Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
It is important to note, Step One does not involve presenting students with a definition or asking them to look the word up.
o Direct experience
o Videos
o Small groups can do initial investigation and present to class
o Mental pictures
o Find or create pictures that represent words
Step 2: Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.
When you ask students to restate a definition, it is critically important they do not just copy your definition.
Term: / My Understanding:1 2 3 4
Description:
Drawing:
Step 3: Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term or phase.
o When you ask students to draw, they are forced to think of the term in a different way.
o Model
o Ask them to share occasions that drawings helped them
o It is not necessary to draw everything freehand. They can trace things occasionally.
Step 4: Engage students in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms.
o Highlight prefixes and suffixes
o Identify antonyms and synonyms
o List related words
o Write brief reminders of confusions
Step 5: Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with other students.
Research confirms that interacting with other people about what we are learning deepens the understanding of everyone involved, especially when learning new vocabulary.
Think-Pair-Share
q Think–time
q Pair with another student and ask them to:
• Compare descriptions of the term
• Describe their picture
• Identify areas of disagreement
• Explain new information they might have learned.
Step 6: Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms.
o Games are the most underused instructional tools in education
o Allows student to reexamine their thinking
o Set aside blocks to time each week to play games
Free Association
q Announce “Free Association Time”
q Teacher calls out a term
q Students, by raising their hands, say any word they think of that is related to the target term.
q Say “STOP”
q The last person must explain how their word is related to the target
Comparing Terms
o ______and ______are similar because they both
______
o ______and ______are similar because they both
______
o ______and ______are similar because they both
______
o ______and ______are similar because they both
______
o ______and ______are different because ______is ______, but ______is ______
o ______and ______are different because ______is ______, but ______is ______
Ways to Compare terms
o Venn Diagrams
o Double Bubbles
o Matrix
Classifying Terms
o Give students a list of terms and ask them to classify the terms---They can be related or unrelated
o Give students categories and ask them to find words in their notebooks that fit
Games:
o Jeopardy
o Charades
o Draw Me – similar to Pictionary
o Talk a Mile a Minute
o In teams, students are given a list of related words
o The “talker” attempts to get their team to say each word on the list without saying the category. For example, if the category is things associated with outer spac, clues could be: Sun
Orbits
Mars
Venus
Galaxy
Saturn
o Name that Category
Name that Category
Categories are listed under the values: water cycle, plant cycle, metamophosis, etc.