Ways To Teach Vocabulary
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Stacy Said:
What is the best way to teach grammar to students who are very poor in vocabulary.?We Answered:
In my opinion grammar and vocabulary are two seperate concepts- while vocabulary is interlinked with grammar- they essentially are two seperate skills. Vocabulary is a part of comprehension- being able to understand what you are reading or hearing. However, they are interlinked. I am not sure what age students you are referring to, so I appologize ahead of time if I don't address your question directly.First, I feel exposure is key. It is important to be a good example. Use proper grammar, and expose them to new vocabulary words in your speech. If a word might be over their head, explain. For example, if you were talking to your class about a difficult problem solving activity, you might say: "Hey guys, I know this problem is tricky- the important thing is to perservere, the more strategies we try, the closer we are to understanding....what do I mean by persevere? When I say persevere I mean to keep at it, and keep trying- even when you feel like quitting... so we need to persevere til' we can come to a solution"
As far as their grammar, you can teach them specific rules, through writing exercises; however, you can also teach them in context. When someone uses improper grammar, don't point it out directly, rephrase what they are saying. For example, a student says "they be playing in the hallway", you say, "who", they say "joe shmoe and suzy q", you say "oooh ok so you are telling me that Joe shmoe and suzy q are playing in the hallway?"
if your students come from homes where proper grammar is not used, and they feel that the way they talk is appropriate, you may want to explain that there are two ways they need to be able to speak: 1. The casual way at home and with friends 2. the professional way- using proper grammar at school and in the work place. Both are fine to use, as long as when they are at school and at work, they use proper professional grammar.
Read aloud to them, and make sure they are reading often as well. The more they are exposed to proper grammar, it becomes natural. This also opens up room for vocabulary lessons- helping them understand words in the context of a book. Sometimes I just explain things like, "despair" is just a fancy way of saying "sadness". Then I may make it a point to use the word as often as I can- I may say jokingly, and dramatically, "I was soooo full of despair yesterday- (a fake cry), when you weren't here yesterday"
Make vocabulary fun! If in conversation they use words like, "trippin'", "wack", "stupid", make them come up with a definition and synonyms- and make a poster. Explain, from now on, while you are in this classroom, istead of saying those slang words, they will use professional speech- (explain the importance- communication with jobs, going on an interview, being able to get your message across so that people understand)and use the words they came up with in their definition. I just thought of this, but you could make a synonym board: pick one word out of each of their pieces of writing, and put it on a bulletin board.... One side of the board could be labeled "YOU SAY...","....BUT WE SAY..." (we as in our class) so if a 5th grader is still using the word big, have them come up with another word for big like "gigantic", on one notecard they write "big", on another notecard they write "gigantic" then they place each card on the appropriate side of the board. Having them buy into this "we" is important part of hte process too- starting that classroom community from the get go is key- We are a supportive classroom- We are going to make it through the year- We are going to be better for it- We are going to make a difference- We are smart- We are the best...thats why they put you in my class- the office and teachers hand picked you to be in here because they knew that this is the best class to be in....so they picked the best students to be assigned to this classroom- we have to hold up our reputation of hard working individuals, and sucessful people. We have to be on top of our game- We have to use the very best words to get our ideas across to other people, because everyone in here has SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY- we need to make sure other people take it seriously- that's why you're in here.
Some skills just have to be taught specificially- nouns, pronouns, adjectives, ect. There are some good books, they are in my classroom so i cant remember them specifically but it was something like.. Punctuation Takes a Vacation, and Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs Go on Vacation. They are great books to use to illustrate the importance of each part of grammar.
One last activity- Come up with a list of nouns, subjects, predicates, verbs, times, and adjectives. Type them up, part of speech a different color. Put each type in a seperate cup. Students can pull one strip from each cup, and make silly sentences- while the sentences may not make sense, they will have each part that makes it a complete sentence. The kids really love it, and love illustrating their sentences. Sometimes it is hard to make the cards flow.... but set them ups so the kids plug the cards in order. Depending on what colors you choose to make each sentence part- You would just let them know... first is purple, then black, blue, yellow, green, and then orange. They will get the flow of it. Have a diagram and example- let them practice. There is a book with a good list of each type of sentence part, and funny parts that really entertain the kids- i Just cant remember what it is called. Even if you teach highschool- this would be a great activity to jumpstart the year- they would love it- sometimes even highschool kids need simple activities like this- and they will buy in to the whole process.
I dont' know if any of that is helpful, but good luck. Remember teach the specific skills, but make it fun! They will buy in to it! Integrate it into casual conversations with the kids- guide them, and be a good example!
Jamie Said:
Does anyone have some fun ways to teach vocabulary to ESL students? ?We Answered:
Depending all the grade level you could play around the world. Where you ask them to translate the word into the language that your teaching them one student gets up and moves to the next student in their row and the person that answers first gets to move on and so on. The person that wins could a reward.Victor Said:
What are some creative ways to teach children new vocabulary words?We Answered:
You might try pictures, music, or playing a game that involves other people.1. If he is a visual learner, he might like vocabulary flash cards with photographs. InsideStory Flashcards has free ones at different vocab levels and you can print them out. The photographs are entertaining and could be helpful for context since English is not his first language. He could also make his own flashcards with pictures.
2. If he likes music, you could try "Rock the SAT." It's a bunch of songs that use SAT vocabulary words in the music. It's made by real musicians and the songs are ahem, surprisingly good. You could have him listen to the one on the site and then buy the CD if he likes it. It's about $11.50.
3. The game "Literati Challenge" is simple and fun. You get high-school level vocabulary words, like "beleaguer," or "palatable," etc., and try to make up a story or a sentence using the words. The idea is to convince other people that your stories use the right meanings. It's a good family game and is about $30.00.
Priscilla Said:
Teaching Vocabulary?We Answered:
How about a multi-modal approach to new words?Keep this learning mode matrix handy when developing your new lessons http://library.thinkquest.org/C005704/co…
For each new word, develop a way to introduce each word but incorporate components that address each of the different learning modes so each type of learner is included.
For example, WASH
Visual: picture of someone washing their hands
Auditory: phonetics to pronounce the word; sounds associated with washing your hands...have the students make the sound. As another responder pointed out, find appropriate songs....music seems to persist in the memory longer than other inputs.
Kinesthetic: carefully form the letters; then have them do the actions associated with washing their hands...can expand this to extend to before and after...and possibly link to other vocabulary works they've already had.
You can also expand the lesson to incorporate the 5-senses:
Seeing: what things do you see that tell you someone is washing their hands (direct association, and then things by indirect association)
Hearing: what sounds might you hear (when you don't see what is happening) that tells you someone is washing their hands (again think of direct and indirect associations)
Touch: if you couldn't see (e.g. a blind person), what sensations can you feel that tell you hand washing is taking place? (again, think of direct and indirect associations)
Smell/Taste: closely inter-related, but smell is more appropriate here...what smells would tell you (without being able to see) that hand washing was taking place? (and again, direct and indirect smells)
Of course, nothing will always work out perfectly to have a full matrix of data and activities....but this helps to reinforce how the brain works...storing many different aspects and features of common every day life...and then being able to reconstruct / remember / recall when even incomplete data sets are pieced together of past inputs.
May sound a bit on the high end for 2nd grade...but don't sell them short...and at least this way, you have paved a way for students to be empowered to systematically construct a living working model of learning that can last them a life time.
Hope this helps. Best wishes in your endeavors.
Susan Said:
Do you go out of your way to teach your children new vocabulary words?We Answered:
yeah, the words of this week are brouhaha, soporific, sophomoric, hullabaloo, catastrophic.And i had to throw in phospholipid bi-layer when my daughter was cast in an in-class play about cells.
Even though she was just the Golgi Apparatus.
But still, it's the principle of the thing, pdooma.