I love all of Marzano’s teachings about the best practices
for vocabulary instruction and I have been working to implement these over the
past 2 years when I truly began researching on my own and learning what worked
best for me as a teacher (and my students).
However, with the constraints of time, I could never get a good, strong
method of teaching vocabulary. I would
have too many words or not enough words.
I would run out of time in class to do vocabulary and for the most part,
I was just inconsistent myself. So, how
could I ask my kids to be consistent with it?
This summer, I have been reevaluating my
vocabulary-teaching plan and I think I have a plan that will work for this
coming year (and hopefully for forever).
I am still planning to use Marzano’s methods, but it is just going to
take a minute of planning on my part to get it all organized.
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| These are some of the books that guided my research. |
All of my words will come from context so that the
students will be able to make stronger connections with the words and what they
are reading in class. So, ditch those
vocabulary workbooks, even if they say they are “in context.” Words can only be in context if they are in
what the kids are reading. If the
worksheet gives you a sentence and says it is in context because it was in a
passage at the beginning of the workbook, that is not meaningful! I used to use
these, and sometimes, my kids would say they didn’t even realize there was a
story. Not meaningful! What makes it meaningful is interaction.
Each week, I have a list of pre-determined vocabulary
words that will be the words for that week.
I am going to try to pick 5 or 6 words.
Marzano explains that you don’t want to give students too many words
because it will be difficult for them to truly “learn” the words and how to use
them. So, we are going to have fewer
words, but more interaction with the words during the week.
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| This is what my vocabulary folders will look like. Simple and affordable. |
What does a week of vocabulary look like?
Monday & Tuesday
On Monday, I will introduce 2-3 words to my kids. You heard that right: I give them the definitions
to the words. I have found that, when
students are asked to find definitions, they simply look up the word and put
the first definition that is listed whether this is the correct one for the
word in context or not. In turn, they
learn the word incorrectly and it is stored incorrectly. It sets up a plethora of issues for the kid.
The first thing we do is write the sentence from our text
down at the top of our paper. This is
the sentence that has the vocabulary word in it. Then, I like to use the internet to let kids
see the word and definition on my Smart board.
I project it up there and look up the word on the board, as a
class. I say the word and tell them the
part of speech; then, I give them as many sentences as I can spout off in which
I use the word in different ways. One of
Marzano’s ideas that I plan to use this year is a little list of different ways
to introduce the word and I think it will help me cover more bases in my word
introductions.
Once I am sure they have the word, we take a look at the
definitions on the screen (from Google or another online dictionary). I read the first definition. Now, by this time, there are those kids who
have already figured out which one is the correct definition and they have
already written it down. But, I still do
this part. I go through the definitions until we get the correct one. Then, we write it down. I will always write my own definition of the
word, too, so that the kids who have trouble putting it in their own words will
have some scaffolding here. Eventually,
they will see what I’m doing here, so don’t worry if you think you are doing
all the work for them. It’s your job to
help them.
Ok. So, now we have the word and definition correctly
written down. I also have them put the
part of speech of the word, too, and we discuss this along with any other
important things about the word. Things
I would discuss are things like: does the word have a homophone that might
confuse them? Is the word commonly mispronounced? Is the word used a lot in
this story? Does the word have two definitions that are both commonly used?
This looks like a lot to do, but it doesn’t really take
that long in class. It is a discussion
with a little bit of writing, but it is necessary for students to be able to
interact with the word while it is being used correctly.
Once this introduction is over and they have a definition
down in their dictionaries, they will interact with the word by doing a little assignment
(Marzano approved). I have a list of
9-10 activities that allow the students to really think about the word. (More on these later.) The kids work independently on these assignments. They do 1 assignment per word. Each assignment takes about 10-15 minutes. Now, I said independently, but I honestly
hate the quiet and I don’t mind if they talk a bit if they are actually helping
each other. I encourage educational talk
and I LOVE to hear it! I walk around the
room and try to help them myself. The
goal of these short assignments is to get them interacting with the words and
to make them think about the words.
On Tuesday, I introduce 2-3 more words and follow the same
procedure as Monday. Now, they have
about 5-6 words for the week. I don’t do
more than 6 words per week. These are
all words that are in the context of our story.
I read the story and find the words that I think will give them the most
trouble. So, I use my own professional
judgement when picking the words. But,
choose them wisely because you only get 6 words a week!
At some point after introducing the words, I put the new
words on my word wall. I was never
really sure how to use a word wall effectively, but my summer research shows
that they are very effective if used correctly.
So, post those words and we will discuss the word wall in a later post.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, our vocabulary time consists of interaction
with the words in a game format. I used
to hate letting my middle school kids play games, but it was only because I was
not the best classroom manager back then.
But, for real, these games are the key to getting kids to remember the
vocabulary words—for life. There are
many different games out there, but you need to remember that, if this is the
beginning of the year, you only have 6 words to work with here. I like to rotate through the games so that
the kids don’t get bored with them. The
first week, I will probably play a matching game similar to the game called
concentration. This game has little prep
and it is fun but forces the students to know the words, their meanings, and be
able to use the words in a sentence correctly if they want to play the
game.
For concentration or vocabulary match, I use index cards
and cut them in half, so one index card will give you two concentration
cards. Then, I write the same word on
each side of the card. I do this for
each card and a “deck” of cards consists of each word having a card and a
match. This will be for a group of 2-3
students to play with. Now, a better way
to do this is to create a little template on the computer and type the words in
and just use cardstock so that you don’t have to write the words out a million
times. You could just create a table in
word and type them out that way.
To play, the students will turn all the cards face down and
take turns flipping over two cards. If
the cards have the same word, they get to keep the pair if they know the
correct definition of the word. So,
having a list of the words and definitions will come in handy—it’s a good thing
they have their vocabulary work and folders!
Another way to play this is to have the word on one card
and then the definition on the other card.
Either of these ways to play would cause them to really have to think
about the word and its definition.
Yet another way to play would be to have the word on one
card and then a synonym on the other card.
OOOOHH! Then, they’d really have to study those words because they are
having to think about the word’s definition and what other words are
similar. Just keep in mind for this one
that, if you have several words that have similar definition, you might not
want to use the synonym version.
You could even have several of these versions going on at
the same time and the kids could rotate through the groups. There are so many possibilities with this
game! These different variations would be a nice way to differentiate among learning levels as well.
Thursday
On Thursday, we also have a game with the words during our
vocabulary time in class. What’s so
great is that the kids love the games and don’t even realize that it is causing
them to learn the words! For my first
week of school, I am going to play Vocabulary Taboo. I am going to make some “cards” for our
vocabulary words of the week and just copy them and cut them out so that each
group has their own little set of Vocabulary Taboo games cards. If you have never played Taboo before, let me
explain what fun it really is! This is what happens: there are 2 teams and I let
each team have 2 players per team to allow for more interaction for each
student. If they get in a big group as
their “team” it is easier for them to do less work and pawn it off on the other
members. We have to stop this as much as
possible for these games to be effective.
So, we have 2 teams with 2 people on each team. A table of four people playing the game. My team member has a card that has the
vocabulary word on the card at the top.
Then, below the card, there are synonyms and/or phrases that are similar
to the word. I set the timer on the
board for one minute and one of the 4 people at the table has the taboo
card. (I make one card for each
vocabulary word. Sometimes, I will make
2 cards per word and have different synonyms/phrases on each card if the word
has a lot of synonyms. This allows for a
longer game, if needed) The person with the card has one job: to get his/her
partner to say the vocabulary word that is on the card. However, the student with the card cannot say
the vocabulary word or any of the “taboo” words on the card. It is hard sometimes, but it is really fun
and the kids love it, too! It gives them
a lot of interaction with the word and allows them/forces them to have a need
to know this word. Because we all know
that no one wants to be left out of playing games in class! Heck no!
If the partner guesses the word, the team “wins” the card
and then it is the next teams turn to try to guess a different word on a
different card. If the team member did
not correctly guess the vocabulary word, the other team’s players get a turn to
try to guess. I give each team member a
chance to guess to allow for more individual interaction. Either way, it is the other team’s turn and
the teams keep playing until the cards are all “won” by one team or the
other. If there is time, I let the
winning teams face off using brackets like in a tournament and the kids really
do love competing.
Friday Vocabulary Quiz?
In the past, I have struggled with how to “quiz” kids on
their vocabulary words. I do want them
to learn the words and be accountable for studying the words, but I really
dislike the multiple choice tests that are usually used for vocabulary tests
because I think it is not the most useful test to see if they have really
learned the words. So, here is what I’ve
got:
On Fridays, I will have a little writing prompt that will
deal with the vocabulary words. It will
be on a separate piece of paper from their vocabulary folders or from their
interactive notebooks. This is the
quiz. What they are to do is respond
(yes, in writing) to the little prompt I give on Friday. The key is that they have to use X amount of
the vocabulary words correctly. The
words have to be spelled correctly, used correctly, and they must underline the
words in the paragraph. Now, I don’t
intend for this assignment to take all of the class period, but I do want to
tie it into the rest of the course as much as possible. So, I am also going to have them use a
sentence like our mentor sentence for the week as well so that I can assess the
vocabulary words and the mentor sentence use all in one. I think that when a student can use a word in
their own writing, they have truly mastered that word and are more likely to
use it in writing and verbally in the future.
While I intend to change the games up from week to week as
we learn more words and I learn more games, this is just the procedure that I
intend to use after much research that I have done on teaching and vocabulary
this past summer. The important aspect of this method is that they are always interacting with the words. They play with the words to learn the language. But make sure the games are reinforcing the words, their definitions, synonyms, usage, etc. You also want to plan the games as you choose the words to ensure the game will work with the words you chose for the week. For example, don't choose a game dealing with synonyms if the word only has 1 synonym. Make sense? Plan beneficial games that use time wisely and efficiently.
Some other games that I have found and intend to use (and
blog about) are:
- Charades
- Vocabulary Scattergories
- Bingo
- Word guess
- Trashketball
- Scavenger Hunt Vocabulary
- Spoons
- Kahoots
- Fly Swat Game
So, what do you think? Does this method look like it will
fit into your classroom?
If you have a great game that you’d like to share, please
comment so I can use it, too!
