Student-Driven Language Mastery
Week 1 – List Generation &
Information Sharing
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Monday-Tuesday
We have to come up with the List.
During D.E.A.R. time, (while reading your
personal novels), each individual student will
generate one word from his/her reading.
The word should be a word you think a teacher
might have chosen to include on a vocabulary list.
IDEALLY, a group of four will have four
words to choose from.; five will have five, etc.
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Monday-Tuesday
We have to come up with the List.
Each group will offer one word to be considered
for the class vocabulary list.
We should end up with a around 18 words by
the end of the day Monday.
On Tuesday only 15 words will remain to make
up the master list for the cycle.
If YOU ALL don’t come up with words for the
list, then I will add words from any appropriate
middle school level source of my choosing.
Tuesday- Friday: Information Sharing
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Our Word Wall will be populated
with information prepared by those
people whose words make the final
cut.
Wednesday-Friday: Information Sharing
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The following information must be included:
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Word (as it appears in the sentence)
Part of Speech (as used in the sentence)
Definition (as used in the sentence)
Sentence properly cited in which the word appears
(Book Title or Magazine Title and Issue, Article Title,
Author, Page #, etc.)
Forms of the word (and correlated parts of speech)
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Week 1 HW – (DUE FRIDAY) – Students are
always required to prepare Vocabulary
Improvement Strategy Sheets (VISS) for any
new vocabulary.
The VISS is a four column chart with the
following headings: Word, Personal Clue,
Sentence from Text, Definition.
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Vocabulary Improvement Strategy Sheet – Excel .
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Word – the word spelled as it is used in the sentence and
the part of speech
Personal Clue – synonyms, the word in another language,
other forms of the word, a drawing, antonyms . . .
anything that will remind you, yes you, of the definition.
This column makes it personal.
Sentence from the Text – the actual sentence from the
actual text that you actually saw the actual word in.
DO NOT CREATE YOUR OWN SENTENCE FOR
THIS.
Definition – The dictionary definition that matches the
use of the word in the sentence you found the word in.
Week 2 – Study Time
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Week 2 HW – (DUE EVERY MONDAY)
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Prepare something to show you have
been working with the words.
Prepare more than 1 item if you like.
Admit it, it can’t hurt to have the occasional
assignment doubled.
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You can get ideas for this from my website
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FINAL Project OPTIONS
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and/or . . .
Some OPTIONS include, but are not limited to . . .
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write a story with the words used properly and definitions in the story,
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write a song with the words and definitions in it,
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create a flip study book,
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make flash cards,
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create a memory game,
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create LINGO (TM) cards (with a Words & Definitions reference page),
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create You’ve Been Sentenced (TM) cards (with Words & Definitions
reference page),
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create a crossword with the definitions as the clues (blank game and
Answer Key required),
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create a word search with the definitions as clues (blank game and Answer
Key required),
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create a JUMBLE,
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the list goes on, and on, and on.
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Use your favorite search engine to find more vocabulary project ideas.
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The vocabulary test will be on FRIDAY of the second week unless
otherwise posted
Some OPTIONS include, but are not limited to . . .

write a story with the words used properly and definitions in the story,

write a song with the words and definitions in it,

create a flip study book,

make flash cards,

create a memory game,

create LINGO (TM) cards (with a Words & Definitions reference page),

create You’ve Been Sentenced (TM) cards (with Words & Definitions
reference page),

create a crossword with the definitions as the clues (blank game and
Answer Key required),

create a word search with the definitions as clues (blank game and Answer
Key required),
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create a JUMBLE,
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the list goes on, and on, and on.

Use your favorite search engine to find more vocabulary project ideas.

The vocabulary test will be on FRIDAY of the second week unless
otherwise posted
Some OPTIONS include, but are not limited to . . .

write a story with the words used properly and definitions in the story,

write a song with the words and definitions in it,

create a flip study book,

make flash cards,

create a memory game,

create LINGO (TM) cards (with a Words & Definitions reference page),

create You’ve Been Sentenced (TM) cards (with Words & Definitions
reference page),

create a crossword with the definitions as the clues (blank game and
Answer Key required),

create a word search with the definitions as clues (blank game and Answer
Key required),

create a JUMBLE,
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the list goes on, and on, and on.

Use your favorite search engine to find more vocabulary project ideas.
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The vocabulary test will be on FRIDAY of the second week unless
otherwise posted
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FRIDAY of the second week, you WILL get a
Vocabulary Test on 10 of the original 15 words.
You don’t know which 10, so you better study
them all.
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Read your novels
Search for words
Share your words
Decide on one per group
Offer a word to the class
Delete words if necessary
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Properly use your vocabulary words in any
writing assignment.
DEAR/Journal
 Warm Up
 ANY other class or home work writing assignment
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Each word used is worth 1 bonus point on top
of your grade for that assignment.