Lesson Plan for EDUC 338- Vocabulary Cartoons
Mar Lee School Fall 2008
3 minutes: Attendance, housekeeping.
5-15 minutes: Introduce the principle of mnemonics by asking the following questions:
What are some important things in your life that you have to remember?
Why might you have to remember something?
How do you remember these things?
What helps you to remember these things?
Provide hard copy of the following prompt and review the assignment with the students.
Vocabulary Cartoon Assignment
What we will be doing today is creating tricks and pictures to help you remember important things in your textbook. This will help you remember something by relating what you are trying to remember with something you already know. This trick can be in many different forms like rhymes, songs, or pictures. For example, "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two" is a classic rhyming trick which helps you remember when Columbus discovered America. These powerful tools will help you remember the meanings of words longer and with less effort than trying to memorize definitions straight out of a dictionary or textbook.
Today in class we will be creating our own vocabulary cartoons to help familiarize ourselves with important vocabulary words from chapter 7 in the textbook. These words are highlighted in your textbook as key terms. You will be creating posters to be hung up around the room, so we will have a cartoon gallery when you’re all finished. For this activity, you will be placed in groups of two. Once you have been placed in your groups, you need to take a few minutes to look back through the chapter and choose a vocabulary word as a group to focus on. If you decide you would like to choose a word that is not highlighted, I must give you permission before you may continue. The only limitation is that no two groups may research the same word. Once you have chosen your word, the procedures for the assignment are as follows:
1. Pick up a piece of paper and some markers for your group.
2. Define your word using a dictionary or the textbook glossary.
3. Create a trick to help you remember the word.
4. Write a complete sentence with the word AND the trick.
5. Draw a cartoon based off of that sentence.
6. Write three more sentences of your choice using the word.
You will have the entire class period today to work on your cartoons. You may use the cartoons below as examples of what I’m looking for. If we have time at the end of the hour, you will present your posters to the rest of the class. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. These cartoons and tricks are meant to help you understand your vocabulary better, so have fun with them! J
40 minutes: Students work on their vocabulary cartoons. Teacher circulates to make sure students are on task, collaborating as a team, and working according to the assignment requirements.
5-10 minutes (If time allows): As a group, students will present their vocabulary cartoon posters to the class.