How to Improve Vocabulary in Elementary Students
Educators used to think that giving students lists of words, providing their definitions and then testing memorization of them would increase a child's vocabulary. Even though that method may be effective for some students, taking a more diversified approach can accommodate different learning styles by generating a variety of activities to help build vocabulary.
Instructions
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Read aloud to students, stopping to give definitions of words with which the students are unfamiliar. Ask questions orally at the end of each paragraph or page (depending on the age of the students) that will require a group response using the words you explain. For example, if you read a sentence such as "The dogs were looking for sanctuary," explain that "sanctuary" can mean "a safe place." Later ask "What were the dogs looking for?" After the children respond with "a safe place," ask them "What is another word for a safe place?"
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Post a "word of the day," using a word from that day's reading. Use the word in a variety of ways throughout the day. For example, you might say, "It's starting to storm, but we'll have sanctuary right here in our warm classroom." Ask students to draw a picture of someone or something taking sanctuary. As the week progresses, you can put together the words you're accumulating. You might come up with a tongue twister or a rhyme. For example, if you have chosen "wary" and "sanctuary," you might use: "Be wary when you take sanctuary" or "Sally sagaciously selected a secure sanctuary."
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Choose some "words of the day" designed to teach prefixes and suffixes. Building vocabulary moves along quickly when children learn, for example, how the prefix "un" is a clue to the meaning of a word such as "unlawful" or how the suffix "ful" which means "full of" defines words like "beautiful" and "helpful."
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Create a variety of games that teach and reinforce vocabulary. Concentration or matching games give students the opportunity to match words they're learning with their correct definitions. Word relays allow children to move around and get noisy as they race in teams to be the first to write definitions on the board. Students can act out vocabulary words in a charades game. Online vocabulary games, such as the ones on PBS Kids, give students an opportunity to interact with some of their favorite TV characters.
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Give children the opportunity to teach vocabulary to their peers. You might put them in groups and have them act out a little skit involving a new vocabulary word. Another possibility is to ask them to draw cartoons or small crossword puzzles using new vocabulary words and make copies for everyone in the class. Before reading stories aloud, you might give several students cards with the names of new words and the definitions so they can explain and define the words as you go along.
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