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Grades 2–3by Timothy RasinskiKent State UniversityNew York Toronto London Auckland SydneyMexico City New Delhi Hong Kong Buenos AiresDaily Word Ladders: Grades 2-3 Timothy Rasinski, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

To my children—Mike, Emily, Mary, and Jenny—Word Wizards in their own right.A father couldn’t ask for better kids.Scholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the reproducible pages inthis book for classroom use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced inwhole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, withoutwritten permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write toPermissions, Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.Cover design by Maria LiljaInterior design by Ellen Matlach for Boultinghouse & Boultinghouse, Inc.Interior illustrations by Teresa AnderkoISBN: 0-439-51383-9Copyright 2005 by Timothy RasinskiAll rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 104013 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05Daily Word Ladders: Grades 2-3 Timothy Rasinski, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

ContentsWelcome to Word Ladders! . . . 5Neigh-bors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Counting Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Giving and Receiving . . . . . . . . . 35Home, Sweet Home . . . . . . . . . . . 8Getting There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36In the Doghouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Splish Splash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Shrinking Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Fancy Footwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38All Wet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Shopping Spree . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Go, Team! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Sweet Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Sweet Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Woodsman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Art Smart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Thar She Blows! . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Sleepytime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Holiday Candy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43More or Less. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Car Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Barbershop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Friendship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Inside Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Great Grapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Weighty Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Busy Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Restful Vacation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Ship Ahoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Score! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Birdsong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Personality Change . . . . . . . . . . . 50Shady Glade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Ride ’Em . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51School Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Love Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Underfoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Good Cooking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Bare Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54America’s Pastime . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Color Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Sweet Treats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Deep Freeze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Finish Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29In the Kitchen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Giving Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Opposites Attract . . . . . . . . . . . . 31On the Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Seasoning Selection . . . . . . . . . . 32Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Displays of Affection . . . . . . . . . . 33Hungry! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Daily Word Ladders: Grades 2-3 Timothy Rasinski, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

Opposites Attract #2 . . . . . . . . . . 62Animal Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Nap Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Five Senses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91City Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Shop ’til You Drop . . . . . . . . . . . 92Air Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Cross-Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Snack Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66The Whole Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . 94A Matter of Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Rags to Riches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Catnip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Insect Incline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Showers and Flowers . . . . . . . . . 69In the Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Coffee Break. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Tidying Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Simon Says. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Outerwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Wet and Wetter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Brass Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100After Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Crybaby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Bookworm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Utensils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Daily Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Wildlife. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Top to Bottom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Boo!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Finders Keepers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Bedridden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Tolling Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Make-Your-OwnWord Ladders . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Some Like It Sweet . . . . . . . . . . . 79Feelings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Bright Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Play Ball! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Good, Clean Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Gently Down the Stream. . . . . . . 84Better and Better . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Winter Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Brrrrr!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Baby Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Fizzy Drinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Daily Word Ladders: Grades 2-3 Timothy Rasinski, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

Welcome to Word Ladders!In this book you’ll find 100 mini-wordstudy lessons that are also kid-pleasinggames! To complete each Word Laddertakes just ten minutes but actively involveseach learner in analyzing the structure andmeaning of words. To play, students beginwith one word and then make a series ofother words by changing or rearranging theletters in the word before. With regular use,Word Ladders can go a long way towarddeveloping your students’ decoding andvocabulary skills.that all children need to do in order tolearn how to decode and spell accurately.And when the puzzle adds a bit of meaningin the form of a definition (for example,“make a word that means to saysomething”), it helps extend students’understanding of words and concepts.All of these skills are key to students’success in learning to read and write. Soeven though Word Ladders will feel likea game your students will be practicingessential literacy skills at the same time!How do Word Ladders work?Let’s say our first Word Ladder begins withthe word walk. The directions will tellstudents to change one letter in walk tomake a word that means “to speak.” Theword students will make, of course, is talk.The next word will then ask students tomake a change in talk to form anotherword—perhaps chalk, or tall. At the top ofthe ladder, students will have a final wordthat is in some way related to the firstword—for example, run. If students getstuck on a rung along the way, they cancome back to it, because the words beforeand after will give them the clues theyneed to go on.How do Word Ladders benefitstudents?Word Ladders are great for buildingstudents’ decoding, phonics, spelling, andvocabulary skills. When students add orrearrange letters to make a new wordfrom one they have just made, they mustexamine sound-symbol relationshipsclosely. This is just the kind of analysisNameRead the clues, then writethe words.Start at the bottom andclimb to the top.ma n y10A male person olderthan a boy.Change one letter.9t a n8Number of fingersa person has.Change one letter.76m e nA chicken wholays eggs.Change one letter.5m e ow4To cut grass.Change one letter.A light brown color.Change one letter.t e nh e nMore than one man.Take away twoletters, then addone more.More than a few.Add one letter.ma nSound made by a cat.Add one letter.mow3n ow2Opposite of old.Change one letter.In the present time.Change one letter.n e w1f e w7How do I teach a Word Ladder lesson?Word Ladders are incredibly easy and quickto implement. Here are four simple steps:1. Choose a Word Ladder to try. (The firstfive pages feature easier ladders; youmay want to start with those.)2. Make a copy of the Word Ladder foreach student.3. Choose whether you want to do yourWord Ladders with the class as a whole,or by having students work alone, inpairs, or in groups. (You might do the5Daily Word Ladders: Grades 2-3 Timothy Rasinski, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

first few together, until students areready to work more independently.)4. At each new word, students will seetwo clues: the kinds of changes theyneed to make to the previous word(“rearrange letters” or “add two letters”),and a definition of or clue to themeaning of the word. Sometimes thisclue will be a sentence in which theword is used in context but is left outfor children to fill in. Move from wordto word this way, up the whole WordLadder.Look for the Bonus Boxes withstars. These are particularly difficultwords you may want to preteach.Or you can do these ladders as agroup so that children will not getstuck on this rung.That’s the lesson in a nutshell! It shouldtake no longer than ten minutes to do.Once you’re done, you may wish to extendthe lesson by having students sort thewords into various categories. This canhelp them deepen their understanding ofword relationships. For instance, theycould sort them into: Grammatical categories. (Which wordsare nouns? Verbs?) Word structure. (Which words have along vowel and which don’t? Whichcontain a consonant blend?) Word meaning. (Which words expresswhat a person can do or feel? Whichdo not?)Tips for WorkingWith Word LaddersTo give students extra help, mix upand write on the board all the“answers” for the ladder (that is, thewords for each rung) for them tochoose from as they go through thepuzzle. In addition: Add your own clues to give studentsextra help as they work througheach rung of a ladder. A recent eventin your classroom or communitycould even inspire clues for words. If students are having difficulty witha particular word, you might simplysay the word aloud and see ifstudents can spell it correctly bymaking appropriate changes in theprevious word. Elaborate on themeanings of the words as studentsmove their way up the ladder. If students are stuck on a particularrung of the Word Ladder, tell themto skip it and come back to it later. Challenge students to come up withalternative definitions for the samewords. Many words, like lock, fall,and stock, have multiple meanings.Timothy Rasinski is a professor of literacyeducation at Kent State University, with aspecial focus on young and strugglingreaders. Dr. Rasinski has served on theboard of directors at the InternationalReading Association and as president of theCollege Reading Association. He is theauthor of numerous books and professionalarticles on effective reading instruction.6Daily Word Ladders: Grades 2-3 Timothy Rasinski, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources