Word Study Activities for Middle School
One of the major components of literacy in middle school is word recognition. Many teachers use word-study activities to increase word recognition in middle school. There are many different types of word-study activities for middle school students. Some examples of word-study activities are special word-study games, educational word-study websites, computer-assisted learning programs and group word-study activities.
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Word-Study Games
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Word-study games are effective activities for middle school students. Word-study games can be fun, educational and interesting for students. A few examples of word-study games are synonym- and antonym-based crossword puzzles and "Jeopardy"-style group word games. Crossword puzzles are effective word-study activities because they reinforce vocabulary and spelling. "Jeopardy"-style word-study games are fun, interesting group games that build teamwork and reinforce words.
Educational Word-Study Websites
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Many middle school students are comfortable using computers and the Internet for a variety of purposes. Capitalize on that familiarity and introduce students to several educational word-study websites. Some of these websites have fun word-study games, while others have useful memorization lists of Latin-based prefixes and suffixes. A few examples of these sites are Studyzone.org's "Working with Words" site and Spellingcity.com (see Resources, below). Ask students for feedback about each website and give them activities to do for each site. Students can even work in pairs on each website, and can assist each other in learning from these websites.
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Computer-Assisted Learning Programs
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Computer-assisted learning programs are computer programs that are loaded with different educational concepts, games, activities and even quizzes. These programs are often fun and educational diversions from normal lesson plans, and can be effective word-study activities. One program designed for middle school students is QuickStudy English Vocabulary. QuickStudy has 75 different lessons for students, including difficult word listings, pronunciation guides, spelling activities and even a robust vocabulary board game.
Group Word-Study Activities
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One effective way to include word-study activities in middle school classes is to allow groups of students to come up with activities. Provide students with flexible lesson plans on subjects such as how to study the spelling of difficult words, ways to remember vocabulary words and rules of grammar. Then let students develop a group presentation to the class, including games and activities to keep their classmates' interest. Another group word-study activity is to form small book clubs throughout the year. Assign each club a different book with lots of difficult vocabulary words, and test them as a group on both the book's plot and the words in the book.
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References
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