Literature Circles Lesson Plan
Janna Reighard
Johns Hopkins University
March 31, 2011
Title: Words with Multiple Meanings
Subject: Language Arts
Grade Level: 2
MSDE Indicator(s)
 1.2.D.3 Understand, acquire, and use new vocabulary
 1.2.D.3.a Determine the meanings of unknown words: Reread; use context clues; read
on; use text features
Objectives
 Students will identify examples of words with multiple meanings in text.
Materials needed:
 Marker
 Chart paper
 Student Copies of “What Does It Mean?” organizer
 A variety of Amelia Bedelia books
 Eight Ate, A feast of Homonym Riddles
 Why the Banana Split
 A Chocolate Moose for Dinner
 The King Who Rained
 A Little Pigeon Toad
On chart paper, write the following 3-column “What Does It Mean?” organizer.
Word
What the word means
What clue helped me
determine the meaning of the
word?
Before Reading
 Tell students that authors sometimes use words that can have several different meanings.
For example, the word ring can mean the sound that a bell makes, or a circle, or a piece
of jewelry that you wear on your finger. An author would use other words with the word
ring to help us know which meaning she wanted us to have. The author might write: The
bell had a loud ring to it; The students formed a ring in the center of the gym; The king
placed the ring on his finger. We know the meanings of the word ring from the other
words in the sentences.

Introduce the story Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia by showing the cover of the book. Ask
students to talk with a partner and think about what they know about Amelia Bedelia
from reading or hearing about her.

Ask for students’ ideas. (Bring out the fact that the meanings of words sometimes
confuse her.)

Give a brief book introduction stating what the author’s intent was for the book.
Suggested book introduction: “Peggy Parish has written several humorous books about
Amelia Bedelia, who seems always to get confused. Amelia Bedelia works for Mrs.
Rogers by taking care of her house. In this book, Amelia Bedelia is substituting at school
until the new teacher gets there. To confuse her character, Peggy Parish uses words that
have multiple meanings. For example, Amelia Bedelia is told to call the roll. Instead of
calling the names of the students from a class list or class roll, she borrows a roll made of
dough from a student’s lunchbox and calls it! There are many other examples of words
with multiple meanings. Today we will read the list that was given to Amelia Bedelia by
Mr. Carter, the principal. Then, as we read the story, I want you to think about two
things: The meanings of the words and how the author let you know what each word
meant.”
During Reading
 Display the 3-column What Does It Mean? organizer.

Think aloud to demonstrate how you determine the meaning of the words. For example,
say, “We talked about the first job- Call the roll. Let’s look at the next job- Plant a bulb.
I know that a bulb that we would plant looks something like an onion. Let’s read to see
what Amelia Bedelia did.” Open the book to the pages where Amelia Bedelia is reading
this job and doing it in her own way (pages 24-28). Talk about how the word bulb can
also mean the glass part of a lamp that gives off light when it is turned on.

Say, “I am going to write the word bulb on the chart in the first column. In the second
column, I am going to write the definition that goes with the meaning on the list—a plant
bud that develops underground. In the third column I am going to write that the clue was
the word plant because I know that you plant bulbs that grow underground.” Record the
information on the 3-column chart.

Involve the students in the other examples. Read each job on the list and point out the
highlighted word. Discuss what it means in the context of the other words. Then read the
book to see how Amelia Bedelia defined the word. Discuss the multiple meanings of the
word, but return to the context of the word to determine the author’s definition. Record
the students’ responses on the 3-column chart.
After Reading
 Pose the following question to students: “In the story Amelia Bedelia, how did Peggy
Parish help you know the correct meanings of the words?” Use the think-pair-share
strategy.

Establish that the context in which the words were used best determined the meanings of
each word.

Discuss how knowing the context would help students with future readings. Provide an
example from a text that they may currently be reading or from a text that they have
already read.
Literature Circles (can be split into 2 days if needed)
After the whole group lesson, student will participate in literature circles.
 The teacher will review 5 pre-selected texts that feature words with multiple meanings.
o Eight Ate, A feast of Homonym Riddles
o Why the Banana Split
o A Chocolate Moose for Dinner,
o The King Who Rained
o A Little Pigeon Toad
 Students will then choose which book they would like to read with no more than 4
children per group.
 The teacher will allow the students in each their desired role.
o Connector
o Word Wizard
o Questioner
o Illustrator
 Students will then be given 30 minutes to read and discuss their books.
 After 30 minutes, students will be given 30 minutes to come up with a way to present the
words with multiple meanings in the books. Students can act out the words, make a
poster, etc.
 Allow each group 5 minutes to present the final product.
Independent Practice
 Use other Amelia Bedelia stories to provide practice with determining the author’s
meaning through the context of the story. Supply students (individually or pairs) with the
attached graphic organizer

Have the students make collections of words with multiple meanings. Point out that
dictionaries are great sources for finding words with many definitions, such as the word
spring that has as many as 36 definitions and the word play that has as many as 67
entries. Have them write as many definitions for each word as they can. Then have the
students use the words in sentences. Have other students match the meanings of the
words in sentences with the corresponding definitions.
Closure/Evaluation
 Give students practice with vocabulary development using the following format:

Select the sentence in which the word is used in the same way as the underlined word in
the given sentence.
Have you ever seen the play called The Secret Garden?
1. I made a great play in yesterday’s soccer game.
2. Who will play the part of the tricky fox?
3. We are all going to try out for the school play.
4. My dog likes to play catch with me.
Name:_______________________________
Date:_______________________________
What Does It Mean?
Word
What the word means
What clue helped me
determine the meaning of the
word?