Synonym

Phonics/Spelling Vowel Changes Rule: Some words related in meaning are also related in spelling, even though the vowel sound may change. Compare the spelling and pronunciation to the two similar words. Compare the meanings, spellings, and pronunciations of each pair.

Long Vowel Sound 1st syllable

ā

ē

steal heal breathe deal athlete cave shade

ī

ō

Short vowel sound 1st syllable

ū

ă

ĕ

stealth health breath dealt athletic cavity shadow

ĭ

ŏ

ŭ

Long Vowel Sound 1st syllable

ā

ē

volcano wise crime wild revise final cycle

ī

ō

Short vowel sound 1st syllable

ū

ă

ĕ

ĭ

volcanic wisdom criminal wilderness revision finish bicycle

ŏ

ŭ

Long Vowel Sound 1st syllable

Short Vowel Sound 1st syllable

steal

stealth

heal

health

breathe

breath

deal

dealt

athlete

ath

athletic

ath

let

ic

cave

cavity

cav

i

ty

shade

shadow

shad

volcanic

vol

can

wise

wisdom

wis

dom

crime

criminal

crim

i

wild

wilderness

wil

der

ness

sion

volcano

vol

lete

ca

no

ow

revise

re

vise

revision

re

vi

final

fi

nal

finish

fin

ish

cycle

cy

cle

bicycle

bi

cy

ic nal

cle

Tall Tales Out on the frontier of the 1800s, American settlers liked to exaggerate. They created heroes and heroines who were larger than life and did amazing deeds. The result was a new kind of story - the tall tale.

Tall tales are still told today. After you read

these examples, add to the tradition and write your own!

Paul Bunyan, the Mightiest Logger of Them All retold by Mary Pope Osborne

Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind retold by Mary Pope Osborne

John Henry Races The Steam Drill retold by Paul Robert Walker February From McBroom’s Almanac by Sid Fleischman

Theme 1:Nature’s Fury Teacher Read Aloud: Bess Call Retold by Kevin Supples Building Background: 1. The genre focus is Tall Tales 2. What do you know about tall tale characters?

Comprehension Skill: Understanding Tall Tales 1. Tall Tales differ from other stories. 2. The characters and events are exaggerated. 3. Some tall tales explain how a natural phenomenon or event came about.

Theme 1:Nature’s Fury Setting a Purpose: Pay attention to exaggerated characters and actions as I read aloud, Bess Call.

1. What clues tell you that the story is a tall tale? 2. Which of Bess’s and Joe’s activities are clues that the story is a tall tale? 3. Why do you think Dewey D. finally leaves, never to return to Call Farm?

Loggers

Vocabulary Fluency How Fast Can You Read the Words?

deeds

tale

exaggerate

tradition

frontier

varmint

hero

forage

heroine

dismal

settler

instinct

acts or actions

deeds The young boy was knighted for his virtuous and brave deeds.

Synonyms: endeavors accomplishments

the main male character in a story, poem, or play

hero The hero was commended with a medal and a key to the city.

Synonym: conqueror idol

to describe something as being greater or larger that it really is

exaggerate

She has a tendency to exaggerate the truth.

Synonyms: embellish inflate

a remote area beyond which few people live

frontier The development of the railroad helped to move the American frontier farther west.

the main female character in a story, poem, or play

heroine Everyone called Mandy a heroine after she saved the kitten from the pond.

Synonyms: conqueror idol

a person who settles in a new region

settler The settler laid claim to the piece of land.

Synonyms: colonist pioneer

a story, usually an imaginary or madeup one

tale A good storyteller makes any tale exciting.

Synonyms: fiction narrative

an idea, custom, or belief that is passed down from one generation to the next

tradition It is a family tradition to make carmel apples and popcorn balls on Halloween.

Synonyms: ritual practice

wild creature

varmint I can outgrin, outsnort, outrun, outlift, outsneeze, outsleep, outlie any varmint from Maine to Louisiana.

search

forage One evening Mike crept into an old alligator skin and met Sally just as she was taking off to forage in the woods for berries.

Synonyms: scavenge rummage

gloomy

dismal Folks around here call it McBroom’s Natural Winter Extract & Relief for the Summer Dismals.

Synonyms: drab dreary bleak

knowledge one is born with

instinct That holey black sock had the instinct of a homing pigeon.

Synonyms intuition sense