Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Vocabulary




Vocabulary is the the foundation for reading comprehension. It is an integral part of my classroom.

I'd like to share some activies with you that I have found successful.

1. Vocabulary List- I give my students a weekly vocabulary list. We DO NOT, I repeat We DO NOT have vocabulary quiz every week. I don't want my students to memorize a list of words and forget them.

I incorporate the vocabulary words into my lessons (see below) on a daily basis. Also, I constantly "recycle" words on my vocabulary lists, so that they are constantly interacting with the words. I also use the words when I am talking with my students. I might say, "You guys look lethargic today."

I give students a test every grading period on words about 20 of the words that I know that we have gone over many times to access there knowledge.

2. Wordmaps- Students complete a wordmap for each word. Each wordmap includes the following:

A. The definition in your own words

B. A sentence of your own

C. A picture

Wordmaps can be either done with paper and pencil/pen or they can be done using software like PowerPoint, Keynote, or MS Word.

Note: For "paper and pencil" word maps, students can usually fit all 15 on one piece of paper. The wordmaps do not have to be large.



3. Vocabulary Stories

4. Bell Ringer- I use the words from the week's vocabulary list in my bell ringer.

5. Free Rice- This is a great site for practicing vocabulary.



These activities were taken from my website, http://www.teacherscoffeehouse.com/