Vocabulary

Word Map: A word map is a graphic representation of a word’s meaning. A word map answers three questions:

-       - What is it?

-       - What is it like?

-       - What are some examples?

Word Bank: A word bank is a tool to help students collect and review words. A word bank is a box in which children keep/file new words they are learning. The words are usually written in isolation on one side of the card, and in a sentence on the back of the card (usually with a picture clue).

Word Wall: Many teachers use word walls to direct students’ attention to words of all kinds- high frequency words, important words in a content of study, or useful words for books they are reading. Academic word walls provide a variation on word walls for core subject area instruction (science, social studies, and mathematics).

Word Sorts: The purpose of doing word sorts is to get students to group, discuss, regroup and discover new meanings of important vocabulary and word parts (prefixes, suffixes) in the text you use.

-       - Closed sorts are teacher-directed activities in which students are told in advance the categories for sorting the new words.

-      -  Open sorts are student-directed activities in which they are free to group words from the word wall according to how they think they are related, providing their own labels for each group of words.

-     -   Speed sorts consists of open or closed sorts however this time, teachers can direct students to complete their sorts within a certain amount of time.

Hangman: Set up Hangman like normal by drawing “gallows” and spaces. Say something like, “I am thinking of a word on our academic word wall that has six letters and has something to do with an impact.” Students guess one letter at a time. As a correct letter is guessed, write the letter in the corresponding blank. For each incorrect guess, draw one part of a stick man.

Vocabulary Cluster: With the vocabulary cluster strategy, students are helped to read a passage, gather context clues, and then predict the meaning of a new word targeted for learning.

Password: Divide the class into two teams. One person from each team sits in a chair in front of the class. Those two people receive a card with a vocabulary word from the academic word wall. The first person gives a one – word clue to his team. If no one from the team can guess the word, the second person gives a clue to her team. This alternates back and forth until someone from one of the teams guesses the word, or until a specified number of clues has been given. 

 **Information is from the textbook, "Teaching Children to Read" by D. Ray Reutzel and Robert B. Cooter

**Images are not mine, they are from a Google image search.