> Reading Comprehension
Vocabulary Guidelines and Activities
Guidelines and Activities
Susan Jones, M.Ed. 4/99
Vocabulary is a weak area for many students, but much "vocabulary
instruction" ends up being handwriting practice. Edwin
Ellis and Theresa Farmer describe the situation eloquently
in the introduction to their clarifying
strategy to teach vocabulary. To quote:
" No doubt
you share the common childhood experience of having
to "go look up the words in a dictionary, write
the definition, and then write a sentence using
the term" -- but how much of that vocabulary
do you remember now?...
Perhaps the least effective way to study vocabulary
is the ''look and remember' technique. Here, students
typically stare at the term and definition, apparently
trying to activate photographic memory they wish
they had. Another common study technique is to do
'rote verbal rehearsal' -- saying it over and over
again, usually in the exact language and format
in which the definition originally came. "
Ed Ellis and Theresa
Farmer, The Clarifying Routine: Elaborating Vocabulary
Given a list of words to learn, many students will complete
the assignments given, but will not have the time to actually
learn what the words mean. 'Vocabulary enrichment' becomes
yet another set of compartmentalized pieces of information
that a student is "exposed to," tries to spit back
on a test, and forgets.
Developing vocabulary as part of knowledge structure requires
much more energy and focus than memorizing terms. Many students
will have habits of passivity that will need to be broken.
Others will be convinced that these aren't words people normally
use, even if in fact they've heard them many times before
- but didn't remember because there was no meaning attached
to the word.
. Keep in mind, also, that there is more to developing vocabulary
and language comprehension than learning new words. Some other
skills to consider at the single word and phrase level are:
figures of speech,
confusing words such as "indifferent,"
words with multiple meanings, and
"signal" words such as but, however, and while.
Have structure and organization behind the
words you present. Rather than randomly selected words
"at their grade level," present words in related
groups. Examples: Present words about feelings, and make a
poster with the students, with different words to describe
being "afraid" or "happy." Students can
discuss the degrees of emotion (is "terrified" more
than "nervous" or "anxious," "ecstatic"
better than "pleased"), and the differences between
the words (how is "snicker" different from "guffaw,"
"terrified" different from "horrified?").
Another option is to study word parts: have the students learn
that 'ject' means 'throw,' and then tackle "projectile,"
"reject" and "trajectory." (See the word
parts section of this site for some activities.)
An advantage to grouping words this way is that it lends
itself to individualized instruction. Students can all be
tackling words from the big "ject"
list - but one student may be learning "subjective"
and "abject" while another learns "project"
and "projectile." (As with any strategy that differentiates
between students, you will need to deal with the 'why is he
doing something different' issues and determining how and
how much to differentiate - but with these activities the
differences between students are not as obvious. )
Incorporate multisensory learning from the
beginning. Many students gain a lot if an illustration
or demonstration is presented first. Later, when the
word is used or its meaning discussed, they have an image
to associate it with, and are more likely to learn from the
discussion as well as from the visual presentations.
Model the activities first. Demonstrate
these activities with vivid, familiar words first. Once you've
modeled an activity with a word, do it with student input
next, and finally, have the students do it on their own -
perhaps in groups before working individually.
Most work with vocabulary should be done with
the meanings available. If the activity involves expressing
the ideas in a different form than the definition, then the
student has to think about the meaning and interpret it. If
the student doesn't use the right meaning, they're worse than
wasting their time; they're learning the wrong things. In
addition, students may commit a simplified meaning to memory,
but if they have a more developed definition they will be
able to think about that and use it.
Keep an ongoing list prominently posted.If
the words are visible and accessible to students, they are
more likely to see them, think about them, and use them. It's
up to you to remember to take the lists down when you give
tests or quizzes, unless you are using word banks already.
(Don't rely on a list on the board as a word bank, however;
some students have significantly more trouble reading or writing
from a distance than from the paper they are working on.)
If you've got different students learning different words,
put them all up there, but be sure each student knows which
words s/he is responsible for knowing.
Go beyond the definitions of the words.Include
the connotations of the words and the ways they are most likely
to be used. Don't limit this exploration to the "discussion"
of words. When students are drawing or acting out words, encourage
them to incorporate the connotations or the more subtle aspects
of the meanings of the words.
Activities with vocabulary
Illustrate the words. Show pictures or
video clips that demonstrate the meaning of a word. Have students
draw and label something illustrating the meaing of the word.This
is not limited to concrete nouns -- a grim expression,
a contemplative person or absurd conduct can
also be drawn. The labels explain how the word and drawing
fit. Drawing skills are not importat; stick figures with accurate
labels can succinctly express an idea as well as finely crafted
caricatures. The infamous "flashcards" can be made
more meaningful with illustrations, as well. Be sure, though,
that the student doesn't replace an abstract idea with
a concrete example of it. This can be done by showing different
ways that the idea is expressed and having hte students discover
what makes them valid illustrations -- for instance, could
news be grim?How?
Play "Quick Draw."This
doesn't have to be competitive, but it can be. See how quickly
students can convey the essence of a words meaning on the
board -- without words. This works especially well with words
describing visual concepts, like many geography terms. Again,
make sure students don't oversimplify things -- if you play
this game repeatedly, make sure the students are using different
ways to draw the words.
Play "vocabulary charades."
Have students draw a word from a hat and act it
Give credit for finding the
word used in the real world. Provide extra credit
if a student hears or sees a vocabulary word anywhere outside
of the vocabulary exercises. To get the points, the student
has to write down the word, what it means, and where s/he
heard it. Sometimes the students will purposely use the words
so someone can say they heard it -- which just means they
are incorporating it into their oral vocabularies. You can
also find them online: go to a search engine that searches
the news and type in the word. You'll find it in the headlines
all over the world.
Use the words yourself. That
prominently posted list can be your cue to slip words into
other classwork or discussions. Students may not even need
the incentive of extra credit to start listening for them.
Have students answer questions
that use the words. For example: "What are
three ways you could tell a person had just received grim
news?" "What are three things an impertinent
person might say?" "What are three things that would
disconcert you?" Doing this while the student
has the meaning available gives the opportunity to process
the meaning instead of guessing at an answer.
Have students generate examples
and non-examples for words.This can be done with
visual or kinesthetic illustrations as well as verbal descriptions.
Have students explain whether something is a good example
of of a word or not, and why they think so. For most groups,
this activity should be practiced with familiar, concrete
words first. It can be used to lay a solid foundation for
"comparing and contrasting" and defending ideas
in essays, especially if you encourage the students to use
precise langauge and good sentences.
When you ask students to generate examples, if someone comes
up with a "wrong" answer, it can be used as "a
good non-example" to help clarify the meaning of a word.
Remind students that learning is not about proving what you
already know, but about asking questions to change what you
don't know into what you do know.
Use "fill in the blank"
exercises before you expect the students to use the words
in sentences themselves.This is also a good way
to test students, or to make the transition between working
with the definitions available and recalling what the words
mean on their own. Have a word bank with five vocabulary words
and five sentences with blanks, and have the students decide
which word goes in which blank. Your challenge will be constructing
sentences which only match with one word, so small groups
of words are better. These exercises are also opportunities
for you to give a wider scope to a word, and discuss how that
word fits into a sentence that the students might not have
Compose with the words.
Only after a student has heard and read a word used correctly
many times should s/he be expected to compose something original
with the word. This can be a fun class activity, though, once
a sizable list has accumulated. Students can take turns picking
words from the list to add a sentence to an ongoing story
- students will get a chance to hear the words they weren't
sure of used by other students, and the sentences can be revised
if the words are not used correctly. Eventually, students
may enjoy composing absurd tales using the words.