NCDPI – AIG Instructional Resource: Background Information
Resource Title: Please Be Mum About the Mum, and Other Multiple Meaning Words
Subject Area/Grade Level (s): ELA Grade 1
Time Frame:: One 45 minutes lesson
Common Core/Essential Standard Addressed:
L.1.4 (a) Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing
flexibly from an array of strategies.
 Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase
Additional Standards Addressed:
L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
 Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to
prompts.
L.1.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
 Capitalize dates and names of people.
 Use end punctuation for sentences.
 Use commas in dates and separate single words in a series.
 Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
 Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.
Brief Description of Lesson/Task/Activity: The teacher will engage the students in a game to introduce the idea of multiple meaning words. The
students will brainstorm to generate a list of multiple meaning words for the game. The students will read the book Amelia Bedelia where
multiple meaning words are prevalent and will determine from the context clues the true meanings and misinterpretations. Finally, the students
will write ten creative sentences with multiple meaning words using declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative sentence types.
Type of Differentiation for AIGs (include all that apply):
Adaptations for AIGs:
x Content
x Process
Enrichment
x Extension
x Acceleration
x Product
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
Explanation of How Resource is Appropriate for AIGs: The lesson has students using the thinking skills of creating, evaluating, analyzing and
applying which reflects the need for AIG learners to have greater exposure to higher-level thinking activities sooner in their school years than
other students. It extends the first grade curriculum from determining or clarifying the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words to
applying the words and creating written works with them. The students must brainstorm and piggyback word ideas, requiring divergent
thinking, another appropriate skill for AIG learners who are good at creative, flexible thinking. In addition, the game adds a degree of challenge
and rigor as the definition, or answer, is given to the students, and they must think backwards to find what is being defined, or asked, and then
apply it to a new situation, another definition. This requires multi-step processing that gifted learners thrive on and enjoy.
Needed Resources/Materials
 A copy of Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
 Multiple Meaning Word List attachment
 Word cards made from the above word list (on 3 by 5 inch cards)
Sources:
 Coil, C. (2007) Successful Teaching in the Differentiated Classroom. Marion, IL: Pieces of Learning.
 Multiple Meanings Game (2009) Retrieved March 11, 2009, from
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp061.shtml
 Parish, P. (1963) Amelia Bedelia. New York, NY: Scholastic.
 Polette, N. (1999) Activities for Any Novel. Marion, IL: Pieces of Learning.
TEACHER NOTES: Please use the attached list of multiple meaning words and feel free to add more of your own words to the list.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
NCDPI AIG Curriculum Resource Outline
STAGE ONE: ENGAGE
Hook: Read the following statements to the students:
Please be mum about the mum I am giving your mom.
“I will have to hide this hide from my wife,” said the hunter.
After the servant poured out all the gold pieces, the Count told him to count them at once.
“Meet me under the ball at the ball,” said the Prince to Cinderella.
Prior knowledge: The teacher should ask the students what they noticed about what was just read. The students should be able to point out
the repetition of the same words. The teacher should next ask, “Are the same words used twice in the sentence, or are they different words?
Was I trying to create a tongue-twister? What do you know about these kinds of words?” Allow enough wait time for the students to respond.
Instructional Input: If no one can explain about multiple meaning words, then the students should be taught that these repeating words are
words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Ask the students how are they able to tell which word meaning is correct when
they are speaking or reading? Students should be able to say, or should be led to say, that the meaning is dependent on the context, or how the
word is used in the sentence and with the words around it. Word usage determines meaning when such multiple meaning words are used.
The teacher will now lead the students to brainstorm a list of words with multiple meanings.
Model: The teacher can model brainstorming and piggybacking of ideas. Upon looking around the room, the teacher can tell the students that
words are all around us and we can use our environments for inspiration. She can explain, “I see today’s date written on the board, and I can eat
a date, a type of fruit. These are multiple meanings of the same word. I can also get ideas from the ideas of others. In the beginning of the
lesson, I read you a sentence about the prince at the ball. I can piggyback off that idea without copying it and tell you that ball makes me think of
a bat because a ball is also a piece of sports equipment and so is a bat. A bat can be used in baseball, and a bat is a nocturnal, flying animal.
These are multiple meaning words, too. Now you try brainstorming and piggybacking, too.” This is just an example of a teacher to student
dialogue.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
STAGE TWO: ELABORATE
Guide the students to produce a list of some of the multiple meaning words they know, and record these on the board. Tell them some of their
words might be in the game they will next play. The teacher and students should read the list aloud.
The students will now play a game in which each student will have a card on which a word’s meaning is written, but not the word. The goal is for
each student to identify the word that goes with the meaning on his or her card. After that, the student must find the person in the class who
has a card that has another meaning for the same word.
Use the attached resource of multiple meaning words (see resources) to create enough pairs of word-meaning cards (on 3 x 5 cards) so that
each student has one card, and that there is a match for that card on which a different definition of the same word is written.
To play the game, give each student a card with a word meaning written on it. The students will mill around the room silently, holding their
cards in front of them for others to see, trying to find the student who holds his or her match. Use a timer and have a set time allotted. When
students think they have found their match, they bring their cards to the teacher, and if they are correct they are given a point. While they wait
for others to finish they can try to think of a sentence in which both words are used correctly, as they heard at the beginning of the class.
When all are done, the teacher can collect the cards and pass them out again for a second round, making sure no one gets the same card again.
Check the students’ pairings for accuracy.
Next tell the students they will hear a story about someone who got word meanings confused all the time, and this got her in a lot of trouble.
Read the story of Amelia Bedelia aloud to the students and as the story is read and a multiple meaning word is presented in the book, ask the
students to raise their hands when they hear the words used incorrectly by the main character. When the teacher sees the students raise their
hands, he or she can find the mixed-up word on the board and put a check mark by it (in a different marker color), or if it is not on the board, it
can be recorded with the same marker that was just used for placing checkmarks. After the reading, review with the students all the mixed-up
words from the book. Referring to the board, ask the students to count the number of times Amelia Bedelia became confused over words in the
book. Ask them how they can help from being confused in this way, and they should respond by reiterating the need to pay attention to how the
word is used in the sentence, and in the context.
Independent practice:
Ask the students to choose 10 pairs of multiple meaning words from the board to use in writing sentences about Amelia Bedelia’s adventures.
The sentences can be about Amelia, other characters in the book, or about the book’s setting. Both words must be in the same sentence and
must be used in the correct context. Remind them that these sentences are often humorous, like when the hunter said, “I will have to hide this
hide from my wife.” The teacher should encourage the students to be creative and to vary the types of sentences and punctuation they use.
Review what is expected for a complete sentence. Review that sentences can be simple or compound, and can be declarative, interrogative,
imperative or exclamatory. This means they can be telling sentences, commands, questions, quotes, and more.
Allow up to 20 to 30 minutes for this independent writing time, and if students need more time, the assignment can go home for homework.
Students should be allowed to use dictionaries if necessary. The teacher could have more Amelia Bedelia books available for early finishers or for
student checkout. Set aside time in class the next day for the students to share their sentences.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
STAGE THREE: EVALUATE
The teacher can assess each student’s success with the standards used in this lesson by developing a rubric. The following criteria could be used
on a rubric that is judged on a scale from 1 to 5, with a 5 being the best and highest value a student could receive:
 The student was able to determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words.
 The student used sentence-level context as clues to identify the true meanings of a word or words.
 The student used different strategies to identify the meanings of words in the text.
 The multiple meaning words were used correctly in context.
 The student showed flexibility in the use of multiple meaning words.
 The student followed all instructions and wrote 10 sentences using words with multiple meanings.
 The student produced and expanded complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences.
 The student showed progress in demonstrating command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling in his or her writing.
 The student used a creative writing style by demonstrating originality, flexibility with word choice or topics, elaboration of details, or
fluency with language.
 The student showed wit and humor in his or her writing.
TEACHER NOTES: In the literacy center, teachers may want to add the multiple meaning words from this lesson to the existing word wall, and
students can continue to add more multiple meaning words to the wall throughout the year as they find them in other reading selections.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project