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In my last post, I shared how I plan for vocabulary with my free vocabulary planning template. If you haven’t read it yet, definitely head there to see how you can easily plan for a deep look into the vocabulary words you choose to explicitly teach.
That last blog was all about planning for the initial introduction of vocabulary words. Today, however, I want to share several ideas for continued practice. In the same way teaching phonics takes many repetitions to achieve automaticity, it takes practice and multiple exposures to vocabulary words in different contexts for students to internalize the meanings and be able to use and understand them in a variety of settings.
An oldie, but goodie. Frayer models are a great way to help children organize their new understandings of vocabulary words. These Frayer models (free download here) can be cut and glued sideways in a composition book, creating a vocabulary notebook for each student. I use Frayer models as a guided practice in my intervention groups. With enough practice your students may be able to do these independently, but I still suggest providing the kid-friendly definition (see below).
The Frayer model is composed of the following parts: definition, picture, synonyms/examples, antonyms/examples, and a sentence. Let’s look at each part.
When having students write (or even just having them listen to) the definition, ensure that it is a kid-friendly definition. Dictionary definitions are especially difficult for our students to understand. I use ChatGPT to create kid-friendly definitions.
This is my ChatGPT prompt: Please give me a kid-friendly definition for (insert vocabulary word here.)
The picture is a visual cue to prompt the meaning of the word. If my word was “coiled,” I may draw a snake wrapped in a circle. For a word like contradict, I may show two people talking and one person is disagree with the other one over a topic. Pictures seem easy, but they can be difficult to represent some of these words. Nouns tend to be easier to draw pictures of, while many verbs are more abstract. If children can think of their own pictures, great! If not, it is okay to help them decide what to draw.
I also tell my students it is okay to have a combination of words and images in their picture. It’s not actually whether or not they can draw a picture that matters-we’re working on helping our students internalize the meaning of the word. THAT is the true importance.
When we give children synonyms, we are helping to expand their vocabulary, as well as providing them a way to couch new words in ways that are already familiar to them. If they can connect the targeted vocabulary word to words that are already in their lexicon, we have a better chance of the word becoming sticky, aka added to long-term memory.
I use ChatGPT to give me both synonyms and antonyms.
This is my ChatGPT prompt: Please give me 5 kid-friendly synonyms (or examples) for the word __________.
To be a true synonym (or antonym), a word has to be the same part of speech. That is why we often use an example instead, because there are times when no true synonym (or antonym) exists.
If you give children the target word, then 3 synonyms and 3 antonyms, you no longer have a single word you are teaching. Now, you have exposed children to 7 vocabulary words. While you are not going into as much depth with the synonyms/antonyms, you are still helping children categorize words. So if they learn that scour, clean, and search are all similar in meaning, and that ignore, neglect and overlook are opposites from the target word, we are helping them to classify words.
The power in synonyms and antonyms lies in that we are creating a semantic network of understanding for our kiddos. They’re learning a lot about a single word, while also learning about related words (even though it is less in-depth.)
The sentence frame is one of the most important parts for a few reason. First, our kids really need help learning to write sentences. Secondly, this is a place where we can see if they have an understanding of the word.
I stay away from just providing children a word and asking them to write a sentence. The sentences tend to be simple and lacking in meaning. Instead, you want to give them a sentence frame where they cannot finish the sentence without an understanding of the meaning of the word. For example, if my word was “scour,” I might give them a sentence frame that states “I would not be willing to scour the playground for __________, but I would be willing to scour the playground for _________.”
You may write the sentence frame on the board, but I often write it on the Frayer model before I copy it. Then, students just need to fill in the blanks to complete the sentence.
In order to really own a word, child need to be able to use a word. One way we can do that is by giving our students a daily writing prompt, using vocabulary words that have been learned. (Don’t worry, I won’t tell if it isn’t daily. Even 2-3 times a week can have a huge impact.) Keep a list of all known vocabulary words somewhere that students can see. I kept an ABC chart up, adding each word underneath the appropriate letter. You an have the same ABC chart on a single sheet of paper in their notebooks as well.
When students come in or when reading class starts, the daily writing prompt is a great bell ringer. A daily writing prompt is a question that uses the targeted vocabulary word. Children must answer the question in writing (with complete sentences, of course). The daily vocabulary writing prompt allows you to see the levels of understanding children have surrounding a word. The richness you see in their answers can tell you a lot about what they know.
These daily writing prompts are another place where we can use ChatGPT.
This is my ChatGPT prompt: Can you give me a list of kid-friendly questions I can ask to elicit meaning about the word (insert word/words here). I want questions where the kids have to show me they understand what the word means in their writing.
Check out the questions it gave me for the word adapt! You could include all your vocabulary words for the week in the prompt, then you would have the perfect warm-up activity already done for you for every day of the week.
I mean, who doesn’t want to use playdoh? When I go to districts and teach about vocabulary, this is an activity I always do with teachers. Even the teachers get excited, AND the teachers have to really think about what they are going to create.
To effectively utilize playdoh words, you need to have all of your vocabulary words listed somewhere. This activity will not work if students don’t have a list of words that they know the definition of.
You will give each child playdoh, then ask them to use it to represent one of the words from the list. A snail could represent “sluggish,” a trophy could represent “triumph,” or a lot of little dots together can represent “dense.”
Sounds easy, right? But how would you create the word “sputtered” from playdoh? What about the words “innovation” or “collaboration?” When you think about the words we are asking students to represent, it suddenly doesn’t seem so babyish anymore! I have successfully used this activity with 3-5th graders when teaching vocabulary.
Once students have completed their playdoh, give them a chance to have people guess it. I allow them to explain what their figure is (saying something like “this is a slug that is moving realllllly slow”), but they cannot use the vocabulary word when they are explaining it.
We’re taking it back old school for this one. Put students in teams and have them choose a vocabulary word from a hat (If you’re like me and don’t own any hats go ahead and use a box). Then, they have to work together with a group to show that vocabulary word, without any talking.
That’s the typical way, but this is your classroom and you get to make the rules. If playing charades in complete silence doesn’t work for your kids, then you can let them talk! Just ensure that they do not use the targeted vocabulary word when they are speaking. If they use the vocabulary word, then they are out!
You can have one group put on their “performance” each day when class starts, taking less than 5 minutes a day. Or, you could even use charades as a “Fun Friday” activity where you take a larger chunk of time and let every group have a chance to put on a performance.
This is your house, you make the rules. (IYKYK.)
There’s two books on vocabulary that have a large impact on my understandings and teaching practices.
The first is Bringing Words to Life*. I consider this the “gold standard” for vocabulary instruction. This book is where I first heard about Tier 1, 2, and 3 words. It goes into how to teach vocabulary for the littles, as well as upper grades. They go through assessing vocabulary, explicit instruction, as well as learning words in natural contexts. I I had to pick just one book about vocabulary, it would be this one!
The second book is Word Nerds. This book gives immediately applicable ideas for the classroom. I look at Bringing Words to Life as the more academic book, while Word Nerds is more of the book to help you figure out what to do in class. The teachers in this book do A LOT with vocabulary instruction. Just keep in mind that you don’t have to do EVERYTHING to have a positive impact. Baby steps!
Vocabulary instruction doesn’t have to be stuffy and boring. Yes, there are some not-so-fun activities like a Frayer model that can have a huge instructional impact, but there are plenty of other activities that we can sprinkle in throughout the day to make vocabulary learning enjoyable.
Just remember, we need vocabulary instruction to be consistent. We can’t just teach vocabulary one week and then never look at use, or read the words again. The more times children can see words in multiple contexts, the more likely they are to really know and understand a word, it’s meanings, and all the different contexts in which it can be used.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn a small commission for purchases made through my links (at no additional cost to you).
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Savannah Campbell is a K-5 reading specialist. She has taught her entire 12-year teaching career at the school she went to as a child. She holds two master’s degrees in education from the College of William and Mary. Savannah is both Orton-Gillingham and LETRS trained. Her greatest hope in life is to allow all children to live the life they want by helping them to become literate individuals.
Savannah Campbell is a K-5 reading specialist. She has taught her entire 12-year teaching career at the school she went to as a child. She holds two master’s degrees in education from the College of William and Mary. Savannah is both Orton-Gillingham and LETRS trained. Her greatest hope in life is to allow all children to live the life they want by helping them to become literate individuals.
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