Synthesizing with Nesting Dolls plus WOW Words!

I posted about the nesting monkeys from Target a while ago... HERE!  Click through to read more about how to use nesting dolls to teach the complex idea of synthesis!

Also, here's a  few snapshots of our Expanding Vocabulary Wall!  Every single word is kid-generated. after all... I direct enough of our word study.  I want my kids to constantly be on the look-out for WOW words! Another way to display the Expanding Vocabulary Wow Words is to hook them all together like a long scroll-like piece of paper.  (Cinder blocks aren't conducive to this, so they are displayed horizontally, not vertically.  Either way works!)  We started displaying words like this after we read Donovan's Word Jar and were inspired to create a Word Jar!  The kids place words in the word jar as they find wow words, then they are pulled out of the jar a little at a time, discussed, and added to the Wow Word Wall.  It is a quick process, and it helps students continually acquire new vocabulary words!