Vocabulary Practice: Word God or Goddess
Posted on Thu, May 24, 2012
Don’t Let the Learning Stop this Summer!
Have Students Earn Word God or Goddess Status
Ahhh…summer is in the air! With school ending, I have been wondering how to keep myself and my students immersed in vocabulary.
I’ve decided I am going to hold a “word god/goddess” challenge to see how many students can keep track of old and new vocabulary words this summer.
Giving students bragging rights over a god or goddess status is one way to actually keep them learning their vocabulary all summer long!
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Essentially, any student who finds and/or uses 50 vocabulary words this summer gets to be recorded on my “Word God/Goddess” poster that I will hang outside my room. You can download the banner for your own poster HERE.
Note: I think I may, in later years, have a Hera/Zeus designation for students who meet this challenge for more than one summer.
Students have to keep track of their vocabulary discoveries/uses through the chart I have created. If students would rather create their own charts or type up their examples in their own document, this is great too!
Essentially, any student who finds and/or uses 50 vocabulary words this summer gets to be recorded on my “Word God/Goddess” poster that I will hang outside my room.
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If you are worried about cheaters, I suggest having a guardian sign off on the student’s chart. However, students are playing for bragging rights, not grades, so hopefully they will stay honest.
I will also encourage students to play games to keep their vocabulary fresh in their minds. I think I will instruct them that playing a vocabulary game will “earn” them five words on their.
You can refer students to my posts about Apples to Apples, Scattergories and Memory to have them create their own game pieces. Or, if they want to have some fun with a more basic game, they can check out my Mother May I? post.
To keep myself fresh, I am also going to play these games with friends and family. Not only can I help teach my younger relatives words, the more I embed the words into my lexicon, the easier it will be for me to use them naturally in the classroom (one of the best ways for many students to learn is constant reiteration of new vocabulary).
Regardless of whether students are playing with their vocabulary, using it in everyday conversations or spotting it during their summer activities – thinking about words throughout the summer will make them Word Gods and Goddesses!
Common Core Standards:
Reading Literature/Informational Text Standard 4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text
Writing Standard 10. Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Speaking & Listening Standard 2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats
Speaking & Listening Standard 6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks
Language Standard 4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown words
Language Standard 6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge
Related Posts:
Apples to Apples
Scattergories
Memory
Mother May I?
Stars on the Ceiling
Scavenger Hunt with Vocabulary