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Archive : 2007 : September : 3
Flashlight Vocab I love teaching vocabulary-it can be so fun and innovative. My favorite is the flashlight game. On a 8.5 x 11
vocab game I write the vocab on an index card and tape it a a kids back. The kid picks 3 kids to help them figure it out by giving clues. They can not say the word (obviously) or use a form of the word. If the kid can use those 3 clues to figure out what’s taped to their back, they win the card. Its called Vocabulary. I use vocabulary basketball every week in my classroom. How I work it is: Using 3 strips of masking tape (a foot a part) I give students a definition and they have to give the word, if correct they move to the next line then they have to spell the word in order to move to the free throw line. My students love this game! they ask to play every week. Rivet On the first day of a new story, I use a four-block strategy called RIVET. It is supposed to "rivet" the kids attention to the selection. To do this activity, you first need to identify the vocabulary you want to teach, along with several key words in the story. Then you make a transparency with blank lines for every letter in every word you want to do. For example if your words were lair, gorged, and forlorn, your transparency would look like: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ You give clues to each word, maybe the definition, maybe an example or a synonym, and reveal letters as the students make attempts at the word. As they get each word, write maybe a one or two word clue alongside the word so they can remember what it means. After you introduce all of the key vocabulary and important words in the story, you have the students work in pairs to write two to three sentences that predict what the story might be about. After they have their predictions, they can open their books, and preview the story to see if they may be on the right track. Usually after we do this activity, I let the students listen to the audiotape version of the story or read it with a partner. Here's a simple and easy game that needs practically no set up. when you introduce new words, write them on 4 x 6 or 5 x 8 index cards with the definitions on the back. make enough so that everyone has a vocab card. you may have to repeat some so repeat the ones that are harder to remember. to begin playing, give everyone a vocabulary card and have them hold it so that the word faces outward and the definition is facing them. at the go signal, they partner up with someone and give the definition for their partner's word. after that, they exchange cards with their partner and go in search of a new partner. play for only 3 minutes or so and encourage kids to seek out as many partners as possible. this works great for a quick review. and if you get in the habit of writing the words on index cards as soon as they're introduced, you'll always have this game ready to go. you can take the cards with you on a bathroom break or on the way to lunch and play whenever you have a few minutes to kill. with a little tweaking, you can modify this game for all kinds of subjects (math formulas, social studies or science facts, for example). i started a class dictionary for my 6th graders. they love impressing people with the new words. in the front of my class is my "owning your vocabulary" display with my definition for vocabulary (the words and phrases we know and use to communicate effectively). next to that is a hand with one finger extended and a sign that reads "i have no idea what this word means;" then a hand with 2 fingers extended and a sign that reads "i've heard this word before, but don't know what it means;" then a hand with 3 fingers extended and a sign that reads "i think i can figure out a meaning for this word;" then a hand with 4 fingers extended and a sign that reads "i know this word and can use it in a sentence;" then a hand with all fingers extended and a sign that reads "i own this word because i've used it at least 3 times in my written and spoken communication." whenever we introduce a new vocabulary word, i ask for a show of hands to quickly assess where their understanding is. then we add the words to the class dictionary. we do this all the time with the goal of owning your vocabulary. it's been a great motivator for my class. they aren't afraid to ask what words mean now that they have seen how often their classmates hold up 1-3 fingers. we also post our favorite new words on the wall in class and remove them after everyone in class can hold up a five finger hand to show they own that particular word. our word wall is practically a living being with constant growth and "death" of words. i also make a big deal when someone in class uses a particularly interesting word in class, asking if they would like to add that word to the dictionary or the wall. I play I have Who Has Vocab game after introducing the vocab. I just write "I have __________" on one side of an index card, on the other side it says "Who has a word that means___________?" You set it up so that each word goes to the next card inline, etc...so the kids have to work together and pay attention to answer...I give out the cards by group and time each group, the group that goes the quickest wins....Another idea is I assign each group a word and they need to find a definition, antonym, synonym, symbol/ picture for their word, than we fill in a vocab chart for each vocab word...I leave the context clue passage on the overhead for them to use and they can use the computer, thesaurus, etc...this is quick and takes like 20 minutes to complete.
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