words are the same and how they are different. This should lead into a definition of what homonyms are (ex. How they are usually pairs of words that sound the same, and sometimes are spelled the same, but have very different meanings). Have students brainstorm additional homonyms that they know and add them to the list. If you want to, have them share jokes that they think contain homonyms as well.

Note: I would also make available during independent reading time bookscontaining homonym jokes as well as other books described in the additional resources/ materials section.

Procedures:

1. Explain to students that they are going to do a homonym pear (pair) tree activity with you.

2. See if anyone knows why you picked a pear tree.

3. Use a bulletin board display with a homonym pear (pair) tree (attach pears with paired homonyms on the branches, have a basket underneath the pear tree, and also have blank pears available).

4. Have students choose a pear off the tree, and use each of the homonym pairs in a sentence that demonstrates their meaning. Then have them put their pear in the basket.

5. Provide blank pears that the students can fill in with their own homonyms and use appropriately in sentences.

[Provide scaffolding or modification of instruction as needed].

6. Then introduce the book Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, and ask students what they know about the main character, Amelia Bedelia.

7. Explain that Amelia Bedelia is a girl who confuses a lot of words in the English language, and has a lot of trouble with homonyms.

8. Instruct students that they will be listening very closely for homonyms in the story. Tell them they will be writing homonyms they hear in the story on a chart.

9. After the story is read (with pause time allowed as needed), break up the class into small groups. Have them write a list of homonyms they heard in the story on a chart. The chart will be divided into homonyms they know and homonyms they don't know. They can circle their favorites if they want. I used a "tree" notepad. The teacher will probably need to provide an example of the chart on the blackboard.

10. Tell them they will be sharing their lists, and use other students in their group to help them understand the homonyms they had trouble understanding. Tell them that they can also use this time to share their favorite homonyms from the story.

Closure:

Regroup class as a whole. Have students share with the class some of their favorite parts of the book involving homonyms. Check and see if there are any homonyms that were not understood, and discuss as a group. Ask if there are any homonyms that the class wants added to the homonym pear tree. Compliment the students on how they worked together. If you want to, suggest follow up activities that they could do at home.

Evaluation:

This should be done informally throughout the lesson. I would also use an extension activity to evaluate this objective further. Specifically, I would give students a choice of the following (depending on the level and interest of the children):

1. Write their own version of a book with a main character like Amelia Bedelia with at least 5 homonyms.
2. Make a flip up book which illustrated at least 5 pairs of homonyms in sentence contexts.

These projects would be read individually to the classroom teacher, who could evaluate the student's comprehension and use of homonyms in more depth if needed.

Additional Resources/Materials:

There are other books in the Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish that would work equally well. Deputy Dan Gets His Man and Deputy Dan and the Bank Robbers are two other possibilities. I also found another book called A Chocolate Moose for Dinner by Fred Gwynne which could make for an interesting rewrite by students, but I found many of the homonyms in this book to be difficult for the grades I was targeting.

Available software targeting homonyms should also be considered.

Copyright© Teacher's Desk.  Any reproduction of this site in any manner is strictly prohibited.  Revised: 19 Mar 2002 11:34:30 -0600.