4 Creative Vocabulary Activities for Middle School

When I begin to teach a specific type of writing, I always start with the relevant vocabulary.  I want to think that a middle schooler would already know what "evidence" is but I almost always discover that I'm only maybe 1/2 right.  ;)  And since there's so sense in talking about how to cite evidence when some students don't even know what evidence is, we have to start with the critical content of definitions.

So let's take Argumentative Writing, for example.  There are many terms like claim, opposing claim, counter-claim, evidence (both relevant and irrelevant), reasoning, logos, pathos, ethos, purpose and audience that students need to be familiar with and I would like them to become part of their notebooks so that these words can be referred to over and over.  

But I knew I needed to get these words into my students' long term memories and so since research says that visuals improve comprehension and increase retention, I created some interactive notebook guided notes that I call "Pixanotes" and few ways to work with the key vocabulary.

1. Definitions

So first, students work with partners and a word bank to either fill in the blanks or to highlight key words in their notes.  Then as we go over what the words mean, a student attaches a card with the word, its definition, and an image of the definition to a bulletin board.  

Then students are asked to cut out the picture flaps and match them to the definitions.  Once I have checked that their flaps are in the correct locations, then they are allowed to glue them in.

2. Dominoes

Next, students need to practice with their new concepts, so I added a matching dominoes game!

Students worked with partners to match the visual cues to the correct terms.  First, they used their notes to work with the dominoes, then notes were put away and a friendly competition ensued to see which team could finish first!

3. Vocabulary Tic-Tac-Toe

This game is a class favorite and gets the entire group engaged and involved!  This is how it is played:

1.  Divide the class into two teams.  One is the “x” team and one is the “o” team.

2.  Draw a tic-tac-toe board on the whiteboard.

3.  Ask a question to the first member of the “x” team. If he/she is correct, then he/she places the x on the board!  If he/she is incorrect, he/she simply lose the chance to place the “x” on the board.

4.  Now repeat #3 with the “o” team. 

5.  Continue with each member of each team until you have a winner with 3 in a row!  You might even give bonus points as a prize!

4. Slide

Last, but not least, we play a game I invented called “Slide”.  Two rows of students face each other.  One row has the words on cards (I use my word wall cards)  with definitions.  The other row must tell the definition.  

As a pair faces one another, if a student answers correctly, they switch places.  Soon, the teacher calls "Slide!" and the answer people move one space to the right to face a new partner with a new vocabulary word.  I keep calling "Slide" until I believe that all words and definitions have been revealed enough times.

We may or may not play allllll of these games each time we work with a group of vocabulary words, but it's nice to have a few ideas to keep in the old bag of tricks, right?

In the end, not only were the notes a hit, but all of my students loved the various "hands-on" experiences.

I loved that we were all on the same page before we began learning to write essays!

Ready to try the notes that come with dominoes with your students?  

Thanks for stopping by!

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