Activities and Games
to Forge Ahead with Vocabulary
Colleen Serencsits
Tutors of Literacy in the Commonwealth
Please take a folder
and introduce yourself to your neighbor.
Purpose of This Session
• Share activities and games to learn and practice
vocabulary
Why?
• Enhance vocabulary
• More in-depth understanding of vocabulary
Why?
• Improve long-term comprehension
• Improve successful communication
Goals for Vocabulary Instruction
• Students learn specific words.
• Students learn skills to learn words
independently.
• Students develop a love and appreciation of
words and their use.
• This session will focus on hand-on activities.
• Materials for activities we do today are in folders.
• Flash Drive
– Main Handouts:
• powerpoint, info, activities, resources
– Activity Materials handouts
– Specific Information handouts
Collecting Big Words
Collect as many words as you can to replace one
of the following overused words:
say/said
new
bad
happy
big
Use the Big Words
When writing, refer to your collection.
• Practice “trying out” different words.
I said he did a great job.
Two trucks loaded with thousands of copies of
Roget's Thesaurus collided as they left a New
York publishing house last Thursday,
according to the Associated Press.
Witnesses were aghast, amazed, astonished,
astounded, bemused, benumbed,
bewildered, confounded, confused, dazed,
dazzled, disconcerted, disoriented,
dumbstruck, electrified, flabbergasted,
horrified, immobilized, incredulous,
nonplussed, overwhelmed, paralyzed,
perplexed, scared, shocked, startled,
stunned, stupified, surprised, taken aback,
traumatized, upset. . . .
Prevent Thesaurus Abuse
• Match the well-known proverb or saying with
its big word version on the handout.
• Rewrite a few proverbs or sayings with just
one big word replacing an ordinary word.
Brainstorming Multiple Context Words
Think of as many meanings/uses/synonyms as
you can for the word ball:
Other words to try:
reservation
squash
head
box
heavy
old
fair
right
intermediate
consumer
project
contract
Brainstorming and Semantic Mapping
• Refer to the list of words you generated for
ball.
• Create a map showing the categories and
relationships.
• http://www.visuwords.com/
Ball
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Sports/Athletics: basketball, soccer ball
Toy: child’s ball, dog’s ball, beach ball, nerf ball
Ammunition: musket ball
Fancy dance: debutant, military, masquerade
Great time: I had a ball.
Lighting fixture: disco ball
Blob: ball of wax
Pitch in baseball that misses the strike zone
Body part: ball of the foot, eyeball
Proper name: Lucille Ball, Ball State University
http://www.visuwords.com/
What’s in a Headline?
Find a target vocabulary word in a variety of
interesting contexts by searching for it in the
headlines.
• http://news.google.com
Morphology Chart
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
creation
create
creative
creatively
imply
analysis
deductive
Morphology Chart
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives Adverbs
creation
create
creative
creatively
implication imply
implicit
implicitly
analysis
analyze
analytical
analytically
deduction
deduce
deductive
deductively
Knowledge Rating Scale
I don't know I've seen or I know
I know this
this word at heard this
something word well. I
all.
word, but I'm about this
can explain it
not sure what word. I might and use it.
it means.
use it.
antithesis
elaborate
nadir
truculent
sensory
specific
Multi-Sensory Approach to
Building Vocabulary
“Research indicates students best retain
new vocabulary when they construct their
own meaning and can visually represent a
word and its related terms.”
(Smith C.B. 1997”Vocabulary Instruction and Reading Comprehension,” ERIC Digest,
EDA 412506. Bloomington, IN: Clearinghouse on Reading English and
Communication.)
Vocabulary Cards
Write the vocabulary word on an index card.
Include information to help learn the word, such as:
• Definition
• Synonym
• Antonym
• Use and Non-Use
• Prefix, Root, Suffix with meanings
• Personal Association
• Sketch
• Meaningful Sentence
To use the card as a study card, write the word on one side of
the index card, and the other information on the back.
Vocabulary Card variation
Cinquain Poem
Word Meanings from Context
Trader Joe’s almonds are grown in the Central
Valley of California. The weather conditions are
ideal for the cultivation of some of the world’s
finest quality almonds. These almonds are of the
“nonpareil” variety, which translates from the
French terms for “no equal.” No almonds are of
the same consistently high quality, which is why
the nonpareil variety commands top dollar.
Word Meanings from Context
Sea Lions Swarm Newport Schools of fish
caused the population explosion
NEWPORT BEACH - A popular food source lured
unusually large numbers of sea lions to the
waters off Newport Beach beginning March 20,
leading to a veritable feeding frenzy. The
pinnipeds were attracted by massive schools of
shad. Pods of sea lions were visible from the
Santa Ana River to 45th Street.
Word Meanings from Context
• Look at the handout.
• Model determining the meanings of the
words.
Word Sorts
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For ESL (yellow cards in match envelope)
For beginning literacy
With the Academic Word List (white cards)
Before reading a passage
Words from the Story / Passage
• Provide a selection of known and unknown
words for the student to sort, categorize, put
into a map, predict the passage.
• Read the passage.
• Rework the sort, categories, map.
• Understanding Stress yellow HO; yellow strips
Employment application
blue strips in sort
Prefixes Roots Suffixes
• List as many words as you can that include
one of the following roots:
ject
dic/dict
tract
duc/duct
port
fac/fact
• Use the prefix, root, and suffix cards to create
more words.
Prefixes Roots Suffixes
Variations for different levels:
• For lower level
– Start with words the learner knows
• For GED level
– Use words from the academic word list
Word Trains
Linear Array
Arrange related words by degree.
• Refer to your list of words related to the verb
say.
• Arrange the words in order from least loud to
most loud.
 or use one of the other words from earlier, and rank
by weakest to strongest sense of the word.
 or use a pair of words, and go from one extreme to
the other.
Semantic Feature Analysis
• Think of as many words as you can for
dwelling/shelter.
• Determine which characteristics fit each type
of dwelling.
Semantic Feature Analysis
Characteristics of
• Political heads of state
• Trees
• Musical instruments
• Characters in a novel
• Business letters (complaint, cover letter, to the editor)
• Civil War battles
• Land forms
• Clothing or foods or household items (for ESL)
Match Games
• Match clothing words with pictures
• Match GED language words with definitions
• Put signal word domino cards in order.
Bingo
Hangman
Hangman
________
__________
__
___
Word Search
Make a word search to introduce new words, or
to review current or previous words. (handout)
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Word search only
Word search with word list
Word search with pictures
Word search with definitions
Use the Words
Have students answer questions that include the
vocabulary words being studied.
• What are three ways you could tell a person
had just received grim news?
• What are three things an impertinent person
might say?
• What are three things that would disconcert
you?
Word Choices
Choose one word and explain your reasoning.
• Would you rather go on a journey that was
arduous or effortless?
• Would you rather meet someone who was
miserly or munificent?
• Would you feel exuberant or apprehensive if
you had to scale a tall mountain?
List - Alike
What three-letter word do these objects have in
common?
soup
volcano desert
coffee
sun
What five-letter word follows each word?
book jewelry clothing hardware grocery
• Ask the learner to create puzzles for you.
Survival of the Fittest
Find the word that doesn’t fit.
Name a category for the other words.
• fir spruce maple pine holly
• terror horror fearless fright quaking
• fraction integer decimal ratio percentage
• apple cherry banana blueberry bean
• monarchy
dictatorship autocracy
• however
also
and
democracy
moreover
another
Commercial Games
Play or Adapt Commercial Games
Boggle
Bingo / Wordo
Scrabble
Taboo
Scrabble Cubes
Password
Smart Mouth
Super Sleuth
Upwords
Outburst
Bananagrams
Scattergories
Pictionary
Charades
LOOK and FIND in the Newspaper
• Consonants
• Vowel Sounds
(long and short)
• Silent letters
• Capital letters
• Letter combinations
• Blends
• Syllables
• Nouns
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Action words / verbs
Proper nouns / names
Prefixes
Suffixes
Contractions
Punctuation marks
Context clues
Unknown words
Online Practice Games
• Possibilities are listed on the Resources
handout.
• Is there a website you have tried?
Your Turn to Share
• What activities have you used?
• What has worked for you?
• What have you tried that did not work for
you?
• What other ideas has this session prompted?
• Is there a website you like for learning or
practice?
Put It Together
• Refer to the handouts Understanding Stress
and Job Application.
• What activities could you use with these
passages?
• Which words are worth intense study?
Things to Avoid
• Memorization of definition
• Standard approach to vocabulary:
– read dictionary definition
– use the word in a sentence
– move on to the next word on the list
• Trying to teach too many words too quickly
• Teaching words that have no relevance to the
student(s)
Resources
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Information Resources
Web Sites for Learners and Instructors
Dictionaries
General Resources for Tutors
• TLC
– Website
– Colleen
www.tlcliteracy.org
colleen@tlcliteracy.org
Conclusion
• Get involved as many ways as possible for the
particular lesson.
– The methods will vary with the lesson and the circumstances.
– Find what works for your learner.
• Many of the same techniques that are important
when teaching ESL students can be very effective
when teaching new vocabulary
– Actions, gestures, pantomimes, pictures
• Using multisensory learning enables learners to
understand, remember, and retrieve information
more successfully.
• READ! Encourage your learner to read.
Conclusion
• Questions
• Comments
• Evaluations
– What activities do you think you might use?
– What activities will you almost definitely NOT use?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
PARTICIPATION!
Good luck putting
these techniques to use
and best wishes
with your tutoring!