As a fifth grade ELA and social studies teacher, I am always
looking for ways to making word study or vocabulary instruction more meaningful
to my students. Over the past couple of years, I have been trying different
strategies and ideas with a lot of trial and error. One of the most
recent activities that I’ve tried is a spin off from “10 Important Words”. This activity can be used with any grade
level or subject matter. I call it “Sticky Words.”
Sticky Words:
1) Using any text, pass out ten sticky notes to each student.
2) While the students read or you read aloud, have them underline
and write 5 to 10 unfamiliar words on a post-it note
3) I ask students to share their words and if anyone else in
the room has the same unfamiliar word we put them on the board in a column.
4) I repeat this step until all of the sticky notes are on
the board.
5) As a class, we analyze the graph on the board and the
most frequent words become the assigned vocabulary words. The other words can
still be studied in small groups. (This is a wonderful opportunity for
differentiation.)
Vocabulary Word of the Day:
Every day (or every couple of days), I introduce a new
vocabulary word. It can be any word from a list that is relevant to your grade
level or other words you think your kids need to know. We spend a couple
minutes talking about the meaning and giving examples and non-examples. I then have the kids record the word in their
vocabulary journals. I keep these words posted on notecards along the top of the whiteboard. You could put them anywhere the kiddos can see them on a daily basis.
My kids always love this activity because I encourage them
to try their new word at home, in class, and in their writing. I tell them they
can’t just make up reasons to use their word, but they need to use it naturally
in conversation. I reward the students
that are able to do this with tickets from our classroom reward system. This
has been one of the most successful activities I have done in my classroom with
word study. This activity seems to appeal to even the most unmotivated learner.
I have seen challenging vocabulary words pop up months later in student writing
because they are motivated to use their new vocabulary.
I don’t assess words of the day at all except once every
nine weeks. I give them a VOCABULARY THINK-TAC-TOE activity to complete using
their words. This is a choice menu that
allows them to demonstrate their knowledge of the words with three different
activities. One child might do charades for their words, and another child might
make riddles. It is a fun and engaging way to hold all students accountable for
their words.
Vocabulary Journals:
When my kiddos complete vocabulary journals for me, I always
have them write sentences using their words. Over the years, I have become frustrated with the sentences that students write for me. My
students usually write sentences that are limited and do not have context
clues. This year I was determined to get
better 'showing' sentences from my students. I started the year of giving my kiddos a
stretch your sentences printable to keep in their notebooks. Their sentences seem to be much better when
they know they have to answer the questions; who, what, where, & when. Download this printable for free.
FREEBIE
I construct my vocabulary journals using a cover sheet
that my students decorate and a copy of the stretch your sentence sheet. I
then include many copies of the free organizers below. You can also use a simple composition book and have them glue in the organizers.
FREEBIE
