TeacherHero
Warm-Up · 3–5 min to activate prior knowledge

Vocabulary Preview

A Vocabulary Preview puts the two or three words a text turns on in front of students before they read it, so the reading is not the first place they meet them. TeacherHero runs it in the Warm-Up phase, drawing the terms from the lesson's own vocabulary rather than from a generic list.

Predict word meanings using morphology and context.

Real generated output

Predict the Word from Context

The Warm-Up phase of a Grade 6 ELA lesson, as TeacherHero generated it. Planned for 5 minutes.

  1. Student prompt

    Use the passage and Ada’s actions to predict what each bold word means. Write a brief meaning and the clue or action that helped you. Be ready to revise your prediction after you talk with a partner.

  2. Materials

    • Quick prompt card
    • The Ferry at Dusk passage
    • Notebook or whiteboard

  3. Teacher directions

    • Display or distribute the quick prompt. Tell students that these are predictions, not final definitions; they should use the supplied passage and explain which clue helped them.
    • Give students about two minutes to write brief predictions. Encourage them to attempt every word, even if they are uncertain.
    • Have students compare one prediction and one context clue with a partner. Ask two or three students to share different predictions.
    • Record misconceptions to address during direct instruction. Confirm only the key meanings needed for today: conceal means hide, falter means hesitate or lose courage, obligation means a duty or responsibility, and resolve means firm determination.

  4. Debrief

    • Which context clue helped you most?
    • Notice that a strong word prediction connects the word to both its meaning and Ada’s action. We will check and use these meanings as we read.
Why the coach chose it here — Vocabulary Preview is the best fit because no prior lessons are available for spaced retrieval, so students need a brief supported pretest of this week’s four words before the first read. The task uses elaboration: students connect each word to context clues and to Ada’s choice rather than merely copying definitions. It fits sixth graders in five minutes, surfaces misconceptions for the I Do, and rehearses accurate word use without completing the final written response.

Frequently asked questions

How many words should a preview cover?

Few enough to be met properly. A preview that lists ten words is a glossary, and students arrive at the text having retained none of them. TeacherHero draws the terms from the lesson's own vocabulary field, so the words previewed are the ones the day's task actually requires.

Is this different from a vocabulary lesson?

Yes. A preview is a warm-up: three to five minutes to make a word recognisable before it appears in context. The full per-word routine is a separate strategy in the I Do phase, where each term gets a card and an explicit teaching move rather than a first encounter.

Where do the words come from?

The lesson's vocabulary, which the teacher sets in the lesson context and every phase's prompt then receives. That is why the preview and the later phases agree: they are drawn from one list rather than each being invented separately by a generator that cannot see the others.

Strategies that pair with it

Do Now

Warm-Up · Complete a short review or readiness task.

See the example

Analysis Chart

You Do · Organize evidence, examples, or steps in an analysis chart.

See the example

Analytical Paragraph

You Do · Write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph.

See the example

Claim-Evidence-Reasoning

You Do · Construct an independent claim supported by evidence and reasoning.

See the example
Example free · generation with Pro

One move out of six phases.

A TeacherHero lesson generates all six with your course, unit, week and text in context, so the Warm-Up phase continues the one before it instead of starting over.

Explore a whole example lesson