1. Free Association - Announce it is free association time. Call out a term and ask students to take turns --as a class, small group or pairs, saying any word that they think of that is related to the target term. Afger a fewe seconds, say stop. The last person to say a work myst explain how that word is realted to the target word.
Alternate: have students write a lists of free association words. When you say stop, exchange their lists with a partner and ask each other to explain their lists to their partners.
2. Comparing
Have students practicing comparing terms, in small groups or pairs. The key is to have students focus on the same element of the two terms that are either the same or different.
For example: Item A and Item B are different because item A is blue and item b is round. This is not focused on the same element of therm (one is shape, the other is colour).
a. Give them sentence frames:
_____________________ and _______________ are similar because they both ______________________________.
____________________ and ________________ are different because ____________________ is _________________, but _______________________ is __________________________.
b. Venn Diagrams and Double Bubble: Have students compare terms using graphic organizers.
3. Classifying Terms
Have students in small groups or pairs group terms based on some kind of criteria. Criteria can be assigned or made up. Criteria can be academic or silly. Which of these words are blue, black, or red? Which of these words are likely to be meat eaters? Which words are like banana, pears, apples?Which of these words would you like to be friends with? Which of these words are science words? Which of these words have more than one meaning? Variations: Speed sorts, partner sorts, open sorts (students sort into their own categories).
4. Putting Grammar in its Place
If a goal is for students to use the words, knowing what part of speech the word is helps with that process. Create a chart with 4 columns labelled Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb. Go over the parts of speech with the class. then when you introduce a new word, have students put the word on the chart in the correct column. Once a word is in a column, talk about who the word can move to a different column (predict (v) --> prediction (n)).
5. Cloze Activity for Introducing Words or Mad Libs
Create sentences that leave out key words. Students fill in the blanks with words from a bank.
Alternative: have students create cloze/mad libs using words.
6. Introduce How to Pronounce the Word
If students can't say the word, they will not use it when speaking and will often "jump" over it when reading. Click here for pronunciation mini lesson.
7. Graffiti Graphics
In small groups, students illustrate a word. Each group writes the word in the middle of the paper. Then give 10 minutes to write or draw anything the group can think of to explain the word. Each group takes turns explaining the word posters to the class.
Add a gallery walk to this.
8.Modeling Word Solving
By teaching roots and affixes and using Context Clues and Word Part Strategies
9. Four Corner
Students choose one of the following options and go to the appropriate location:
In groups have them work on the learning the word.
Variations: act out the words, or use noun, verb, adjective, adverb as locations.