ESC 757

Lizvian Fernandez
Homework #4: Semantic Concepts
1. Provide four examples of each of these semantic relationships:
Homonym pairs
Homophone
Homograph pairs
(with definitions)
pairs
(with definitions)
stalk (noun, of a
plant) vs.
stalk (verb, to follow)

wood/would

bow (of a ship)

bow (and arrow)

1.mean (verb, to have

a particular meaning)
Mean (adj, occupying
middle position)
2. punch (verb, hit)
Punch (noun, tool)

1. I/eye

1. lie (untruth)
Lie (horizontal
position)

2. sea/see

1.

Heteronyms
(with definitions)
desert (to
abandon) vs.
desert (arid
region)
1.Tear (rip)
Tear ( fluid in the
eye)

2. trunk
(part of tree)

2.lead (metal)
lead (to guide)

3.bat (noun, baseball

equipment)
bat ( verb, to strike or
hit using a bat)
4. capital (adj, upper
case letter)
Capital (noun,
accumulated
possessions
calculated to bring in
income)

Synonym pairs

3.
there/their/theyre
4. buy/by

Antonyms pairs

runk (person's or
animal's body apart
from the limbs and
head.)
3. fair (county fair)
Fair (reasonable)
4. lean (thin)
Lean (rest against)

Polysemes

3.Present (gift)
Present (to
introduce)
4. Dove (jump
off)
Dove (bird)

Capitonyms

warm/tepid

hot/cold

1. happy/joyful

1.
lack/abundance

mouth (of a river)

mouth (of a cave)
1. Man: The human species
(i.e., man vs. animal)

polish (verb)
Polish (adj.)
1. Turkey (proper
noun)

turkey (noun)

Man: Males of the human

species (i.e., man vs. woman)
2. war/conflict

2. kind/ mean

2. Bank: a financial institution

2. March (noun)
March (verb)

Bank: the building where a

financial institution offers
services
3.
prone/vulnerable

3. hate/love

3. Wood: a piece of a tree

3.May (noun)
may (verb)

Wood: geographical area with

many trees
4.just/fair

4.guilty/innocent

4. Crane: a bird
Crane: a type of construction
equipment

4. China (proper
noun)
china (noun)

2. Choose one of the semantic concepts from the top row (homonyms, homophones,
homograph, or heteronyms) and discuss one idea for teaching it to a group of ELLs
When teaching homophones, I would explain to students that homophones are
words that sound the same but are spelled differently. Homophones may sound the
same but have a different meaning. The best to understand homophone pairs is to
understand the definition of each word. I would give them two different sentences using
homophone pairs. They have to define the homophone based on how it was used in the
sentences. They will then explain why the two words are homophones.
Example: I went swimming in the sea.

Define sea:

I can see the birds in the sky.

Explain why see and sea are homophones.

Define see:

3. Design an activity for ELLs using one of the pedagogical strategies below:
1. Semantic mapping
2. Word hierarchies (ordering sets of words from least to greatest)
e.g. hut > house > mansion
3. Semantic feature analysis
Describe your activity briefly in about a page. 1. State for which level and age your
activity is for, 2. State the learning objective(s), 3. Have students create something
visual (e.g. drawings, diagrams, etc.) as part of the activity, and 4. Include some way for
students to interact with the words in context by reading and writing them in full
sentences.
The following activity is intended for level 3- High Intermediate ELLs in grades 35. Students will need to; understand standards part of speech, communicate orally and
be able to present their thoughts in an organized manner. The learning objective is for
students to be able to relate new words with their own experience and prior knowledge
to understand new words. The activity will focus on building vocabulary using sematic
mapping. A sematic map will be projected from the smart board. The map will already
be filled out. I will explain to them what sematic map is, its different parts and what it is
used for. Students will then receive a copy of a blank semantic map. I will model for
them how to fill out the maps during mini lesson.
A semantic map will be drawn on the board and a new vocabulary word will be
put in the middle circle of their semantic map. The vocabulary word will be appropriate
for grade level. I will ask them to say words that come to mind when they see the
vocabulary word. As they shout out their responses I will jot the words down on the
board, not in the map but on the right hand side. Once about 12 words are written down
students will be broken up into three groups. Each group will have to pick 4 words from
the 12 we shared as a class and decide as a group which words they think would fit if

they needed to be put into a category. Once words are picked they will share answers
as a class. Class will decide if the four words each grouped picked fit together if they
had to be in similar category, the appropriate changes would be made.
Each group will then decide what would be the best tittle for their four words.
They will have to pick the title or category that their word would fit into. Once each group
has decided we would fill out the rest of our map. I would draw three lines coming
outward from the circle that contains our new vocabulary word. On the ends of each of
the lines I will draw a circle. Within the new three circles I will write the categories each
group came up with, they will copy the same information on their maps. Four lines
would be drawn from the new circles and smaller circles would be drawn from those
line. In those new circles will be the words that fit into the three categories.
Once students have completed their maps they will continue to work with their
group members. Each group will have to come up a three sentences using the new
vocabulary words and the words they came up with as a class that relate to the new
vocabulary word. Each group will share their answers with the class. As they share their
sentences I will write them on the board next to the semantic map created during mini
lesson. Once everyone shares their sentences students will come up with a definition
for the new vocabulary.
4. Metaphors in popular culture
Read NY Times Learning Network article with ideas for teaching
metaphors: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/figurativelyspeaking-exploring-how-metaphors-make-meaning/
Briefly discuss an idea for teaching metaphors that you got from reading
the article or from the lecture and discuss how you might adapt it for ELLs.
(circa 2 paragraphs).

An idea from Figuratively Speaking; Exploring How Metaphors Make Meaning

which would seem to work when teaching metaphors to ELL students is using words in
different metaphors. Vocabulary for this activity would be vocabulary which students
have a full understanding of. They must know the words definition and the context in
which it is used in a sentence. The warm-up used for the first metaphor activity is
something that they could all do. Filling in the blank with a familiar noun would allow all
students to participate in the beginning of the lesson. I would provide students with a list
of nouns on the board, this will insure that all students use noun. The rest of the activity
would be changed.
Instead of giving a list of songs with one word that is used as a metaphor I would
give the students one metaphor from a song they know which has familiar vocabulary,
Her heart was as cold as ice. I would ask if you could see or feel someones heart
being cold. Once thy respond I would give them the definition of a metaphor. Model how
to identify a metaphor using two examples with two different familiar vocabulary words.
They will be asked to explain why the sentence is a metaphor. They will then write their
own metaphors using a word which they are familiar with. Once they are done they will
work with a partner. They must exchange metaphors and explain why their partners
sentence is a metaphor. By being able to create and identify metaphors they will
become familiarized with the concept of metaphors.
5. Fieldwork: Prototype Analysis
Do a prototypical analysis of the word read. Although all of the examples below are
examples with the word read, some are better examples than others of what people
think of first when they think of the work read.

As an example, take the word green. Close your eyes and imagine a true green. Now
imagine a bluish greenimagine a yellowish green. Although you might still call all of
these green, they are not as good examples of greenas the true green. In short,
some greens are more prototypically green than others. The same is true for other
categories, i.e., dogs. Some dogs are though of as more typical dogs than others. The
retriever is more typical than the Pekinese.
Use the worksheet below to survey 10 native speakers of English to get their ratings of
the sentences. Summarize and explain your results in 1 page (typed and doublespaced): Which sentences received the highest rating? The lowest? Why do you think
your respondents organize the definitions in the ways that they did? Explain what
features seem to characterize the most prototypical examples.
When taking the survey students seemed to be having a difficult time. They not
only struggled with understanding if the word read was used correctly in a sentence but
they struggle with the directions. Students scratched out many of their responses
because they did not understand the directions. Many believed that a 5 meant that the
word was used the best and that a 1 meant the word was a poor match for the
sentence. They were frustrated and took them a bit of time to get back on track. Once
they were able to complete their surveys I noticed many similarities.
The sentence that received the lowest rating was sentient 6, The death woman
read the lips of her friend. The reason for this cold be thats students do not read a
persons lips. They feel that you cannot read lips because lips do not have written
words. When they think about the word read they automatically think letters put
together to make words or words that are put together to make sentences. When they
come across the word read it is usually accompanied by something that to them can
actually be read such as newspapers or books.
The sentence with the highest rating was sentence 2 Joes wife could him like a
book. The reason for this is because of the way read is pronounced in this sentence.
My students struggle with heteronyms. They tend to just see a word and not understand

that it could be said differently based on the context in which it is used in. When they
read the sentence Joes wife read him like a book read was pronounced how they
pronounce it on a regular basis. They also saw the word book in the sentence. They
were able to make the connection between read and book. Joe did not read the book
they believe that read and book go together. Since they were used in the same
sentence to them that was the sentence that was correct.
The sentences with the highest and lowest ratings seem to follow the same
pattern. Sentences 3, 5 and 7 also had very low ratings. They could not picture the word
read with words like music, law or fortune. Music is something they listen to, one has to
follow the law and fortune is something one has. Sentences that also received high
ratings include 1, 4 and 10. Students could connect read with a story, newspaper and
novel. I think it all has to do with the way they pronounce the word but more importantly
the other words that are in the sentences that determined how they rated each
sentence.

Survey worksheet on word meanings

Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 the following sentences as best examples of the
category READ. (1 is best, 5 is least good).
1=best, or closest match with the original or usual meaning of read.
2=pretty good match with the original or usual meaning of read.
3=acceptable match with the original or usual meaning of read.
4=not very good match with the original or usual meaning of read.
5=poor match with the original or usual meaning of read.
Sentence
1.

He read the story to his kids.

Circle your answer (1 is best example, 5 is

worst example)
1 2 3 4 5

2. Joes wife could read him like a

book.
3. He read the music on the stand.
4. He read the newspaper while
eating breakfast.
5. He read law at the University.
6. The deaf woman read the lips of
her friend.
7. Tom had his fortune read
yesterday.
8. He read the degrees on the
thermometer.
9. He read the stop sign just
before it was too late.
10. He read the novel War and
Peace in four days.

1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5

HW#4 Rubric
1. Semantic relationships
Able to find examples of Homonyms, Homophones
Homographs, Heteronyms, Synonym pair, Antonyms pairs, Polysemes, and Capitonyms

Exceeds
5

Meets
3-4

Approaches
1-2

Exceeds
5

Meets
3-4

Approaches
1-2

Exceeds
9-10

Meets
7-8

Approaches
1-6

Exceeds
9-10

Meets
7-8

Approaches
1-6

Exceeds
9-10

Meets
7-8

Approaches
1-6

2. Teaching semantic concepts

Activity demonstrates thorough understanding of the concept and how to present it to
students in a meaningful way.

3. Semantic Teaching Strategies

Lesson activity demonstrates understanding of the strategy, is appropriate for students
age and level, incorporates visuals, and contextualized use of language.

4. Teaching about metaphors

Lesson activity demonstrates understanding of how to teach the concept of metaphor in
a way that is appropriate for ELLs.

5. Prototype analysis
Able to gather data from 10 respondents regarding interpretations of the word read
and provide meaningful analysis of results in 1 page.

TOTAL (40)