How to Use Familiar Games to Teach Vocabulary
Teachers working with students from preschool through college seek to expand their vocabulary. Words build bridges to understanding new concepts and expand a child's mind. Familiar games using letters and words help increase a child's vocabulary while also teaching social and communication skills. You can use these games as a creative variation in the classroom.
-
Word Board Games
-
Different word games award points for playing words from letter tiles. The new words must cross or play off of words already on the board, similar to a crossword puzzle. A child learns how to arrange letters to create different words. Dictionaries can be used to check the validity and spelling of words. Children receive bonus points when using all their letters on one play. You can write the child's name and total points for the play on the whiteboard, encouraging the child and challenging other students to create bigger words when playing.
Crossword Puzzles
-
Writers often share that working with crossword puzzles increases their vocabulary for writing. Teachers can creatively play games with crossword puzzles to review words with students. You might start a game by writing one of the words on the whiteboard from a list. Then ask for a volunteer student to come up and write another word from the list, incorporating one of the letters already on the board. The game continues until all of the words from the list are on the board in the shape of a crossword. The teacher can give hints for words that can be used by giving definitions of the word.
-
Dice Word Games
-
Dice word games require players to create words from 16 letters from dice randomly arranged in rows of four. The letters touch each other in a tray, and only the letter on the top of each die is visible. Words can be formed going sideways (either left or right) and up and down. Players all work off the same tray and have three minutes to come up with as many words as possible. Each word must be at least three letters. After time runs out, the students share their words and get points for unique words. The longer the words, the more points awarded. Dictionaries can be used to confirm questioned words or spelling. You can write the longest words on the whiteboard to challenge and encourage students.
Word Association
-
Divide the class in half with each team on one side of the room. Have a member from each team go to the front and face the class in front of the whiteboard. Write a word above their heads. A member from one of the teams gives their teammate up front a one-word clue for the word on the board. Word clues cannot have any part of the word that is on the board. If he guesses the word, the team gets 10 points. If he misses, a member from the other team gives another one-word clue to the other person standing up front. If she gets the answer right, the team gets nine points. Keep going until you get to five points. If nobody gets the word, announce the correct word and bring new students up for the next round. This game teaches vocabulary through one-word clues put together to form a definition.
-
References
- Photo Credit Polka Dot Images/Polka Dot/Getty Images
