Crystal's Reading Education 530 Final Project: Vocabulary

VOCABULARY

There are 4 types of Vocabulary that we discussed in our Reading Education 530 course.

They are:

1) ORAL - words we understand when someone reads them aloud

2) PRINT - words we understand when we read

3) RECEPTIVE - words we understand when we listen or read

4) PRODUCTIVE - words we understand well enough to use in our speech or our writing

Every student in your classroom will fall into one of these categories. It is important to see where they are and find activities that will help them grow and expand their vocabulary.
Here is a list of some fun and useful ideas to help teach vocabulary in the classroom.

Dress It Up With a Vocabulary Parade!

By Angela Bunyi on October 1, 2010

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/10/dress-it-vocabulary-parade5

http://blogs.scholastic.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/31/vocab_group_2.jpg

My former school held an annual character book parade on Halloween. The premise sounded great: kids dressed up like characters from a book, but one year something smelled fishy as I watched the book parade. This was still a Halloween parade with a strained tie to some book, and I knew we could create a stronger tribute for bibliophiles. Thanks to Debra Frasier, author of Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster, we found a solution that is fun, cheap, and involves everyone!

Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster, by Debra Frasier

An excerpt from Debra Frasier's Web page: "A hilarious romp through the usually not-so-funny world of vocabulary. Sage misses school due to a cold and from there the misunderstanding begins. But "miscellaneous" is finally revealed for the word it truly is, and Sage manages to redeem herself in a marvelous and inspiring creative leap."

The Premise of a Word Parade

Dress up like a vocabulary word and create a word parade with your class or school. It's as simple as that. Some construction paper and string can get you from start to finish in no time. Here is a simple example:

Parallel

Take two longer rectangular pieces of construction paper. Punch holes at the top. Loop together and hang around your neck. Write the word "parallel" on each strip. Done.

Price: Free!

Educational value: Priceless!

The beauty of this project is that:

1) It can be completed anytime of year. Halloween is an easy place to plug this in.

2) It can tie into Halloween costumes. For example, students can be "gruesome" or "ghastly."
3) Students learn new words from each other.

4) It gives all children a chance to participate. Before we did this, half my class dressed up and the other half didn't. I expect most, if not all, to participate this year.

5) It is academically focused.

Show Not Tell

It is easier for me to show you than to tell you. Here are some of the examples we found on Debra Frasier's page and in our classroom (below).

Wrapping It Up

When we return to the classroom, each student shares their outfit and we talk about the meaning of the word. After going around the room, we vote on our top three favorite costumes.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/10/dress-it-vocabulary-parade

Synonym Poster Template
This word bank focuses on word structures (synonyms) created by the teacher and student. Vocabulary activities that teach not only referential vocabulary (what words mean) but also relational vocabulary (how words relate to each other) are essential to supporting reading comprehension and making connections in general.

http://www.readingresource.net/vocabularyactivities.html

Wonder Words Poster

Our Wonder Words Template (enlarged) provides students the opportunity to place words they understand when they are reading. Students are provided with opportunities during the day to discuss their word with others as we try different strategies to figure it's meaning. One of our students' favorite vocabulary activities.