How to Make Vocabulary Games

Make it fun to learn definitions.

Instead of slogging through a stack of painstakingly copied dictionary definitions, set yourself and your students free. Make a game of learning vocabulary words. Your class can practice meaning and usage while competing in teams, thus raising the excitement level several degrees above that of the standard worksheet. Using a few common classroom supplies, you can make a simple, fun game that will have your students showing off their word sense every week.

Things You'll Need

• 20 sentence strips (3-by-18-inch ruled tagboard)
• Black marker
• Vocabulary list
• Thesaurus/list of synonyms
• Dictionary definitions or teacher's manual of vocabulary definitions
• Index cards
• Magnets or tape

Instructions

1. 

   Write the vocabulary words on index cards.

   Write five vocabulary words on index cards using the black marker. Print one vocabulary word on each card. Affix the word cards to your chalkboard or dry erase board using the magnets or tape.

2. 

   Write the meaning for each word.

   On the first five sentence strips, write the dictionary definitions of the vocabulary words using your marker. Write one definition on each sentence strip. Refer to your dictionary or teacher's manual for the definitions.

3. 

   Use your thesaurus to find synonyms

   On the next five sentence strips, use your marker to print synonyms for each word. For example, if your vocabulary word were "scurry" you might write the following on one sentence strip: "scuttle, hurry, rush, scramble." Refer to your thesaurus or synonym list to find words whose meanings are the same as or similar to those of your vocabulary terms.

4. 

   Your students will fill in the blank.

   Use your marker to write usage sentences on the remaining ten sentence strips. Using your understanding of the words (or sentences using those words in your weekly reading story), write a sentence that uses the vocabulary word correctly on each sentence strip--two sentences for each vocabulary term--but leave a blank for the students to identify the vocabulary word which belongs there. For example, if your vocabulary term were "scurry," you might use two sentence strips to print the following cloze sentences: "When they see the cat, the mice will _____ into their hole." and "The older children walked so quickly that their little brother had to ______ to keep up with them."

5. 

   You have made two vocabulary games.

   Divide the sentence strips into two piles: The first group should include the definitions and synonyms, and the second group should be comprised of the usage sentences.

6. 

   Put your students in teams.

   Number your students off into two teams.

7. 

   The team with the most correct answers wins.

   Direct the teams' attention to the vocabulary words on the board and read those words aloud. Give directions that Team A will be given a sentence strip to read. They will work together to choose an answer from the words on the board and their captain will give the answer. If they correctly identify the vocabulary word that matches the definition or synonyms, they will receive one point. If they misidentify the word, Team B gets an opportunity to answer and win the point. Next, Team B will be given a sentence strip to answer, and so forth until all ten strips have been answered. The team with the most points wins.

Tips & Warnings

• If your students are not motivated by winning/bragging rights, offer sugarless gum or stickers for the winning team's prize.

• If your students do not have strong teamwork skills and cannot wait for their captain to answer, you may have to make each team line up and have the students from each team play in turns instead of conferring with one another.

References

• Vocabulary Games and Resources