To help, the articles suggest teaching words that are extensions of words they already know. This is doubly helpful, because it deepens understanding of both the new and old word, linking them together.
Increasing word consciousness is also an important factor (interest in words and their meanings). Vocabulary Lessons talks about a word wall poster for new words students encountered, and they received points for using them in multiple ways. I think this ongoing activity/contest is a great idea! It encourages students to be on the look out for new words, making them excited and motivated to learn.
The other week I was helping the 10 year old boy I babysit with his science vocabulary. He had flash cards with the definitions and the vocab words, and was supposed to match them. Instead of thinking about them, he would just randomly match them up and hope some were right when I checked. He didn't have any interest in knowing words like generator and conductor. To make the words stick, I linked them to his own interests. For generator I talked about how their power had recently gone out and they used a generator to provide electricity. For conductor, we talked about a mad scientist conducting an experiment. Putting these words into terms he understood made a huge difference because they became more meaningful to him.
Fun ways to expand vocabularies!
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| have a pocket full of creative synonyms for common words |
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| use paint chips and a thesaurus to find new ways to say a word |
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| explicitly teach a word in multiple ways: definition, visually, and in a sentence |
1. How could you incorporate vocabulary learning without taking up much extra class time?
2. How can you encourage kids to be avid word hunters?
One way to encourage word hunting could be to invite children to write any interesting, novel words that they come in contact with on a smart board as the arrive in the classroom in the morning. Kids love to write on smart boards and at the start of class, the teacher could take a few brief moments to discuss each word and ask the child who wrote the word to explain how he or she stumbled upon it. I think the smartboard component of this activity alone could motivate students to increase their vocabularies.
ReplyDeleteI think that doing a "word of the day" is a great way to learn new vocabulary without taking up too much time. The teacher can introduce the word and give an example and a definition with it. The teacher can challenge the students to use the words as many times as possible that day in the correct context. That way the teacher isn't spending too much time on vocabulary, and it also gives the students some independence to learn on their own.
ReplyDeleteA great way to incorporate vocabulary learning in the classroom without taking out much instruction time would be through the use of a "word wall". Students can be encouraged to add unknown and new words they come across to the wall. By adding a word they they previously had not heard of can help the student be able to use the word correctly, and add it to their vocabulary. Learning new words can be then reinforced with a point system that rewards the student with a prize if they collect a certain amount of point.
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