QUESTION: Vocabulary. Learning & Acquisition

[Lori Falchi]

Hi folks,

I am wondering what are some of the ways that you all engage in the teaching and learning of vocabulary? Also, beyond explicit teaching strategies, what are some fun ways you raise word consciousness through game playing or multimodal kinds of activities?

I am interested in reaching elementary kids, especially emergent bilinguals.

Thanks,
Lori

[Phyllis Ain]

I clicked on the link and want to know if the comic is out yet? I have kids who would really love this -- boys that are reluctant to pick up anything but graphic novels about superheroes and (ugh, sorry) Wimpy Kid....

[Lori Falchi]

Thanks so much for the resources and ideas! I think that Super-powered word study looks great, Bucky! I will have to check out that book, Melissa.

Dual coding theory is an interesting one--I would like to read more about it, especially since I have been thinking about comics as "sharing the load" between words/images but hadn't theorized that they work differently. I have heard Art Spiegelman articulate how the visual seems more directly linked to the perception and not mediated in the same way as words. Any particularly useful sources on dual coding theory? I do have access to NCTE publications, so I can look up your article (unless you want to provide a direct link so more folks can read it).

Thanks again!

[Anna J. Small Roseboro]

With the myriad ideas coming in, it was difficult to think of what to add, then I remembered something that worked for middle school students that may also work for your younger students.  Invite them to LOOK for words outside of class and bring in samples.  For example, they may SEE words on bulletin boards, in magazines, on TV, on cereal boxes, etc.  If you work in a community where students have little access to magazines at home, bring some in yourself.  And conduct periodic scavenger hunts in the magazines challenging students to find words....could be exact, rhymes, similar spelling, similar meanings.  It doesn't really matter.  The goal to to help them connect to the written word.

Encouraging them to find words raises their outside of class conscientiousness about words in general  and those on   vocabulary lists, in particular.  You could post a blank poster in the classroom and tape, paste or staple on the WORDS the students bring in.

Also USING words.  Offer extra credit for students who use the words either in other classroom writing or in spoken word outside of class.  For the writing, ask them to bring in graded work for the other classes. 

For the spoken word, put them on the honor system.  "If you've used our  five or more vocabulary words at least ten times a day this week, give me the list, and you'll receive...."  You could invite them to tell their stories of when, where, and how they used the words. The acknowlegements could be stars, stickers, or points to be cashed in at a later date for a book mark, book, inexpensive toy, or a couple pieces of hard candy.  Solicit local businesses for prizes.  Some stores offer gift certificates to encourage academic achievement.  Offices and salons may donate past issues of magazines that may be viewed as valued prizes to your students.

The whole point is to encourage them to become more conscious about actively expanding their reading, writing, and speaking vocabularies, right?

[Susannah Brown]

Hi Lori,

I created a game that my 6th graders love.  I take all the vocabulary words from the current unit and create sentences using the words.  I try to use my students' names in the sentences because they love this.  Then I replace each vocab work with "hippopotamus" so my sentences sound something like this - When Matthew realized he had forgotten his homework, he "hippopotamus" a lie about his dog eating it.  I print and cut the sentences apart and put them in a bowl. I pull a sentence out of the bowl and read it outloud.  The students then use the context clues to figure out the answer in their teams.  Their teams are their 4-top table groupings.  I give each team a little white board and marker.  At the sound of the bell, I tell everyone to reveal their answers.  (In this case "concocted.")  The kids work together, and they use context clues.  I give extra points if the ending has to be changed from the original word (concoct to concocted) or if it's really hard to spell (milieu).  The winning team gets to collect the white boards and gets a small piece of candy.  I usually do this game after we have done some more basic definition work and as a review for the test.  Obviously, you can replace "hippopotamus" with any funny word.

[Anna J. Small Roseboro]

This does sound fun and effective on several levels.  Kids do love to see themselves in their work and having their names be a part of the language study gives them a buy-in.  Classmates will connect one another with the vocab words.  Positive mnemonics can be positive reinforcements.   The fact that you're integrated movement and collaboration simply enhances your lessons. Good for you.  Thanks for including enough information for others to adapt or adopt the strategies that have worked for you.