If so, Clark, S., (1999) How To Improve Your Vocabulary, Westminister USA: Teacher Credited Resources, Frost, R., (2004), Presenting Vocabulary, British Council: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/presenting-vocabulary, Graves, M., (2016) The Vocabulary Book, 2nd Ed., New York: Teachers College Press, Stewart, E., ( 2013), Vocabulary: Implicit vs Explicit, http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/common-core-classroom/55272, Wyner, G., (2014) Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It, New York: Crown Publishing. Lolly Pop Sticks – There are lots of activities that you can do using lolly pop sticks. Which is your favourite ‘fun’ way to learn vocabulary and teach vocabulary in the classroom? To prepare for this game you need to find a picture that includes the items you want to teach. Ah, so many words, so little time. 7. In order to understand written or spoken language, students do not need to know the meaning of every single word they see (as is evident from my aforementioned trip to Spain), especially since a native speaker only tends to use around five thousand words in every day speech (Frost, 2004). Students were asked to work in teams to match the adjective sets from around the room. I look at language acquisition in a similar way. I vary which ones are correct and incorrect on each photo. To end this task get another pair to peer correct. In order to do something with this vocabulary, ask students to write about the sports they and their friends/family like or dislike. Graves, M., (2016) The Vocabulary Book, 2nd Ed., New York: Teachers College Press * Beginner French and German students looking to make fast progress, Which qualifications do I help with? 5 Ways To Teach Vocabulary. In my high school classroom, lists consist of ten to fifteen words, and I allow students two weeks to interact with them on a daily basis before I expect ma… It could also be utilised with one word on each lolly pop stick, around different themes and students have to categorise the word on each lolly pop stick based on topic. Give one of your students a word – only they can know the word and they must not say this word. In order to successfully complete this game your students must not only have a good understanding of the words but they must also communicate effectively. Choosing the right vocabulary – It is important to make the right selection of words. Here are five engaging ways to teach your students vocab while making sure they boost their vocabulary acquisition: 1. We would read stories out of the reading textbook and do activities with the stories. This may seem basic but often teachers end up teaching a wide variety of seemingly unconnected words. This is a quick game that needs little preparation. This activity can be used as revision, but also to see what vocabulary students already know, related to any given theme or topic. Once your students have written their sentences fold the slips of paper and put them in a hat. Vocabulary A-Z Lesson Plans With Vocabulary A-Z, you can create your own vocabulary lists based on topic, content, or part of speech, and generate lesson activities based on your selections. In this article, we've given you a lot of ideas on how to expand your vocabulary. So here, James Clements shares some practical ways to go about it, each with a linked resource sheet (seven in total) ready to download and use in your classroom. Teachers can … The first team to match all sets in their area, correctly, was the winner. We can also help you to master the English vocabulary as soon as possible. Your email address will not be published. Here are vocabulary teaching strategies that with help you and your students in your word study. 5 Fun Word Games for Vocabulary Practice Vocabulary practice is something teachers are always trying to increase. Looking for some extra help? Get creative and mix it up! Giving students many chances to understand and use words will change the way they look at words, and open their understanding. For example, a picture inside a busy restaurant. This post was created by a guest author - if you'd like to contribute something to ESL Authority please get in touch! Teaching vocabulary using the same games and activities can become repetitive and stale. As well as teaching languages, I love creating French and German KS3, GCSE, Pre-U and A-Level resources and sharing teaching ideas to save other MFL and language teachers time. * develop communication skills (speaking, listening & translation) #deutsch #edutwitter #german #mfltwitterati, All three Year 10 groups loved our visual retrieval practice this week. Teaching vocabulary doesn't have to be laborious and boring! Oh, and students will actually remember the vocabulary this way, too (bonus!) Choose four words related to the theme you are talking about, 1 of the words has to have an ‘odd one out’ element. All of these methods allow my students the ability to develop their understanding of lexical items through repeated exposure and variety. Using lego bricks to teach vocabulary is very interactive and fun! Let’s first look at a few tips to help set you up for success! This could be done with a list of vocabulary around a topic, as well as with a long text which includes previously learned words. You need to prepare two things for this game. Then, we hang them on our Fancy Nancy Words board to use in our writing. This helps me to maintain the website and continue uploading my resources to share with you. 3. Emoji Prompts – I have written about emojis in my Vocabulary Builder Post which I highly recommend checking out. Mix it up! 8. * Distance learning French & German language learners For advanced students I might say that the sentence must include a certain number of adjectives, adverbs, or specific vocabulary. The final sentences might include 3-4 of the new words. It can be used to teach new vocabulary, but is also a good method to recycle old vocabulary that will be used in the ‘new’ topic. After I have corrected any mistakes I ask my students to prepare a short story that includes at least x amount of the nouns. 10. Give students the instructions that they must each draw a different object, related to your chosen topic, on each piece of paper. * A-Level German (AQA & WJEC) / Pre-U German Instead of students secretly holding their cards like poker have them spread them out in front of them so that everyone in the class can see each other’s cards. When choosing which words deserve special instructional time, we don't have to do it alone. I would just like to clarify that ‘TheIdealTeacher’ is simply the website’s name and it’s what I aspire to be and what I am working towards. free to use ESL materials for both students and teachers. Teaching vocabulary can be a real challenge. 4. I tell them they must communicate in order to make a communal list of everything that is either labeled correctly or incorrectly in both photos. I find that this works very well. #mfltwitterati #French #edutwitter. You need small pictures/photos of all of the nouns and a short story that includes all of the nouns in question. Mix it up! I’m Sabina – an insanely passionate, qualified French and German teacher and tutor, as well as an experienced EFL teacher. And remember, learning new words doesn’t have to be boring. If I am teaching a group of nouns I often play “The Story” game. Randomised Vocabulary Lists and Highlighters – I am a list maker, so this activity comes very easily to me! You can take them with you and practice learning and revising the vocabulary anywhere you go. Doing this will not only make your vocabulary classes more dynamic and fun but your students will also benefit much more. Students need to understand the benefits of a rich vocabulary knowledge. * … and whatever else they want to work on! 9. I recently travelled to Spain and managed to communicate with hand gestures and the words I remembered from doing my GCSE in one year, in 2003. Gallery Walks are a great way to introduce vocabulary while getting kids up and moving around. Vocabulary quizzes don’t exactly tend to incite excitement in the classroom, and it can be difficult at times to motivate your students to write and practice using their vocab words. Get students to write down the vocabulary for any words they know first, then add more ideas in pairs and small groups and finally, complete the activity as a group. Have the words you want to teach on some flash cards or slips of paper and distribute the cards evenly to your students. * assess their current strengths and weaknesses and personalise each lesson to their needs - Sabina (aka 'The Ideal Teacher'), Enter your details to keep up to date with the latest resources, straight to your inbox >>. This also means word retention is greater. * German GCSE & German iGCSE (AQA, Edexcel, Pearson, Eduqas, OCR, WJEC & CIE) I then give a definition/use/example of one of the words and if the student thinks they have that word they must shout “That’s me”. Introducing nouns, things, objects, animals, etc… Visual elements work best with concrete nouns, … I have explained how I use the fun ways to teach vocabulary below and have a handy handout out which lists of all of the activities outlined below here: Ten Fun Ways To Learn Vocabulary In The Language Classroom. Stewart, E., ( 2013), Vocabulary: Implicit vs Explicit, http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/common-core-classroom/55272 Display vocabulary words around the room, surrounded by relevant pictures, definitions, synonyms, etc. Learn how your comment data is processed. Lots of very neat and organised recapping from the holidays topic , French Numbers practice (1 - 1,000,000,000,000) I create all resources and on average, they take 5 hours to prepare. * Business English students This is a simple game that requires at least two students and is a great game to play after your students have become familiar with the vocabulary they have been learning. The letters used in these words will include 7 letters (that you, or the students have selected at random), as well as 1 extra letter that has also been selected at random, but which must be used in all words. This works well if you have between 10-20 words to review. I recommend a minimum of 3 letters per word, I advise that proper nouns are not allowed and that the teacher’s say is final when it comes to choosing a winner! I have found or taken pictures of the fun activities on how to teach vocabulary, which you can adapt for your classroom. They include activities to expand vocabulary, how to teach vocabulary as a starter, ways in which students can recycle previously seen and taught vocabulary, as well as ways to improve their vocabulary through dictionary, pairwork and group work. https://www.schubert-verlag.de/aufgaben/index.htm I will also present you with 10 fun ways to help students to learn words, whether this be in English, French, German, Spanish or any other foreign language! Your email address will not be published. You project the alphabetical scrabble pieces to the students and instruct them to make as many words as they can, on a topic of your choice. Emojis are current and something that students can related to. This post was written by Phil from English Lesson Packs – a great site for free to use ESL materials for both students and teachers. Thank-you so much in advance for your generosity! 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