From Boring Vocab to Fun Vocab Emily Wong, M.A. International Programs

Turn-and-Talk 1. How did your teachers teach vocabulary? Did you find it effective? 2. What are some problems with teaching vocabulary? Give a list All pure memorization forget immediately after a test, boring

Overview of the Workshop 1. Introduce 6 interactive activities 2. Discuss the advantages and possible limitations of each activity 3. Participate in the activities 4. Web resources 5. Q&A

Teachers’ typical methods Definitional Approach (Nagy, 1988) What is it? What is the problem with using this method? Students look up words in the dictionary and just memorize Students might choose the wrong definition, students don’t know how to use the word Example: Bold Most popular way personality - not afraid of taking risks colors - very bright or sharp, easily noticeable thinking - imaginative

Teachers’ typical methods Contextual Approach (Nagy, 1988) What is it? What is the problem with using this method? Students look at the words surrounding the vocab word and try to guess the meaning Context clues might also be vocabulary words, real reading passages don’t have context clues Example: The insurers devised the categories as a way of forcing property owners to bear more of the risk of catastrophic storms, without raising overall premiums to unaffordable levels. Teachers try this all the time, but seems ineffective even though it’s necessary esp for ppl taking toefl, toeic, ielts

Solution: Find interactive ways to learn and review vocab When students have fun, they remember things better (within 15 minutes)

Type of activities 2 Reading Activities 2 Vocabulary Warm-up Activities 2 Big Vocabulary Review Activities

*Knowledge Rating Chart* reading activity #1 *Knowledge Rating Chart* Preview a reading passage and select a group of vocabulary words to put on the chart. Have students rate their level of understanding of the word Put students in groups of 2-3 to compare charts Page 2

Your turn! After trying it, what did you feel were some advantages? Are there any potential problems?

*Knowledge Rating Chart* Advantages 1) Students can acknowledge what they know and don’t know 2) When students work in groups, they can teach each other Sometimes, a group might not know any words and this activity would be useless. It’s best to have groups of stronger and weaker students

*Knowledge Rating Chart* Extensions Provide the sentence that includes the vocabulary word. Students can look at the word in context and recognize the part of speech. 2. When students finish group discussion, provide a sheet of correct definitions. 15 minutes Page 2/3

Page 4/5 reading activity #2 *Stop! Vocab* Preview a reading passage and highlight potential vocabulary words. Replace vocabulary words with simpler synonyms or phrases Read the altered passage with the students. Tell them to yell “Stop!” every time they see something different Give students an opportunity to try in pairs Review definitions Page 4/5

Your turn! After trying it, what did you feel were some advantages? Are there any potential problems?

*Stop! Vocab* Advantages 1) Very student centered activity. All students are participating with either reading the passage or listening to the partner 2) Students learn new vocabulary without the teacher prompting the answers

Page 6 Warm-up Activity #1 *Find your partner* Write a vocab word on one sheet and the definition on another sheet Pass one sheet (vocab or definition) to each student Students stand up and find their partner Review definitions all together Page 6

Your turn! After trying it, what did you feel were some advantages? Are there any potential problems?

*Find your partner* Advantages 1) Encourages movement around the classroom 2) Very short activity (no more than 10 minutes)

*Find your partner* Extensions When students find their partners, they have to make a sentence together using the word. Instead of using the definition, use a fill-in-the-blank sentence. Page 6

Page 7 Warm-up Activity #2 *Line Talking* Make interesting questions using the vocabulary words Each student gets one question Students form two lines facing each other Students get 2-3 minutes to ask and answer the questions One line moves and question/sharing repeats Page 7

Your turn! After trying it, what did you feel were some advantages? Are there any potential problems?

*Line Talking* Advantages 1) Very student centered activity. All students talk at once. 2) Depending on the question, students can learn a lot of new things about their classmates Disadvantage: some students finish quicker than others

*Line Talking* Extensions Give students the opportunity to make the questions

Big Vocab Review Activity #1 *Taboo Bag* Write vocab words on small sheets of paper. Put them all in a small bag. Put students in groups of 4-5. The game has 3 rounds Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Student takes one word from the bag and tries to explain the word for classmates to guess. Rotate bag around. Put all the words back in the bag. Student takes one word and tries to explain it using ONE WORD. Rotate the bag around. Put all the words back in the bag. Student takes one word and tries to explain the word using ACTIONS or appropriate sounds. Page 8

Your turn! After trying it, what did you feel were some advantages? Are there any potential problems?

*Taboo Bag* Advantages 1) Students have 3 chances to review the definitions of a word 2) Students learn to be creative in their ways of explaining a word instead of just using the definition 3) Some students learn/remember better with movement Disadvantage: some students finish quicker than others

Big Vocab Review Activity #1 *Vocab Board Game* 1. Go to Rachel’s website to print a board sheet 2. Fill in the squares with 3 categories: Def – definition TF – true/false FB – fill-in-the-blank MC – multiple choice WF – word form Page 9/10

Materials

Def MC TF *Vocab Board Game* Front: Question Back: Answer 3. For each category, make 12-16 questions 4. When you print: Def MC TF Front: Question Back: Answer

*Vocab Board Game* 5. Put questions in their respective envelopes 6. Teach students how to make game pieces out of post-it notes 7. Enjoy watching students have fun!

Your turn! After trying it, what did you feel were some advantages? Are there any potential problems?

*Vocab Board Game* Advantages 1) It is very personal to your class and lessons 2) All students learn at once. The one playing has to guess. At the same time, the other students can review by looking at the answer 3) Students almost always have fun 4) This kind of board game works on more than just vocab (reading and grammar too!) and you can save it to reuse over and over again! Disadvantage: REALLY time consuming to make: show short cut with printing answers, but once it is made, can be reused over and over again

Page 11 Resources - Emily’s website - Rachel’s website http://teachingwithemily.posterous.com/ https://sites.google.com/site/rachelsclass/Home/catesol-2011---creating-games Page 11

Q & A