A great way to build student interest in words is to develop as a class an oversized or “Big Book” class thesaurus. Throughout the year as students learn new words, have them look them up and generate some additional synonyms for each word. This can help students expand both reading skills as they search for [...]

It’s really this simple: If students are to comprehend what they read, they have to understand the meaning of the words used in the text. Teachers, therefore, should explicitly teach students the words they need to know if they are to truly grasp the content of a story. Take the word “dinghy,” for example. Students [...]

Hilda Taba’s time-tested strategy (1967) called List-group-label is a great way of helping students connect to their own background knowledge and organization skills. This activity can be used with students of any level, in any content area and with any degree of proficiency. Give students a topic and ask them to brainstorm all of the [...]

A fun way to reinforce new vocabulary is to list 30 words that students have learned on the white board and ask students to place 24 of the words randomly on their own “Bingo”card. The center space is the “free” space just as in traditional Bingo. You then read the definition only of the words [...]

Help students keep track of new words that they are learning by having them record new words they encounter in a vocabulary journal. Students can use three-ring binders or spiral notebooks depending on teacher choice. In each notebook, divide the page into columns and have students record the word along with other noteworthy characteristics about [...]