Hobbies And Interests
Word Discovery Scavenger Hunt
A fun way to introduce a new vocabulary word is to turn the word into a mystery. Introduce the word to the students by writing it on the board or overhead, but do not give them the definition. Pronounce the word for the students several times and then direct the students to hunt for the word in a passage that you have selected.
Inform students that they are to give a thumbs up when they find the word. At this point, you can reward the student who finds the word the fastest with treats of your choice. Once a student has found the word, have him read the word clearly, making sure that he pronounces it correctly.
After the word has been found and correctly pronounced, have the student read several of the sentences surrounding the word and give other students a chance to give a thumbs up again when they think that they have figured out the definition of the word from the context clues in the sentence. Give several students an opportunity to guess at the definition and reward the students who come up with the best definition.
Vocabulary Beat
A way to teach students how to remember new words and meanings is by using them with beats and rhythms from popular songs and commercials. If you are playing this game for the first time, give students examples of popular commercial jingles and have them give examples of songs that are popular at that time. Once they have some ideas, inform them that they are going to create songs or jingles of their own that define vocabulary words.
Divide the class into groups of three or four and assign each group a different vocabulary word. Have each group of students identify several definitions for their word as well as work on pronouncing the word correctly.
Once the groups can define their words, have them create raps, songs or jingles that will teach the word to the other students. If students are having a hard time coming up with a tune on their own, refer them to extra examples of songs and jingles that they most likely hear every day.
Have the students present their words in a performance in front of the entire class. After each group has performed, give the students a chance to vote for the best group and offer some kind of reward for that group.
Word Game Trivia
Students love to participate in trivia games where they get a chance to outshine fellow classmates. One of the best ways to help students review material while getting everyone involved is to create a content-specific activity based on television game shows or board games.
One of the most popular television trivia shows, and easiest to adapt to a classroom, is "Jeopardy!" If you are studying parts of speech, create categories such as nouns and verbs where students have to identify a specific part of speech in each clue. Divide students into groups based on the number of students in your class and have students elect a spokesperson or take turns ringing in to answer the questions. The team that wins receives extra credit on a test or classwork assignment.
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is a game to use if you are reviewing a novel or plot summary because it gives students a chance to start out with easy questions and work their way through harder questions. This game is fun and effective because of the multiple-choice format and options to ask for help if need be. The more correct answers a group gets, the more time or points they can receive on the unit test.
"Scattergories" is a fun way to get students to expand their vocabulary and use words that they would not normally use. The die in this game is covered with the letters of the alphabet and when students roll the die, they have to answer a series of questions with only that letter. So for example, if you are studying the Harlem Renaissance and a student rolls the letter P, students have a set amount of time to identify as many things as they can that relate to the Harlem Renaissance, such as authors and poem titles.