Thursday, September 1, 2011

Learning Academic Vocabulary Can Be Fun--Honest:)

All too often, many ELLs fail to master the academic vocabulary necessary to survive in mainstream classes. Word walls, posters, card games, etc. are not enough to show students how to recognize those words in their textbooks. Teachers need to keep the number of key words to 8-10 and no more. Those key words need to be used constantly in the classroom in many different settings. Students need to hear the words, see the words, say the words, and write the words in whatever writing activity the teacher wants them to focus on in the lesson. Students also need to "play" with the words in none traditional ways to build confidence in using them correctly.

The site I have for you in this post addresses many non-traditional ways to build vocabulary for these students. Some are in the form of games, others CLOZE activities, others power points, etc. All grade levels are covered here as well. You will also find word lists, false cognates, and much more. I would recommend this for teachers not students. I say this because of the amount of material on the site. A student would not know where to start. Weave some of these activities into your class from time to time when you are planning a review. Create a team competition within the class. Kids will love it and you will see their use of academic vocabulary grow...painlessly:)

Here is the site: VOCABULARY.

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

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