Vocabulary study will become meaningful to Middle and High
School students when they make the words an integral part of their writing and
speaking. We teachers must offer them a variety of ways to think about the word’s
definition, as well as its connotative meaning so that they can make logical
inferences about its usage.
The key to word ownership is to offer students a variety of
opportunities to use the words repeatedly in order to remove any aura of
isolation that remains when they just memorize the meanings for a test. This
multiple exposure will help the students become more comfortable and confident
with how to use the words.
Like my Vocabulary: 31 Ideas for Teaching Vocabulary
(http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-31-Ideas-for-Teaching-Vocabulary-634378), this FREEBIE, Oh My WORDs!, also has 30 exercises for students to show
that they understand how the vocabulary words should be used in context.
In their writing, students will have to actively think about
four elements in order to use them correctly: the word’s definition, its
contextual and or connotative meaning, its part of speech, and which, if any,
inflectional endings (i.e. –er, -ed, -ing-, s) are necessary when they include
them in this piece.
Through this reinforcement, each student will add some of
the words to his or her oral and written language repertoire. Reading comprehension will also improve, not
just due to the inclusion of teacher-generated words into their personal
vocabularies, but also because they are learning to think about how writers
choose words to express their thoughts.
I have grouped the exercises as: Warm-ups Writing, Short Writing,
and Shared Writing. For the most
part, the topics are general enough to be used in conjunction with any word
list. Students should complete the Warm-up
Writing in 15-20 minutes and the other two categories in twenty-five to
thirty minutes. My intention is not to turn these into major writing
assignments, but to offer enough depth for the students to develop their
thoughts and to include as many words as they could without turning the writing
into a contextual word list.
Teaching Idea:
To insure that the students are studying how the words are
used and are not just memorizing the meanings, assign a Short Writing the night before the quiz. The day of the assessment, collect the
writings, put them in a stack on your desk, and, while the students are
completing the quiz, check off that they are complete. You can review these pieces quite quickly if
you choose to only circle any words that are used incorrectly or are
unclear.
When the students have turned in the quiz, they should
choose a peer’s Short Writing and write
their reactions to the content of the piece.
Have them underline any vocabulary words that they use in their 100-150
word responses for extra credit. When the time is up, stroll through the room, check
that the assignment is completed and note any extra credit that you may add to
their quiz grade.
Download this FREEBIE from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-Activities-Oh-My-WORDs-1278986
Happy Teaching,
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