K–5 Lesson
Station 1 · word cards
Words You Already Speak
Stories, Foods, and Words · Grades K–5
K–5 Lesson
Print two copies: one to cut into cards, one for the three path boxes and the key.
K–2, the stand-up game. Cut the cards apart. Hold up one card, read the word and the sentence, and ask: "Stand up if you have ever said this word." Then a guess: "Thumbs up if you think this word came from far away." Then tell where it came from (the key is at the bottom; fold it under). Nine of the twelve came from Yiddish or Hebrew. Three came from other languages, so children learn that other languages give English words too.
3–5, the sorting game. Cut the three path boxes off the second copy and stand them along the table (fold each one in half so it stands). Children lay the cards under them, then check the key. One card is tricky on purpose.
bagel · Yiddish → English
klutz · Yiddish → English
mensch · Yiddish → English
kosher · Hebrew → Yiddish → English
chutzpah · Hebrew → Yiddish → English
schmooze · Hebrew → Yiddish → English
amen · Hebrew → English
hallelujah · Hebrew → English
jubilee · the tricky one: Hebrew, then mixed in Latin with a word for shouting for joy (first path, with a detour)
pretzel · German
kindergarten · German
piñata · Spanish