The basic concept is to have students memorize the meanings of the most common prefixes, roots, and suffixes in order to be able to attack unfamiliar words skillfully. Recently, however, I came across an idea in Gallagher’s Deeper Reading.
They have prior knowledge of the content, so the connections they make are stronger. My students who have always excelled at root words are those who are currently in or who have previously taken Latin class. In my experience, root words are tough for students to remember – even when teachers use best-practice instructional approaches.
It’s an informal, student-generated quiz that doubles as a whole-class review opportunity. Then, the class rotates around the room, and each student writes down his/her answer to that question on a piece of notebook paper. Thursdays are fun because each student writes a test question about a word of their choice.We play Pictionary and charades for a kinesthetic approach. On Tuesdays, we discuss these words as a class and practice using them in sentences verbally and in writing.Mondays are when we learn the new words and roots and jot notes.I vary the structure from year-to-year, but here is an example: Usually, we do something different every day. With my sophomores, I introduce two root words and three related vocabulary words each week. I’ve experimented with studying root words using this Greek and Latin root words book. Mrs Wordsmith would work extremely well in creative writing courses, classes that focus heavily on narrative writing, or secondary classrooms where teachers just want students to learn to show readers what is happening instead of telling them. Students will remember the words because it is based upon direct instruction, exploring word relationships, and humorous images. Like Flocabulary, the Mrs Wordsmith program is sticky. For instance: Name 5 things you would devour.Īs narrative bell ringer prompts, you can ask students to write a paragraph using the vocabulary word and the collocates on the back of the card. You can easily play Name 5 Things with these cards. I’ve found that playing games with vocabulary cards is an extremely effective way of teaching new words. The fun part is utilizing the beautiful vocabulary flashcards (designed by illustrators for Madagascar and Hotel Transylvania), pictured below. For example, the word contented can be related to a sigh, a cat, a customer, a smile, and so on. The program centers around helping students understand the relationships between the vocabulary word and its collocates (other words that are most likely to appear in language with that word). For instance, under the “action” umbrella, there are six chaos and confusion words: commotion, devastating, havoc, rebellious, turbulent, and unruly. Each of those categories is then broken down smaller. Mrs Wordsmith groups vocabulary words into six broad categories to help students improve their writing abilities: emotions, weather, characters, taste and smell, action, and characters. Wordsmith vocabulary program is unique because it focuses specifically on helping students grow their narrative vocabularies. The downside? Flocabulary comes with a good price tag, which is worth it, in my opinion, if your district can afford it. Because Flocabulary has extensive, research-based word lists for many grade levels, it’s easy to differentiate for various readiness levels. The best part is the lyric lab, in which students can select a beat and write their own Flocabulary rhyme using the words.īasically, Flocabulary provides a brain-based layering experience to help differentiate the learning experience. Practices quizzes are structured in a similar manner. Students can also read short passages to read and select the correct vocabulary word.
The videos they create are engaging for students and appeal to the digital generation.įlocabulary’s website features vocabulary cards that prompt students to write meaningful sentences and draw connections on the computer. Flocabularyįlocabularyis at the top of my favorites list for vocabulary programs. In this post, I’m highlighting some possibilities that I have tried with success in my own classroom. There are so many options available, and unless you experiment with all of them, how will you know what works? The answer will invariably differ for each teacher, but sometimes it helps to narrow the focus of your search. Choosing a vocabulary program for middle school and high school English classes can be an overwhelming experience.
0 kommentar(er)
