You are piloting a spaceship to Earth. Your mission is to navigate your spaceship through the galaxy safely. You will be helped in this mission by the Yellow Aliens. The White Aliens are your enemy.

When it is your turn, you will roll the dice and move ahead the number of spaces on the dice.

IF you land on a Yellow Space, you have met a Yellow Alien who will help you in your journey by giving you a Power Vocabulary Card. Read the word on the card and try to figure out the meaning of the word.

-  If you get the answer right, you can move ahead two spaces. Then your turn is over.

-  If you get the answer wrong, you cannot move ahead and your turn is over.

IF you land on a White Space, you have met a White Alien. You will not get a Power Vocabulary Card and you cannot move ahead. Your turn is over.

IF you land on a space where there is a ladder, you get a Warp Context Clue card. Read the excerpt of text on the card and figure out what the bold word or phrase means.

-  If you get this answer right, you will be able to go up the ladder with WARP SPEED!

-  If you get it wrong, you cannot move.

IF you land on a chute, you can stop yourself from falling down by taking a Warp Context Clue card.

-  If you get the answer right, you will not fall.

-  If you get the answer wrong, you will fall.

The first player to reach Earth (the end of the board), is the winner and has beat the Space Invaders! (You could also play as teams and be the first team to reach Earth!)

For Teachers:

Materials:

·  Game board from “Chutes and Ladders” (and the pieces, if you have them. If not, you can use math manipulatives). If you not have the game, you can see a sample board on Treasure Chest.

·  Dice

·  Power Vocabulary Cards (read word and figure out the definition)

·  Warp Context Clue cards (read excerpt of text and figure out the meaning of the bold word/phrase)

·  You can have your students make new cards for this center.

·  Task card

Tips:

·  If you see your students are having difficulty with one type of phrase (e.g. a metaphor; non literal language) or one type of word (e.g. adjectives), you might want to create more cards with terms/phrases of that sort.

·  If you see your students are having difficulty with context clues, you might want to give them a familiar text and create questions around that familiar text. This will help them to continue to think about how to figure out context clues questions. You can coach them to think about how they figure out the answer when they know the text and then push them to apply this work to unfamiliar texts.

·  If you see that your students are having problems understanding metaphors or figurative language, you might want to create questions around poetry or song lyrics to help students continue to practice this kind of work.

Examples of Power Vocabulary Cards

Explain / To help make understandable, give the reasons for or cause of something
Mr. H asks us to explain how we reached our solution to the math problem.
Fact / Something that really happened; things as they exist.
It is a fact that the moon revolves around the earth.
Folktale / A story or legend that is traditional to a culture of a group of people (folk = people).
Johnny Appleseed is a famous American folktale.
Context clues / Words, phrases or sentences around an unfamiliar word/phrase that helps the reader make a logical guess about the meaning of the unfamiliar part.
I studied the context clues around “nutritious” help me to know it’s meaning: Nutritious foods, such as vegetables and fruits, help us to be healthy and grow.
Describe / To write using words that help the reader envision.
I can’t remember her name; can you describe what she looks like?
Reason / Why things happens.
The reason he was crying was because the bully called him mean names.
Cause / Cause is the action that makes something happen.
Sarah knocked over a glass of water onto her homework pages. Knocking over the glass was the cause of soaking her homework.
Effect / Effect is the something that happens after an action.
Sarah knocked over a glass of water onto her homework pages. Wet homework was the effect of knocking over the glass.
Simile / A figure of speech that compares two different things (often with "as" or "like").
"Red as a beet" is a simile in the sentence, "Tim's face was red as a beet."
Drawing conclusions / Reaching a conclusion, or a final decision, about something.
After Mr. Taylor sees the results of the test, he will be drawing conclusions about what the next homework assignment should be.

Examples of Warp Context Clues Cards

Read this sentence from the passage.
Those sounds could be irritating noises like a baby crying, the ringing of a telephone, or the clatter of a computer printer.
In this sentence, “irritating” means that the noises were:
a)  quiet, soft
b)  bothersome, annoying
c)  silly, goofy
d)  scary, frightening / b) bothersome, annoying.
Read this excerpt from an article about a scientist’s encounter with a crocodile:
“I raise the snout of my mask, which in “croc talk” lets him know I’m not looking for trouble. But he’s angry and his answer is aggressive. He arches his back and slaps the water with his chin. He thinks I’m a rival!”
Now reread this sentence about the crocodile:
“But he’s angry and his answer is aggressive.”
In this sentence, the word “aggressive”
means the crocodile is:
a)  loud
b)  polite
c)  ready to fight
d)  ready to run away / c) ready to fight
Read this sentence from the story:
“A few months after Simba’s arrival, Akimbo had gone to school one day later than usual, and he had been scolded by the teacher, who believed in strict punctuality.”
In this context, someone who believes in “punctuality” believes in
a)  being polite
b)  being quiet
c)  being mean
d)  being on time / d) being on time.
Read these sentences: The concert was so loud that Maria yelled, “this music is earsplitting.”
The word “earsplitting” in the second sentence most likely means
a)  ears splitting into pieces
b)  painfully noisy
c)  lovely
d)  terrible / b) painfully noisy
Read these sentences from the passage:
Guitar legend, Chuck Berry, shined a light on many rock stars’ paths. Even the Beatles’ John Lennon credited Berry’s sound and style. He said, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it “Chuck Berry.”
The phrase “shined a light on many rock stars’ paths” in the first sentence most
likely means
a)  made it possible for musicians to play rock and roll
b)  drew attention to the talents of other rock musicians, making them famous
c)  helped musicians learn their craft by studying his songwriting and performing
d)  exposed the secrets of rock musicians and music business / c) helped musicians learn their craft by studying his songwriting and performing