Academic Vocabulary Cheat Sheet

This handout provides student friendly explanations of organizational words frequently found in writing prompts and exam questions. This chart can be helpful to a variety of student groups, including but not limited to: multilingual students, struggling readers, students with certain disabilities and/or students who need additional writing support.

3-Column Notes

3-column notes are a structured note taking strategy that can be easily adapted and modified for all types of learners. Typically column 1 is the vocabulary term or concept, column 2 is the definition or supporting details, column 3 is an image/graphic, real-world example or connection. 3-column notes can be continually added to throughout the unit, quarter or semester.

Scaffold options: 

• Include at least 1 completed example to model the expectations

• Help students focus on key terms and concepts by prefilling column 1

• Provide additional language supports by prefilling column 1 and providing a) sentence stems in column 2 or b) fill-in-the-blank definitions in column 2

• Allow students time at the end of class to add images and details to column 3 based on the activity for the day

• Create a master copy of the notes and share it with co-teachers, aids and students who require a copy of completed notes

Placemat

This cooperative learning strategy sparks active engagement from students by providing both a space for individuals to record thoughts and ideas and a collaborative space where they synthesize ideas into one group summary statement.

Scaffold options: 

• Allow students to use images as well as words

• Provide students with sentence stems and/or a word bank with directions such as "Use at least 3 vocabulary words in your response" or " Use at least 1 sentence stem in your response".

• Reduce the number of sentences students are expected to write based on their ability

• If chunking reading/research material among the students, strategically assign the readings to that the length and complexity matches the students ability

Frayer Model

A Frayer model is a graphic organizer that helps students determine or clarify the meaning of vocabulary words encountered while listening, reading, and viewing texts. It is used before a lesson to activate background knowledge, during a lesson to monitor vocabulary, or after a lesson to assess vocabulary. This strategy supports students’ acquisition of new words and using resource materials by providing students with a structure to examine words for their definitions, characteristics, examples, and non-examples. Word learning requires multiple exposures to the word within meaningful contexts. 

Scaffold options: 

• Provide students with a completed example of a previous vocabulary word

• Allow students to use images to support their characteristics, example and/or non examples

• For struggling learners, allow them to work in pairs on a single Frayer Model

• For learners who need additional support, partially complete the Frayer model (e.g. complete the definition, provide a fill-in-the-blank definition, provide options for the non-examples)

• As a review activity, put students in small groups and have each member of the group create a Frayer model for a different word, or have each student in the class do a different vocabulary word. Hang completed models around the room and complete a gallery walk activity in which students complete 3-column notes for a specified number of vocabulary words.

Jigsaw Discussion 

Place students in small groups (home group), the number of students in the group is determined by the number of concepts students will review/learn. Assign each member of the home group a different topic/concept to brainstorm or answer prompting questions alone in a journal/Google Doc. Students then pair up to share ideas with other students who shared the same topic (expert group) and produce a group summary of the concept. Next, all students return to their home groups to teach each other their topic. 

Gallery Walk

Stations or posters are set up around the classroom, on the walls or on tables. Small groups of students travel from station to station together, performing some kind of task or responding to a prompt, either of which will result in a conversation.

Philosophical Chairs

A statement that has two or more possible responses is read out loud. Depending on whether they agree or disagree with this statement, students move to one side of the room or the other. From that spot, students take turns defending their positions. Instead of two sides, there can be four corners (strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree).

Affinity Mapping

Give students a broad question or problem that is likely to result in lots of different ideas, such as “Why is patient privacy important?” or “What are the motives of cyber attackers?”  Students generate responses by writing ideas on post-it notes (one idea per note) and placing them in no particular arrangement on a wall, whiteboard, or chart paper. Once ideas have been generated, students group them into similar categories, then label the categories and discuss why the ideas fit within them, how the categories relate to one another, and so on.

Conver-stations

Students are placed into a few groups of 4-6 students each and are given a discussion question to talk about. After sufficient time has passed for the discussion to develop, one or two students from each group rotate to a different group, while the other group members remain where they are. Once in their new group, they will discuss a different, but related question, and they may also share some of the key points from their last group’s conversation.

AEIOU

Provides an instructional strategy that allows students to express what they see, know, and wonder about the content during and after watching a video. Excellent strategy for learners with diverse learning needs.

Tabletop Texting

Student use an analog version of a popular communication style to discuss a piece of media during pauses in viewing or listening. The engaging "texting" format encourages students to answer questions, make statements and ask new questions. 

Quickwrite

Students are given a set amount of time (usually between 1-3 minutes) to write what they know about the content/topic/prompt. Students are challenged to continue writing for the entirety of the allotted time. This can be done on a blank sheet of paper with the prompt/topic written on the board or teachers can provide this student handout.

6 Word Story

Students discern the most important ideas and summarize a lesson, video or process in six words. Teaching students to summarize improves their memory for what is read. By writing a summary with a limited number of words, students must focus on the important ideas and be thoughtful in their word choice. 

Learning Log Variations

A learning log is different from a journal entry in that it is related to the subject materials at hand. In journals, you are usually asked to write about what happened in your life. In a learning log, you are asked either to take what you have been learning in class and reflect on it in some way, or to relate something outside of class to what you have been learning in class. By making personal connections with the subject matter, meaningful learning will occur. Learning logs can be used in conjunction with note-taking.