Need to help your students get more hands on practice for their vocabulary words? I've got 5 fun vocabulary games you can use right away!
This week I tried something new with the vocabulary in the story. I got the idea at a First Grade Conference in December. The student writes the vocabulary word in the middle of the sheet and then there are four things to do with the word. We completed two of the boxes together as a class and they finished the last two boxes independently. The kiddos sure had a great grasp of the vocabulary after this. When we read the story they had fantastic comprehension.
Fun vocabulary games can be a powerful tool in the upper-elementary classroom! As elementary students progress from learning to read to reading to learn, content area vocabulary becomes a crucial part of instruction. Each content subject area such as math, social studies, and science has its own unique set of vocabulary words. Students need to be introduced to and repeatedly exposed to the vocabulary terms that are important in each unit if they are to develop a deep understanding of a specific content area. Fun and Easy Vocabulary Review Games I have found that incorporating a variety of fun and easy vocabulary review games into our schedule motivates my students to spend a few extra minutes studying their words in preparation for the big game! Egg Hunt Review Egg hunt review is a game that my students always love to play! It gets them out of their seats and moving around as they search the classroom high and low for plastic eggs. The only materials needed to play this game are plastic eggs, some strips of paper, and notebook paper. Before your students come into class, number and write a definition on each slip of paper. For example, one slip of paper might read, "1. a written request from a number of people". Fold up the slip of paper and place it inside one of the plastic eggs. After recording all of the definitions and placing them inside of the eggs, hide the eggs around the classroom. When you're ready to play with the class, have each student take out a piece of paper and number it accordingly. If you hid 20 eggs around the room, tell the class to number from 1-20. It's always more fun to play with friends, so I have my kids work in pairs or small groups. When the game begins, one student from each group goes on the hunt for an egg. Egg Hunt Review They bring the egg back to their group, open it up, and read the definition aloud. The students then need to figure out which vocabulary word goes with the definition and write it on the corresponding line. If the definition read, "5. a soldier who is paid to fight for a foreign country", then the students would write "mercenary" next to number 5 on their paper. The student who found the egg then puts the slip of paper back inside, places it back wherever they found it, and then returns to the group so the next student may take their turn finding an egg. One of the things I like about this vocabulary review game is that I can just set a time limit based on how much time we have available to play. When time is up, I tell all the students to return their eggs, and then we begin going over the answers. I draw a random name stick and have that student go find an egg and read the definition out loud to the class. We discuss the correct answer, and students check their own papers to see if they got that one right. I collect the slip of paper and empty egg from the student, and call another name to find our next egg. By the time we are done going over all of the answers, I don't have any clean up to do on my own. Hoop Shoot Review Hoop shoot review is another class favorite that only requires a trash can, a ball or wad of paper, and a list of the words and definitions for you to use. Divide the class into two or more teams. Place the trash can in a strategic location and mark the spot on the floor with tape to indicate where the students need to stand. One student comes up to the line, and you read them a definition. If they identify the correct word, they earn their team one point. Then they attempt a "free throw" at the trash can to earn a bonus point for their team. So easy and always a hit with the kids! Vocabulary Bingo Elementary age kids always love a good game of Bingo, and I found the perfect online Bingo card maker! You can play virtual Bingo or print out cards. It's free for up to 30 students! My Free Bingo Cards First, you need to decide which size Bingo card you would like to create. On the left-hand side, go down to "Templates" and choose between a 3x3, 4x4, or 5x5 card. Click on the template you would like to use. My Free Bingo Cards Templates Next, you will type in your title and all of your vocabulary words. Free Bingo Card Maker Click on "Next Step", and you are ready to play Bingo online or print your cards! This is such an easy way to create a vocabulary word game that you can use year after year. Swat the Vocab! Swat the Vocab is the vocabulary review game that my students request the most! It gets very competitive and exciting! All you really need to play is a whiteboard or chalkboard and some fly swatters. For social studies, I have all of the content vocabulary words printed on cardstock with an image of a fly, but you can just simply write the words on your board. Make sure to spread them out as much as you can. Divide your class into three or more teams. Have one player from each team come up to the front and get a fly swatter. Read a definition out loud, and watch out! The student who swats the correct vocabulary word first earns their team a point. It happens so fast, I had to tell my kids to hold their position when swatting so I could see which fly swatter had swatted the word first. Swat the Vocab! I have no doubts that if you begin playing these fun vocabulary word games with your class, they will be more motivated to study their words!
Vocabulary instruction is so critical in today’s classroom! A vast vocabulary will help students to become better readers and writers. Vocabulary is also essential to their performance on standardized tests. Helping kids to develop their vocabulary is time that is well spent in a busy classroom. I have developed a routine to teach new vocabulary
Learn how to make vocabulary folders. With a few simple materials you can quickly set up your own. These are great for ELLs...
Boggle is such a great game for pattern recognition and spelling. You can even get a little math in there with the scoring. Kids (and adults) love it! Here is a template you can use with your class. The color version is for using with your document camera, while the grayscale version is perfect for ... Read More about Boggle Template: Make a New Game Each Time!
Be sure to try out these ESL Vocabulary Activities and games if you want your students to have some fun learning new words.
I was lucky enough to go to the Illinois Pre-K and Kindergarten Conference last Thursday and Friday. There were plenty of inspirational speakers and I came home with TONS of ideas. For once I did not come home with tons of "stuff" I bought. I think I maybe just might have already purchased everything they sell there:) Anyway, I wanted to bring my class a little gift from my "trip." I got them nothing but good ideas and a reinvigorated teacher. SO . . . I told the kiddos I got them some new fun games to try. Today we played a game I got from Kurt Schwengel at Rock and Roll Kindergarten I printed up a list with all the students' names and an equal number of sight words. Then I printed the sight words on small flash cards. Each child got a list, clip board, pencil and one flash card (they were encouraged not to look at the flash card). I showed them how to lick the back of the flash card and stick it on their forehead. I love kindergarteners. They just did it. Then the students roamed around the room reading sight words. They drew a line from their peer's name to the sight word they read off their peer's forehead. Some kids were trying to figure out the word on their head using this process of elimination. In general we were simply trying to line up all the words and names. I thought it would be a loud game. Nope. Everyone was too intent on finishing. Thanks to Kurt for a fun sight word head hunt! Yes, we tossed out the flashcards when we were done! The FDKers were happy to take home their lists though - hopefully to read to their parents. ah
1000 Vocabulary words for IELTS! The Top 1000 Words You Need To Know For The IELTS! With Some Common Questions and Quires that you need to know!
4 Games to Help Kids Think Critically about Vocabulary Guest Post by Rachael Parlett from Classroom Game Nook Blog.
Next week our story in our reading series is Super Storms. I know, I know - but, Jen, you've said you don't DO the reading series! You're right. I don't. BUT, I DO do weather, so I did make a pack to go with the story, because I can actually use the centers in my weather unit outside of the reading series. WELL, I went to get the pack to get ready - and OH. EM. GOSH! Yeah - it was one of my FIRST packs I did .....wow. SO, I did a make-over on it - AND I added something like 10 pages to it. I think it looks much better now :) 6 different activities: ~Vocabulary cards with a graphic organizer ~Compare and contrast (in both Venn Diagram and Double-Bubble) for rain/snow and hurricane/tornado with a writing extension ~Compound concentration game ~Sentence Scramble - these are written in a way that they are writing facts about weather ~Picture and caption - after brainstorming ideas, they create a "poster" and write about it ~What I learned - using a divided circle map, they jot down what they know and learned, then write about it And here is a freebie from this pack - it's the vocabulary word graphic organizer - my kids love doing it! You will also get some examples on what I do in the "More!" box - TONS of ideas. So if you've already bought it, make sure to go download it again to get the updated version! Make sure to head on over to my FB page - there's a nice surprise for you there!
4 Games to Help Kids Think Critically about Vocabulary Guest Post by Rachael Parlett from Classroom Game Nook Blog.
Let's dive into some new options to teach vocabulary, for those who have the time and energy to pursue them. In this post and podcast, I'm sharing ten ideas for making the study of vocabulary something students might even look forward to.
Need to help your students get more hands on practice for their vocabulary words? I've got 5 fun vocabulary games you can use right away!
It amazes me how much class size affects my teaching and my students. I started the year with 31 students. I just lost my second one at the beginning of this week, so I'm down to 29. I've had 2 kids out all week on long vacations and 2 more out sick. So I've had a class of 25 ALL week!! It's been a big difference. Even though the ones gone are little angels and I still have all the hard ones, it really makes a BIG difference!! Our district and researchers keep telling us that class size doesn't make a difference but I have to beg to differ with them. It makes a HUGE difference in first grade. With a smaller class I can spread myself out more- work with more kids, more often, for longer periods of time. We can get more done- 25 kids take less time to finish an assignment than 31. With all the activities we do in first grade through out the day it can really add up. With less kids, fighting for my attention, I can give more attention to those that really need it. During class discussions, there is more participation by more kids. The shyer kids start to open up. It just feels more like a close knit community rather than a big city. I can hardly imagine what it would be like to teach less than 20. What a dream!! Back to reality. Our school has been doing training in SIOP this year. It stands for Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. You can find out more HERE. It actually is training in teaching English Language Learner but our school does not have a very high percentage of ELLs. We actually have only 3 out of 180 in our grade level. But the SIOP model is really best practices and a great review in how to teach better. With the new common core our principal thought is would be a great help. We've had to do lesson studies and just finished one yesterday. Our team did ours on Synonyms. It's great to collaborate and work together as a team developing and analyzing a lesson. Here's a practice page we used and a cute song we found. I don't know who to give credit for the song but our kiddos really liked it. Click HERE if you'd like to grab a copy. Hey, believe it or not but it's FRIDAY tomorrow- again! Gotta love FRIDAY! I hope you all have a GREAT one.
Fun and engaging vocabulary and word work ideas and activities. Here the some freebies and other ideas for your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade classroom.
English Speaking Phrases and Tips 1000 most common english phrases pdf Asking Directions in English How do I get to library? Where is the nearest post office? Can you tell me the way to the Big Hotel? Are we on the right road for London? Can you Show me on the map, please? I’m looking for this address. How do I find…? Excuse me, How can I go to …? Dou you have a map? Are you from around here? Where is …? Which the best way to …? Pardon me, I’m lost, how do I get to …? I’m
Having a wide vocabulary is a huge part of what helps students to be successful in both reading comprehension and writing. This is why vocabulary is one of the National Reading Panel’s five core elements
✨Welcoming Newcomers students into your classroom with this Essential Words Lap Book will be a sure way to help them start off on the right foot and feel excited about learning English. This lap book will expose newcomer students to important English vocabulary, including: ✅the alphabet ✅numbers ✅colors ✅body parts ✅days of the week and months of the year ✅survival phrases ⚠️Bonus: An English Workbook is included to help support the vocabulary and skills the lap book covers. ❤️It is the perfect activity for Newcomers to work on independently during class time or for homework. ✍Related Products Interested in another resource for newcomers or the needs of your rising ELL students? Here are a few of my best selling resources: • ESL Newcomers Curriculum • ESL Writing Curriculum • ESL Speaking & Writing Activities • WIDA ACCESS Practice Test Prep • ESL Vocabulary Picture Dictionary ❤️Let's Connect! Sign up for my newsletter, which is filled with new ideas, activities, and exclusive freebies! Click here to sign up! If you have any questions or ways I can help, please feel free to email me at [email protected] Other ways to stay connected! ⚡ Equipping ELLs Membership
A few years ago, we sat in a Professional Development meeting faced with the challenge of bringing robust vocabulary to the forefront of our primary classroom. It seemed such a BIG task for such little brains, but one that we agreed was imperative to teaching today’s learners. We spent over a year planning, creating, testing, […]
Find 23 ready to use, effective vocabulary activities your students will love, by The Teacher Next Door!
Are your students having trouble finding answers and citing evidence in their reading? This STEP-BY-STEP process scaffolds through reading strategies to help your students be successful! Students will learn the acronyms for ACE, RACE, and RAP to provide them with the proper tools for citing evidence effectively along with
Build a Sentence is a resource that builds speaking, vocabulary and writing skills. A focus image is used to generate vocabulary which in turn is used to build, or create, sentences. 60 focus images, along with 4 levels of differentiated student response pages for each image, allows you to easily customize your lessons. 4 blank student response pages are also included for inserting your own images. This resource is perfect for small group instruction with beginning and intermediate English language learners. Once students build their English proficiency, this would also make an engaging and effective independent literacy center. My ESL students love this activity! They are challenged with building a 3 word sentence, a 4 word sentence, a 5 word sentence, and so on. The supports provided within this resource allows for ALL students to find success in building their English language skills. Detailed instructions on how to use this resource is included. Check out the preview for a closer look! *This resource would also be effective for students in the primary grades learning to write. PWIM - Picture Word Inductive Model My resources are 50% off for the first 24 hours! "Follow Me" to receive notifications of new product postings! Additional Resources that Support English Language Learners Vocabulary Workbooks for Newcomers Bundle Also sold separately. Vocabulary Cards and Sorts Bundle Also sold separately. Vocabulary Mini Office Picture Dictionary Vocabulary Booklet for Any Topic Graphic Organizers for Fiction and Nonfiction Reading Word Wall Cards Monthly Themed Vocabulary Year Long Bundle Ancient Civilizations Math Activities Earth Science Life Science Terms of Use: Purchasing this resource provides the buyer with a single user license to use in his/her classroom only. This resource may not be modified or altered. It may not be posted on the internet (in part or in whole) or on an unsecured learning platform. Thank you. -Kristen Vibas A Walk in the Chalk www.awalkinthechalk.com
The Word Collector by Peter H Reynolds has quickly become one of my favorite stories of all time. It's about a young boy named Jerome, who loves words. How perfect is that for SLPs? I happen to think this book is a great jumping off point for word exploration and vocabulary development. Here are 5 ways I am using this story to build word knowledge in my students...
