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