Vocabulary Games for a SMART Board
Take vocabulary instruction to the next level with the SMART Board. Move beyond dictionaries and copied definitions by developing engaging activities for your students. Use vocabulary activities to teach unfamiliar terms students will encounter in the text or lecture, to look at new words in different ways and to review learned words. Many games and activities can be adapted to use with the SMART Board or new activities can be created using the SMART Notebook software.
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Hot Seat
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Challenge students to sharpen their questioning and thinking skills with this secret word game. To set up the game, create a SMART Notebook file with about 10 vocabulary words (increase or decrease this number based on age and ability of students) scattered randomly across the page. Use the shape tool to cover each word. Choose one student to sit in a chair a few feet in front of the SMART Board. Choose another student to come up and reveal one of the words by pulling the shape off of it. The student in the "hot seat" must then ask yes or no questions to guess the word. Questions might include "Is it a noun?" "Does it rhyme with dog?" "Does it have more than two syllables?" Continue until the student guesses the word, then choose another student for the hot seat and someone to reveal the next word.
Word Searches and Crossword Puzzles
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Word searches and crossword puzzles are simple activities for students to review vocabulary. Instead of passing out individual puzzles and having students work alone, use the SMART Board. Create a word search or crossword puzzle at edHelper.com. Copy and paste it into a SMART Notebook file and save it to access when you are ready. Complete the puzzle as a class by reading the clues and having volunteers come up to fill in the puzzle with a SMART pen.
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SMART Hangman
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Make the game Hangman a little more interesting with the SMART Board. Use shapes to create the hangman figure in a SMART Notebook file and save. You could also type a bank of letters at the top of the page for students to pull down to fill in the blanks. Each time you open the file, you can draw or type the appropriate number of blanks needed for the chosen word. Students guess letters and come up to the board to either write the letter in with a SMART pen, or pull one down. If a wrong letter is guessed, the student goes up to pull a body part over.
Memory Game
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For younger students who need practice reading unfamiliar words, develop a SMART Notebook file that resembles a memory game. Create a grid, write one word in each space, then cover all words with the shape tool. Students will take turns approaching the board and pulling two shapes off. They must read each word aloud. If a match is made, the words stay uncovered. Otherwise, they are recovered and another student tries to make a match.
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References
Resources
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