Tools for Building Vocabulary

Are you looking for simple, fun ways to build your students' vocabulary? 
We have collected a few suggestions to help you out!

As a classroom teacher, one of my favorite vocabulary building tools was the Vocabulary Anchor.  We used a large laminated poster of a sail boat and anchor, set up as the illustration below, without the words on it.  Each day the class would work together to fill in the chart using the new word of the day.  As a quick way to review, during short transition times, I would call out past vocabulary words and they would respond with the anchor words.

 

Vocabulary Anchors

 

With young students it is fun to build basic vocabulary with a game we called "Name It."  On small slips of paper create Name It cards with simple prompts such as: an article of clothing, a body part, a state, a fruit, etc.  With the children in a line or a row have the first child pick a card.  The teacher says, "A fruit, name it!"  The first 3-5 children each think of one word that fits the category.  Each word must be different from the person before them.  After 3-5 students, have someone pick a new category and continue listing new words.
 

What's My Word, from Classroom Game Nook, is an interactive way for students to really get to know a new vocabulary word while recording their new learning.

On our Pinterest board, titled Vocabulary Building, we have collected links to several other favorite Vocabulary Building Games you may be interested in trying with your students.

Multimedia Vocabulary Tools
To encourage interaction with technology while studying vocabulary, the following sites are fantastic.

EGlossary provides interactive definitions that are read aloud to students and provide animated graphics.

VocabAhead offers an email subscription for a Word a Day as well as a great vocabulary guessing app that is available online.

 

Science Glossary, Geography Glossary, and Math Glossary offer online alternatives to practicing content vocabulary.

Listing synonyms and antonyms for a new vocabulary term becomes a creative outlet if you use Tagul or Tagxedo.

What are your tips and tricks for making vocabulary instruction entertaining and effective?

Disclosure: None of the links above are sponsored.

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Bilingual Wednesdays - October words

October is here and it is time to add new Spanish words to our  Bilingual Word Wall center.

I use my Word Wall Center as a systematically organized collection of words displayed in large letters on a wall in my classroom. It is a tool designed to promote group learning. 
I add the new words kids need to know monthly.

These are some of the new words for October.

October / Octubre

Cat / Gato

Moon / Luna

Grave / Tumba

Broom / Escoba

Bat / Murciélago

Witch / Bruja

Pumpkin / Calabaza

New Word Wall words are introduced by having the children:

 *see the word 

* say the word 

* chant the word 

* hunt the word

* find the word

Then, once in the center children can 

* draw the word

* write the word (with my older kids)

* check the word

* stamp the word

* cut and paste the word

* trace the word

either in English and in Spanish. 

You will find the word wall cards in the pack and some follow up worksheets here:

Download the files here

Find it. Check it

Find it. Copy it.

Read it. Trace it.

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Teaching Students "Dictionary Powers"

The First Grade Parade is practicing some" mad dictionary skills!"

The Lesson Plan Diva shares a free Doggy Dictionary skill lesson package.

Minds in Bloom compiled a list of 8 fun dictionary activities.

3rd Grade Gridiron has created a downloadable 15 page activity pack to review guide words and other dictionary skills.

Speaking of dictionary powers...

The award-winning preschool show, Super WHY, is premiering it's new season on PBS KIDS on September 12.  In the all-new episodes the super readers are adding a new pal, a dog named Woofster who has DICTIONARY POWER! 

Spark a love of reading in your child with these fun tips inspired by Super Why’s new pal Woofster:   

¶  Check it out!: Visit the library or go online with kids to discover more about their favorite furry friends.  This will foster an interest in both reading and animals!

¶  Create a book!: Help your child write and illustrate their very own storybook featuring a doggy character like Woofster.

¶  Visit the zoo!: Read all the signs together as you encounter the many different animals. 

¶  Send a postcard!: While you’re at the zoo or your local aquarium or wildlife park, pick out some animal-themed postcards and help your child write special messages to friends and family.

¶  Look it up!: Flip through the pages of a children’s dictionary with preschoolers to find and read animal-related words.

Reading is power and Super WHY from Out of the Blue Enterprises is the only preschool property created to help kids learn the fundamentals of reading through interactive storybook adventures.  Each episode engages young viewers in fun, interactive alphabet and word games, as well as imagination-stimulating spelling, vocabulary and comprehension activities, helping to instill a life-long love of reading all along the way!

Disclaimer: We have in no way been compensated for sharing the media release from Grand Communication.  We share it today because we feel it is valuable information for parents and teachers who are always searching for new ways to engage their learners in literacy education.

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Teach Mama: Creating Word-Conscious Kids

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We shouldn't try to fill every second of our children's lives with learning and lessons; our kiddos really do need time for free play indoors or out in the fresh air every single day. However, it never hurts to sneak in a little-teeny lesson during read-alouds, especially since many of us read to our children several times a day.

Even before children are able to read texts on their own, they can develop vocabulary, oral language, comprehension strategies, phonological awareness, and print awareness just by participating in a read-aloud with an adult.

For this series, I'll highlight some ways to develop each of the above areas in super-simple--but very worthwhile--ways.

Here are just a few ways of developing Vocabulary during read-alouds:

• Vocabulary Development--Word Consciousness: Before, during, and after reading, we have a captive audience during read-alouds. Why not use this time to model how excited we are when we come across the use of rich and descriptive language?

By sharing our love of words and talking about new and exciting words, we are teaching our children to become Word Conscious. Word Consciousness is an integral component of language development and one of the early predictors of success in reading comprehension.

We can develop Word Consciousness by stopping during a read-aloud and commenting on a particularly awesome, unusual, or interesting word we encounter: Oh, I love that the farmer 'perseveres' after the fire ruined his farm. He doesn't give up. He keeps going, he re-plants his crops, and he moves forward. I love the word 'perseveres' because I like how it sounds when I say it, and it is a strong word. It means that someone doesn't give up and that they work very hard (re: The Farmer, by Mark Ludy).

Or when reading Steven Kellogg's Is Your Mama a Lama? you might say, The bat says he 'does not believe that's how llamas behave.' I sometimes like to use the word 'believe' instead of the word, 'think'. To me, 'believe' just sounds a little fancier. I 'believe' I prefer the word 'believe' instead of 'think'.

You can also develop Word Consciousness by:

• talking about the way a word sounds when you say it;
• discussing the meaning of a word;
  
• talking about the way a word looks on the page;
  
• trying different ways of using a particular word;
• challenging each other to use a 'new word' later that day;
• listening for 'new words' during other read-alouds and taking turns 'catching' them;
• sharing 'new words' as a family, at the end of the day or at dinnertime;
  
• keeping a family list of 'Cool, New Words' or becoming 'Word Wizards' and making a 'Word Wizard Wall' of words you love. . .

Word Consciousness can be started with our littlest readers and should continue into adulthood. (Okay, or at least until our kids can stand it!). It's easy, it's important, and it promotes a love of language and an awareness of language that will ultimately help strengthen reading comprehension down the road.

When children are word conscious, they "are motivated to learn new words and able to use them skillfully" (Lane & Allen, The Vocabulary Rich Classroom: Modeling Sophisticated Word Use to Promote Word Consciousness and Vocabulary Growth, in February 2010's The Reading Teacher.) So let's start noticing words--and keep talking about it!

Next up: Developing Oral Language During Read-Alouds

You can find more on this topic and others over at teachmama, where Amy shares the ways she sneaks a little bit of learning into her children's every day. . . or as often as she can with a 6, 4, and 3 year old. Or join her--and many other ABC & 123 friends--at we teach where they're chatting up a storm, sharing ideas, and learning a little themselves.

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