This neat holiday idea has been floating around on many websites and Pinterest boards for the past Thanksgiving season or two, so I couldn’t resist giving it a try and “making it my own.” This simple Speech Snack is the inspiration behind the new Thanksgiving product I created in my TpT store—A Cornucopia of Tier Two Vocabulary. I created it with the middle to high school set in mind. It includes some key Tier-2 vocabulary, strategy and game dice and a 3-D “Cornucopia Cup,” (as I call it), for collecting all the game pieces earned in this activity. If you’d like, you could even substitute the Cornucopia Sugar Cone (see below) to make your activity an edible learning experience!
This packet is designed to help teach students to look beyond the memorization of dictionary definitions and further develop a deeper understanding of tier-2 vocabulary words. In addition, it addresses comprehension skills through “WH” questions related to the content of the passages that require thoughtful, inferential responses.
The object of the game: Read the passages aloud to/with your students. Roll the dice and pick the numbered tier -2 word in one of the passages that correspond. Be the first player to fill their cornucopia cup with all six playing pieces by providing good responses to vocabulary and/or comprehension questions.
What’s included:
- 5 different November-themed reading passages. Each passage has SIX tier-2 words in bold lettering. These words should be used in conjunction with the accompanying dice on pages 11,12 and 13.
- Cornucopia template for use with the game. Copy one cornucopia for EACH player. Cut out image and laminate for durability. Cut along dotted lines after laminated. Fold down each triangular section and secure flaps with tape or a glue stick to the inside of a large paper cup. Your cornucopia is now ready to get filled with a harvest of fruits and vegetables. Plastic playing chips or real food treats such as cereal, raisins, gummy candies or candy corn can be substituted for items on pages 9-10.
- Two duplicate pages of items to be used to play the cornucopia game.
- Cubes for use with passages. Use cubes #1 and #2 only or all three together. Cube #1 is the vocabulary-building strategies cube. Cube #2 contains a number and symbol. Pick the word in the passage that corresponds with the number on the cube. Put the item into your cornucopia cup after responding to the question. Cube #3 contains lose/gain an extra item remark—use of this cube is optional. Cube #4 is used with the passages to focus on comprehension/inferential thinking questions related to the stories.
- Graphic Organizer for tier-2 vocabulary
- “Let’s Talk Turkey” organizational diagram to be used for writing the main idea and supporting details regarding each of the reading passages.
- Sugar Cone Cornucopia recipe—One “speechsnacks” recipe card is included to accompany this Thanksgiving-themed product .
And here’s a preview of the Cornucopia Cup you will be making to go along with this activity:
Use this edible activity in your therapy sessions to building speech and language skills. (for practicality purposes, make cone shapes ahead of time)
please note: in the image below, I left out the following information: be sure to place a lid on over the colander while steaming the sugar/waffle cones!
Before filling cones, 1-discuss the concepts: empty/full, hollow/solid, 2-practice the multisyllabic word “corn-u-cop-i-a” and count the syllables, 3-have students generate a list of things they are grateful for as they add items to their cone. 4- Name other objects that are shaped like a cone. 5–Use this food craft to target any language or articulation skill and fill with “tokens” (either edible or non-edible) for rewards points.
Hoping you and your students enjoy this activity and find your cornucopia’s and conversations overflowing with new vocabulary!!!
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