Vocabulary Practice: Making it Meaningful

Gadzooks! I just LOVE words!  These are just a few of my favorites!  Do you have some words that you just love?  So what is all this brouhaha over teaching vocabulary you ask?  Well...vocabulary is such an important part of reading instruction!  Research says that kids need to be exposed to a word 6-12 times before they actually master the word!  Putting words into a center for kids to "work on" just isn't enough!  Having them look up words in the dictionary is not only boring, but a meaningless activity!  I'm not saying throw the dictionaries out but giving a list of words and having them copy definitions is a waste of time!  1.  Some definitions leave the students stumped and continuing to question the meaning.  2. Copying definitions isn't going to help them master a word's meaning. 3. Many words have multiple meanings, so more than likely they are going to copy the shortest definition whether it is the one that matches the meaning you are teaching...or they are going to be asking, "Which definition do I copy?"    When it comes to vocabulary practice, there needs to be more!!  

But what?!?

Are you bumfuzzled at what to do?

   Well, I have some activities that will please even your persnickety students...and it won't cause a great hullabaloo in your classroom!

Rockin' Resources

Kelley at Teacher Idea Factory is hosting her first Linky Party.

The party is Rockin' Resources:  Thinks I Couldn't Live Without.So here is my list of 5 things I count on all the time in my classroom!

1.  We use our CPS everyday!  The kiddos call them "clickers" and LOVE them!  I LOVE that I don't have anything to grade when I use these!  It does all the work for me!

2.  Brain Pop Jr.  Gotta LOVE Annie and Moby!  

3.  Elements of Reading:  VocabularyLOVE*LOVE  This is AWESOME...robust vocabulary, great motivational activities, colorful, realistic...Fab-U-lous program!  My kiddos beg for this!You can read more about this program in one of my posts here.

4.  Teacher's Notebook

No explanation needed...you know exactly what I mean!  :)

5.  My classroom library
So, there are my TOP 5.  What are yours?  Head on over and link up at Kelley's linky party!Waving from The Teacher's Chatterbox,

Pictionary FREEBIE

My kiddos love putting together a Pictionary for their story/vocabulary words.  This is our anchor chart...a picture + a sentence using the word = cute pages of vocabulary words.  Using a spiral notebook, students can cut and paste their vocabulary entries for each story in abc order.  They can return to their pictionary pages, as needed which I strongly encourage during creative writing.

They love this!

Here's a template if you'd like to use this.

Chatterbox Blessings,

Dr. Isabel Beck

Don't you just love Isabel Beck?!  I have been a follower of this lady for some time now.  Her books and programs for vocabulary are chockful of ideas for bringing words to life in your classroom...hence the name of this book that she authored...

LOVE THIS ONE!

So when our school purchased the vocabulary program of "Elements of Reading", {Dr. Beck co-authored it} I was thrilled!  I couldn't wait to begin this with my kiddos!  I don't know why, though, I was surprised when they met this with great enthusiasm too!  THEY ADORED THIS PROGRAM...

And my students today love it as much as my students did the first year I began this program.

Lets take a look at the components of this program...

There is a story a week that is read aloud by the teacher.  Seven vocabulary words are focused on each week. 

You receive vocabulary cards for each weekly story.

Colorful real-life picture cards accompany each story.  A sentence with the vocabulary word is on the back of each picture card.  The kids enjoy matching these up with the word cards.

There are awesome engaging activities that really get the kids excited and involved!  THEY LOVE THE WORD CHATS!

Workbooks have never been more fun!  Each page is colorful and fun that really get the kids' interest!  My kiddos BEG to do these!  There are several workbook pages per story with a quick "bubble in" quiz at the end. 

So, if you haven't checked out any of Dr. Beck's work, you must do that NOW!  lol  You'll be so glad you did!
Enjoyed our chat and look forward to our next one,