When I started teaching, I knew I had to include vocabulary into my curriculum. Overwhelmed with all of the typical new teacher stress, I adopted the ancient practice of: vocabulary lesson on Monday, Kahoot! Review on Thursday, and vocabulary quiz on Friday. I even created a summative vocabulary test for students to take at the end of each quarter. I quickly realized that students were memorizing parts of the definition (enough to do well on the matching portion of the quiz) and had no clue how to use the words in sentences, as they did poorly on that portion of the quiz.
This realization led me to do some reflecting on the why of teaching vocabulary. For me, there are 2 reasons for including vocabulary in my curriculum:
- I want students to understand any tough vocabulary words we come across while reading
- I want students to be able to use tough vocabulary words in context on their own
So, how do I help students accomplish these tasks? With an interactive vocabulary slide deck and an assignment called “vocabulary in context”.
Interactive Vocabulary Slide Deck
The first thing to know about the vocabulary slide deck is that it is not a traditional list of 10-15 words that students have for one or two weeks. This is a growing slide deck (I use Google Sides because my school uses Google Classroom) that we add to 2-3 words at a time. Students are given these words before they come across them in the text. I provide students with the word and the definition, then we try to figure out the part of speech together (this typically depends on the level of students I have). Students are responsible for creating a sentence that uses the word in context, as well as finding or creating a picture/ GIF/ meme that represents the word.
These are the directions I include in the Slide Deck. Students will each get a copy of the slide deck and they will add a slide for each word. For my lower-level courses, I create the slides ahead of time and pre-label each slide with one word.
This is an example slide that I show students when introducing the idea of a Slide Deck. They are free to set their slides up however they would like, but each slide needs to include all 5 parts.
After about 10 (or so) words, students will turn in their slide decks and begin to work on the next step of the process. This allows me to check their sentences and ensure that they are meeting the formative task of using these words in context before they get too far into their summative.
Vocabulary in Context
Now that students have worked with their vocabulary slide decks and turned them in, they start on their vocabulary in context assignments. Different units call for different parameters, but I like to leave it open. I usually let students choose from the following choices: PSA, speech, poem, rap, song, story, essay, or other pre-approved option. I’ve had students write movie reviews using the vocabulary words and I’ve had some amazing stories turned in. The point of the assessment is to have students show they are able to correctly use the vocabulary word in context and I feel it is important to give them freedom in how accomplish that task.
These are the directions for the vocabulary in context assignment. Below these directions, I list the words from the slide deck as a reminder to students. In my lower-level classes, I will require less words in this assignment (6/9 words, for example).
Other Ideas
This is a relatively new practice for me and I am still tweaking things as I go. For the upcoming school year, I think I might include time for students to check each other’s vocabulary sentences and see if they can figure out which word is being used by the context clues in the sentence.
It is rare that there are 10 words in one slide deck. I try to create a break in the slide deck when it makes the most sense: halfway through the book or perhaps when the book is taking a dramatic turn. The unit that I have used this with so far was a unit dealing with Justice and Power. There were 2 slide decks: 1 for pre-reading and front-loading vocabulary words and 1 for words that were found throughout the book. In a book like Animal Farm, I might split it up every couple of chapters.
The important part to remember about this shift in vocabulary content is that there are 2 goals: 1) students understand the words when they come across them in the reading and 2) students can use the words in context on their own.
