This week's Yopp&Yopp article encouraged us to explore our own vocabulary. I remember when I was in, like, 3rd grade always wondering WHY things were called what they were. Who decided that a tree was a tree and not a bench? I don't know if that makes sense to any of you, but that's how my mind always worked.
In the article I really like how they mention making sure a student gets exposed to the vocabulary in multiple ways. Repetition for me is a key part of learning something. I really liked picking the ten most important words because I feel like that will give the teacher more clues as to how they need to help their students. If your students are picking out key words, good. If they aren't, you know to focus more on the meaning of the vocabulary in the meaning.
Questions:
What are some really good ways to build a students vocabulary without them KNOWING you're doing vocabulary skills in your classroom?
Did anyone ever even LIKE copying definitions? Why did anyone ever think that was a good idea...
hahaha, I have ALWAYS enjoyed copying definitions... I know that for me, the more "boring" ways of learning are what I need. I think that it is important to always set a foundation for learning new things in ALL ways so that children like me will not be left out. When it comes to a foreign language, writing words over and over and over and over and over with definitions is the best way I learn them. I think that inventive ways to learn new words such as the top ten words is ALSO a good technique to parallel learning.
ReplyDeleteI actually liked copying definitions as well, but I was that meticulous little girl who liked doing work sheets too.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I feel like only focusing on writing the definition of a word is a good way to make it stick. When learning German in highschool we did a weird little project where we had to act out the definition of a word. I feel like that's something that could really engage students.
I have also enjoyed copying definitions. It helps me learn and memorize vocabulary words. I know it seems really boring and tedious but it really does help.
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