Sixth Grade Vocabulary Games

Learning vocabulary is one of the fundamental goals of every grade of K-12 English instruction. To make vocabulary words more accessible for sixth-grade students, be sure to reap the rewards of games focused on competition. Younger students have a natural energy they apply to low-pressure competition that allows them to think about and recall words in a receptive state. The following activities will allow students to compete against classmates while also learning and reviewing new words.

Fly-Swatter

Project a chart of 10 to 15 vocabulary words in a grid on the board. Instruct students to get into two lines, one on each side of the room. Give flyswatters to two students. Inform the students that you will read the definition of a specific word or give an example of the use of the word. The first student to run to the board and "fly swat" the correct word wins a point for his or her team. The team with the most points after two rounds (or until the words have been sufficiently reviewed) wins!

Single-Sentence Words

Using a list of up to 10 vocabulary words, divide students into groups of three or four. Give one or two examples of all ten words used in a single sentence. Give the students 5 to 10 minutes, and ask them to use as many of the words as possible in as few sentences as possible. (Depending on the difficulty of the words, lower the number of words per sentence, accordingly.) Have the students share the sentences on the board and vote on the best set!

Vocab Match-Up

The difficulty of this game can vary according to the types of clues and definitions the teacher chooses to include. Pass out index cards to each student. For each word, there will be two matching cards: the definition and one example. Given a certain period of time, students must match up in triples with the correct vocabulary word, definition and clue. Keep track of who wins each round, circulating all of the words and clues through each student.