Vocabulary Words Activities
Using many different vocabulary word activities can be more helpful when learning new words than relying on just one learning method. As a student of a new language or someone hoping to build his or her vocabulary for a class or standardized test, you might need help from a tutor or someone else who is familiar with the words to complete some vocabulary word activities. As a teacher or tutor, you can use fun word games and puzzles to help your students succeed.
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Flashcards
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Students who need to memorize new vocabulary words can use flashcards by writing the word on the front of a notecard and the definition on the back. Flip through the cards trying to guess the word by the definition, then flip through and try to remember the definition for each word. For large groups of vocabulary words, use the "chunking" method. Memorize a small portion of your flashcards at a time rather than trying to go through the entire stack at once.
Memory Matching Game
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Play a memory game by creating one set of flashcards with just the definitions written on them and another set with just the words written on them. Lay out both sets in front of you facedown, then flip over one card at a time. When you see the definition card for a vocabulary word card you have seen previously (or the other way around), match the two cards and remove them from play. Continue until you have matched all of the cards in front of you. Keep a list of the words with their definition nearby in case you need to check a match for correctness.
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Puzzles
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You can use software tools or online resources to create puzzles from vocabulary words. If you are a student, have a study partner or tutor create the puzzles for you so that you do not know the answers. Try making crossword puzzles using the vocabulary words and their definitions. Word search puzzles may not be as useful for learning word definitions, but for students of a foreign language they help to increase familiarity and recognition of vocabulary words.
Drawing or Labeling a Picture
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If you have a study partner, you can draw pictures containing the vocabulary words for each other to label or look for images in books and magazines that contain these words to label. Try creating a vocabulary word collage to increase your familiarity with foreign language vocabulary.
Fill-in-the-Blanks
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Have a study partner, tutor or teacher write a short story using the vocabulary words you would like to learn, then write another version where the words are replaced by blanks and a word bank given on the page. Read through the story and fill in the appropriate vocabulary words. Writing a story with vocabulary words for your study partner will help you learn the words as well.
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References
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