I hate to admit it, but I have not been the best at teaching vocabulary. I’ve tried all kinds of methods from word lists to word walls, but I am still met with groans from kids when I say Vocabulary. This year I’ve been using a workbook. This goes against my whole philosophy of teaching, so please don’t tell my students. This workbook provides an authentic text, so the words are in context. We also work with synonyms and antonyms and always a writing piece. But like most work with Vocabulary in the title, my students think drudgery.
It is time for a change. I have been intrigued by Carol Varsalona’s word clouds. I tweeted a question to her. Turns out it was our mutual friend Holly who introduced Tagul to Carol.
This leads me to an idea I will be trying this week with my students (crossing fingers the app works in our network). I took one of our vocabulary words from last week, essence, and typed it into Thesaurus.com. I opened Tagul and typed in a dozen synonyms. Then I looked for a shape that would help define the word. I chose a water droplet because water is the essence of our bodies. The image shares common synonyms as well as makes this vocabulary work more motivating.
In what ways are you digitizing vocabulary work? Share your ideas on your blog and link below.
I’ve questioned my students about vocabulary and what it means and what their previous experience is. We then set forth to study words. I’ve struggled with it too. This year, something seems to have clicked. During read aloud or writers sharing or silent reading, students notice words and ask to add them to our charts. It’s not a weekly list of words or a weekly test, so I sometimes get challenged on this, but I’m confident that my students are searching for words and learning about them. Love using Tagul and word clouds like this. Awesome!
I think the Tagul word clouds would fit well on a chart. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle,
The fact that your students are curious about words and are noticing new vocabulary is so important! To me, this is always the starting point of learning that sticks!
Margaret, So many things to think about with vocabulary. Are we talking about speaking, reading, writing, spelling or more basically about understanding and adopting/using vocabulary words so that we “own” them? Love your Tagul and word clouds – SO much better than Friday vocabulary quizes!
This is a tough question. To me, the most authentic use of vocabulary is in context, both reading and writing.
Speaking of water being the essence, have you read The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt? It would be a great tie-in since the book is about searching for something that defines a word.
Thanks for the book suggestion.
I have found that I teach vocabulary differently at 6th grade than when I taught 4th grade. Now, I use weekly root words and it is so fun when they see these words pop up in the content areas – this could have been a separate post for today! Before, I used more of a direct instruction like what I wrote about today, although we still look for words in our reading. I can’t wait to share the word with my students that I found on your blog Friday – equanimity! I will be adding that to my list of words for the root word “equal” and maybe even as a test question! BTW – I could not get the linkup to work so I will check back later.
WordPress has a new editor that throws me off. I have to be sure I’m in html mode. The link should work now.
Working with roots is a great way to teach 6th grade vocabulary. I did this a few years ago but it’s difficult for my younger students. I’m still searching for the just right way.
Ah! This would have been a great investigation during our unit on equal rights. Search for words that have “equal” as a root word. I can think of a few just off the top of my head. I will need to write this down for next year!
I continue to love the fact that we ALL have a little different take on our posts! Such a great group in our totality! #BetterTogether!
I agree. Any ideas on getting more participation? I so enjoy connecting and sharing in this way.
Learning vocabulary should be fun. I tell the students that people will judge your intelligence by your vocabulary and your ability to use it effectively. Whenever a word comes up in discussion they do not know, it’s time to stop everything, write it on the board, and have fun with it. “What rhymes with it?” “Give me a visualization of the word” – the crazier the better so all will hoot and holler in laughter. Helpful hint: the teacher joins in on the fun just like a fellow student.
Margaret, I am so glad that you are using Tagul. It is full of wonder and surprises for all. Thank you for mentioning Holly and me and sharing my digital inspiration that is part of my new slogan.
Vocabulary instruction, just like grammar and the other elements of the mechanics of writing, are always a thorn in a teacher’s side. There’s a lot of research that says vocabulary is typically learned by reading a lot and by encountering new vocabulary in different situations. However, there are those instances where we feel like we need to do more. And, we need to adjust our instruction to fit the needs of our students. Learning is most effective when we can embed our instruction in a context that makes sense to kids and that makes the learning stick. This is an important conversation and because our students are all at different stages, we must address their needs on an individual basis. This means that there are no quick fixes or one size fits all solutions. Thank you, Margaret, for bringing up this topic for discussion.
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