ACTIVITIES TO HELP VOCABULARY
AND WORD FINDING DIFFICULTIES
11-19 years
Pre-teaching of vocabulary
o Identify key words for a given topic prior to it being taught in the classroom (this can
be done by the class teacher, LSA and with the child if appropriate) It is recommended
that a manageable amount of words are introduced at one time e.g. 3 – 5 per topic.
o Find pictures or objects that represent the topic vocabulary where possible
o Introduce the key words (with pictures/objects) to the child before they are taught in the
classroom
o Talk about each word in turn (during different sessions if possible). Discuss the
semantic features (relating to the meaning of the word) and phonological features
(relating to the sounds in the word) as follows:
Semantic Features
 Category (group) e.g. “it’s a type of …………”
 Function (use) e.g. “it’s used for……………”
 Location e.g. “it’s found……………”
 Parts/special features e.g. “it has…………”
 Attributes e.g. shape, size, colour
 Texture e.g. “it feels…………”
 Experience (have you heard this word before? If so when? What do you know
about it?)
Phonological Features
 Long/short word
 First sound
 Syllables in the word (claps)
 Rhymes with (whole word or part of the word)
School staff may wish to make prompt cards for each of these features.
The following activities can be used with individuals, groups, or in class as
introductory or end of task activities.
Remember to reinforce the general social/group rules of good looking / good listening / good
sitting and good waiting when playing any of these games.
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 Word Maps – Use word maps to produce words relating to a given topic – particularly
before starting a writing task or as a revision exercise. This could be part of a whole class
or paired activity. See word map document for more information.
 Categorisation games - help the student to learn and remember words in an organised
way. Encourage the student to sort items into groups, e.g. characters from a
Shakespeare play. Subdivide into further groups, e.g. heroes and villains.
 Finding related items (things that go together) e.g. Bunsen burner - beaker. Find
pictures of things that go together and play a pairs game. At the end of the game see if
the student can think of other items that might go with the pair e.g. tripod, test tube.
 Guess the object Have a selection of object pictures. Take turns to describe the object in
a picture hidden from the partner. They have to guess what the object is from your
description, e.g. “It’s made of glass, it tells you if something is hot or cold, it is thin”
(thermometer)
 Similar meanings - Give the student an adjective – they must think of one with a similar
meaning. This will help them to think of an alternative word if unable to retrieve a
particular word in conversation. e.g. pretty, attractive, nice, good looking, etc.
 Changing words in paragraphs – If the student is over-using one adjective, such as
‘nice’ or ‘good’. Underline these words in a paragraph and ask the student to think of
different adjectives. Be careful to emphasise that this is a good editing technique so as
not to disrupt the flow when students are writing.
e.g.
“The girl was nice. She had nice long hair… →
“The girl was pretty. She had beautiful long hair…”
 Same or Different? - Think about the ways in which two objects are the same and how
they are different. A Venn diagram is a useful way of presenting this.
 Odd one out – Use a sequence of words or pictures. The student must find the picture
or word that does not fit with the others (e.g. France, China, London, Canada) and give a
reason. You could also ask them to name another item that would fit in the sequence.
 Can you think of…? - Take it in turns to think of all the words which fit a particular
category. e.g. Things with legs, things that are stripey.
Think of objects which satisfy TWO conditions,
e.g. White and cold
=
snow
Round and flat
=
plate, saucer
Wet and hot
=
coffee, tea, etc.
Think of words which fit a particular category beginning with a certain letter
e.g.
An element starting with M =
magnesium
A capital city beginning with P = Paris
A battle site beginning with S=
The Somme
 Crosswords - The student has to think of possible words from clues. There are lots of
curriculum based crosswords on the internet.
 Chain game – go round in a circle linking each word to the last one, e.g. Bread – butter –
yellow – sun – hot – cold – ice – fridge – kitchen, etc. Make sure that the word added is
a close associate of the previous one in the chain.
 Multiple meanings - Think about words which sound the same but have different
meanings. e.g. pair/pear, knight/night or multiple meanings e.g. bat, bank. Ask students to
draw pictures to illustrate the different meanings.
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 Twenty Questions - One student thinks of something related to the subject e.g. Bunsen
burner, ox-bow lake. Other students have to ask questions to discover the word. You can
make this harder by only allowing questions that can be answered yes/no. Some students
may benefit from pictures/words to support the activity. As they eliminate words/objects
they can remove that picture/word until only one remains e.g. provide pictures/words of
foods.
e.g. Student asks “Is it a carbohydrate?” No (remove all carbohydrates)
Student asks “Is it a protein?” Yes (remove all other food groups)
Students asks “Is it a good source of calcium?” Yes (remove foods not containing
calcium) and so on.
 Reverse Taboo – student has to define a given word using certain words as part of their
definition.
 Bingo – Give students a list of keywords related to a topic. Ask them to write down 5 or
them. Start to give definitions of the words. The students tick off any words they have
matching your definition. The first student to tick off all their words wins. You can also ask
the students to give the definitions.
 Who wants to be a Millionaire? – Ask students a question about the meaning of a word
and give four possible answers. If they select the correct answer they progress on to the
next question. This game takes a while to set up – see the internet for topic based
versions written by other teachers.
SUGESTED RESOURCES THAT CAN BE PURCHASED:
Rhodes to Language by Anna Rhodes. A photocopiable book of language activities, based
on the National Curriculum, for children aged from 7-16 years. Available through
Winslow, Goyt Side Road, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 2PH Tel: 0845 230 2777
http://www.winslowresources.com/rhodes-to-language.html
Synonyms Matching Puzzles £12.50 Opposites Matching Puzzles £12.95 Same Word
Different Meaning Puzzle £12.50 all Nov 2012, Taskmaster. Morris Road, Leicester LE2
6BR. www.taskmasteronline.co.uk
Semantic Steps Photocopiable games to encourage semantic associations. Taskmaster.
Morris Road, Leicester LE2 6BR. www.taskmasteronline.co.uk £29.95 (Nov 2012)
Facilitating Word Recall Develops strategies to aid word recall. Available from Taskmaster.
Morris Road, Leicester LE2 6BR. www.taskmasteronline.co.uk £24.95 (Nov 2012)
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