VOCABULARY GAMES AND ACTIVITIES

“Vo-back-ulary” – An active way to review and reinforce word meanings

  • List words on chart paper and write each on an a 5x8 card
  • Review list by discussing each word’s meaning and clues to meaning
  • Tape/pin a word card to back of a child’s shirt without revealing the word to the child.
  • Have classmates give clues to help child guess the word.
  • Have a child examine word list to guess word pinned to his/her back
  • When child guesses word, s/he crosses it off list.

“Interview a word” – Requires students to work together to “become” a word and think about various aspects of a word’s meaning and function

  • Select key words important to understanding a concept or unit.
  • Divide class into teams of 2-4 students.
  • Give each team a word and list of interview questions
  • Have students “become” the word and write answer to questions.
  • Without revealing the word, the teacher or a student acts as Interviewer and asks the questions as team members read their written answers. After the interview, the class guesses the word.

“Guess and Check”—Requires students to use context and word structure to arrive at a new word’s meaning as they read (Vazquez, 1995).

  • Create a sheet with 4 columns with headings: Unknown words, Clues, Guess and Check
  • Have students write new words in Unknown Word column.
  • As they read, students use strategies for figuring out unknown words (searching context, rereading, “chunking” – look for prefix, suffix and root) and write under Clues.
  • Have students guess the meaning and write it under Guess.
  • Students can use the dictionary or glossary to check their guesses and write definitions in the Check column.

“Act out vocabulary” – do charades of their vocabulary words in groups.

“Word Fluency:”--This activity helps students develop vocabularies without concern for meanings or definitions—but helps them refine meanings, see relationships

  • list as many words as you can, with a partner, in 1 minute, that are related to eg. “danger” (Note: “danger” is a category which is recommended to learn vocabulary. Could also do “animals” “family” a topic in the content areas: magnetism, electricity, Alberta)
  • Rules: no repetitions, no number words, no sentences
  • One point for each word
  • After list is brainstormed put words into categories: eg. things that are dangerous, things you would do if in a dangerous situation. If words don’t belong, create a category and add to it.
  • Do every week, and graph the number of words that students are able to brainstorm.

“Concept Maps” – On a large sheet of chart paper, have students work in pairs to map key terms from a chapter using categories. Post maps around room. Have groups circulate and learn from each others’ maps.

“Picture Words” – Have students draw pictures or graphics that represent vocabulary words. Eg. celestrial – pictures of stars

“Vocabulary Bingo” – Develop a bingo card with key vocabulary written on it. Read out cloze sentences that leave out the vocabulary. Have students fill in their Bingo card as you read. When students shout “Bingo” have them read the complete sentence aloud.

“Vocabulary anticipation guides” – Create definitions for vocabulary. Students decide whether they agree or disagree with your definitions. Discuss context clues and word clues such as prefixes, suffixes and root words. After reading the text, redo the guide and rewrite with correct definitions.

“Definition search” – Each student has a paper with 1-10 blanks. Definitions are posted around the classroom numbered 1-10, and the vocabulary words are written on the board. Students circulate, read definitions, and match the word to the definition on their sheet of paper.

“How many different meanings?”-- Take a common word like ‘work' or ‘make' and ask students to write as many different sentences they can think of illustrating different meanings. For example:

  1. We can work it out. (negotiate)
  2. I'll do this for home work. (practice on my own)
  3. I have a lot of house work to do. (cleaning, tidying)
  4. Come on! Work with me on this. (co-operate)
  5. I went for a good work out this morning. (physical exercise)
  6. … and so on …

“How many words do you see?” --Take a long word like ‘Valentine' or ‘Endangered' and see how many small words students can generate. What strategies do they use to make their lists?

“Cloze exercises” -- Reconstruct a reading passage where every 5th word has been deleted.

“Story prediction task” --Look at 10 key words teacher has selected from an upcoming story and written on blackboard in order they will appear. Student writes a sentence using each word and makes a guess or forms an impression about the story.

“Picture scatter” -- Look at 20-30 numbered pictures. With a partner, students talk about each picture, and attempt to name, categorize and write something about as many as possible (animals, food, famous faces, "Moments Frozen in Time"). Then, in small groups or as a class, students complete as much of the information as possible.

“Open Word Sort” -- Students are given 30-50 key words to the theme. They group/categorize or sort them as they like. They make up headings for the categories.

“Closed Word Sort” -- Students are given 30-50 key words to the theme, along with category headings. They place the vocabulary under the appropriate category heading.

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