Activities for Teaching Vocabulary: How Can You Teach (or Learn) New Words?

First of all, when using activities for teaching vocabulary there are two key points we must remember:

1. The student has to actually USE the new words. He must understand the new
word's meaning, and then he must practice using it. 2. Each word has several aspects to it. The first and most important is the word's meaning. After that you have: pictures, word's usage, pronunciation and spelling.

For each of those aspects you can use different activities.

Example:
Let's say you teach (or learn) the word "exhilaration". First you clearly define its meaning: "excitement and happiness".

You can use a good and simple English dictionary for the meanings of words. Then you can show one or more pictures that express "exhilaration". It can really help understanding. And it is definitely much more interesting that way! Funny pictures take it one step further, since they are usually more fun. Next: how is this word used? Make some example sentences: "After winning the lottery she felt an incredible exhilaration." "Climbing that mountain was really hard, but in the end we all felt exhilaration." "The bride and groom left the church in exhilaration."

Have the students make up sentences of their own. Of course, merely reading the word is not enough. You need to know how to pronounce it properly too! Teach the correct pronunciation of the word. How come it is pronounced that way? For example, the word "cake", is pronounced with a long A sound because of the silent E in the end. (English pronunciation may appear disorganized at times, but actually, there are some helpful rules on the subject. Visit the English Pronunciation section for more data on the sounds of English.) Finally, you can't really claim you know a word, if you cannot use it in writing. Therefore you must know its spelling. Dictations can be used to make the students memorize the new words' spelling. The problem with a dictation is that after it is over, it is very easy to forget all about it So it is in no way a replacement for the actual and repeated usage of the word in reading and writing.

So here is an example lesson plan to teach some new words:

1. Make a list of the new words you want to teach. Make sure they are right for your students' level: not too difficult, not too easy. 2. Prepare for yourself the words' meanings as well as some pictures/illustrations. 3. Prepare some games with the new words (see below). 4. Go over the new words with your students, and see that they get them. 5. Play some games with the new words. For example: flashcards, playing cards, etc. You can use or invent whatever games you like. 6. Read a story/stories with the new words. The more those words repeat in the text, the better. Make sure the stories do not contain hard words that the students do not know yet. 7. After that, make some more activities. Do exercises, questions, and so forth, to further practice the new words. 8. On the next lesson, study some new words, but don't forget the "old" ones! They do require repeating.

Activities for Teaching Vocabulary Final Words

For more data on the subject please read the Building Vocabulary and Some Common Mistakes article. And no matter which activity you use, keep this key question in front of you: Does it make the students USE and REPEAT the new words? The next main thing is to make it fun. Make a game out of it. Involve some points, some winners, etc. Learning new words doesn't have to be boring. When done nicely, it can be a lot of fun!

Related articles:
Building Vocabulary and Some Common Mistakes

How to Study Vocabulary Words The Perfect English Dictionary Vocabulary Websites (Word Lists)

Visit the Vocabulary Activities section to improve your vocabulary!

www.really-learn-english.com/activities-for-teaching-vocabulary.html

What is Vocabulary?
Vocabulary means "all the words you know and use". It can also mean "all the words that exist in a language".

Why is Vocabulary Important?

It is very important if you want to communicate with other people! Do you want to say something, read something, listen to something, be something? Then you need to have a great vocabulary. That is the bottom line of the story.

How Can this Site Help?

Start by reading Building Vocabulary and Some Common Mistakes. This article will give you some basic tools and information of how you can improve your vocabulary. It also includes some common mistakes people can make. The next step is to start the activities! These are special activities for teaching vocabulary. Use the Vocabulary Flashcards, do the Vocabulary Exercises and read theEnglish Short Stories. You can also watch videos in the Learn English Video section. The English Reading Practice will help you practice your reading even further with articles and additional exercises. Do you want to check yourself? Do the Vocabulary Quizzes. Play and practice with the Free Vocabulary Worksheets. Use the other sections of really-learn-english.com too. You can improve your English grammar, and learn about some really good dictionaries. NEW! Find out about teachers games for vocabulary. Learn and practice the verb to be. Learn and practice Prepositions of Place: At, In or On? Find out about Synonyms and Antonyms and What Are Homonyms, Homographs, Homophones and Heteronyms? Read Free! Learn to Speak English!

Vocabulary Articles
In addition to the activities above, you can read the following articles. They contain important data for you to use. Building Vocabulary and Some Common Mistakes Learn English Vocabulary How to Study Vocabulary Words Activities for Teaching Vocabulary: How Can You Teach (or Learn) New Words? The Best English Dictionary English Word Formation Processes

Vocabulary Sentences and Examples: How and When to Use a Word? Vocabulary Websites (Word Lists) Using Games to Learn English

Your Next Steps:

1. Practice with Vocabulary Flashcards 2. Do Vocabulary Exercises 3. Read English Short Stories

www.really-learn-english.com/vocabulary-activities.htm

When it comes to vocabulary improvement what can be as fun as teachers games for vocabulary? Vocabulary games can be especially effective since they invite a hands-on participation of the students, and students love games! So without further ado, here are some of the most popular teacher's games for vocabulary on Amazon:

Daily Word Ladders

This book contains dozens of reproducible word study lessons that help students improve reading, vocabulary, spelling and phonics skills. It is based on this fun word building game: Students read clues on each step, then change and rearrange letters to create words until they reach the top. This one is fun and engaging, and it is nicely illustrated too. (After you click on the link to the left you can look inside Daily Word Ladders.) Several levels are available for purchase: Daily Word Ladders: Grades 1-2 Daily Word Ladders: Grades 2-3 Daily Word Ladders: Grades 4-6

Vocabulary Games for the Vocabulary Games for the Classroom provides K 12 teachers with Classroom thirteen games designed to build academic vocabulary. This resource includes hundreds of handpicked vocabulary terms. The vocabulary lists include terms for four different content areas language arts, math, science, and social studies across all grade levels. The structure of Vocabulary Games for the Classroom is simple, straightforward, and easy to use.

Five-Minute Activities: A Resource Book of Short Activities(Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers)

Five Minute Activities is a collection of over 100 ideas for the foreign language classroom, all of which can be used effectively with little or no preparation. The collection offers a convenient reference for established activities and an introduction to a large number of new ones. The activities can provide:

Diversification Transitions An opportunity for brief review and practice of vocabulary or grammar Help students and teacher to get to know each other Extra material when a teacher has to fill in for a colleague at short notice

This book contains many quick activities that require little or no preparation. It's a good tool for use the foreign language classroom.

Readers Respond: Quick Vocabulary Activities for the ESL / EFL Teacher
Responses: 16
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide

Share your quick lessons From the article: Quick Lessons - Short Vocabulary Activities Sooner or later all English teachers need some fun activities to help fill in the gaps in class, or to provide some extra fun for students. Most ESL / EFL teachers have some standard short vocabulary games up their sleeves. Here are activities that teachers from the around the world have chosen to share. Thanks for the tips! Share your quick lessons Word Chain Vocabulary game This game can be done orally or written on the the board. The teacher starts it saying (or writing) one word and a student has to say another word that starts with the last letter of the previous one. It can be used at any time or contexts, for any level. Example: (animals) whale elephant tiger rhinoceros - MarciRej OUxPzhRoYL While I agree with your opinion about pircunniatoon being less important than other aspects of speech, I think you are confusing 'stress' with 'intonation.' Intonation is the change in pitch (up and down) to reveal emotion. 'Stress' is the use of volume and speed to reveal emphasis. Of these two, I would say that stress is the most important to teach and the hardest to learn.Mulit-syllabic words have stress points, which can change according to the form of the word. (i.e. the verb 'produce' is stressed on the second syllable, while the first syllable of the noun 'produce' is stressed. Furthermore, stressing specific words in a sentence is largely a matter of speaker choice and is entirely context dependant. As your red hat exercise shows.Most students beleive stress is acheived mainly through volume, but it is my belief that focusing on speed is the most effective way to help students understand stress and develop natural rhythm.For example, when saying the sentence, "I'm not going to buy those shoes, I just want to try them on." If we ask the student to stretch the words 'buy' and 'on' (i.e. say them very slowly in comparison to the rest of the sentence, they understand the idea of stress very clearly. The other benefit of this method is that while focusing on slowing down the stressed words, they automatically say the rest of the sentence more quickly and fluently. It ends up sounding like this, "I'm nogonna BUY thoshoes, I'm jusgonnatrythem ON." A very natural native sounding rhythm! Guest tdonPHiQMbXs guest A game to increase the vocabs : I will put a word, then another person will change one letter only, and so forth . khalidmfy freeze frame I challenge students to come up with a "snapshot" depicting the essence of a word, and then I take the pic and post it on the wall. For example, the word "consoling" had one student looking very depressed with head leaning on hand. Another had one hand on the depressed

student's shoulder, and the other hand stretched out to offer comfort. They may be reticent at first, but they get into it and love the pics. Vocab scores go up, too. I teach hs. Guest Carol Vocabulary Match-Up Write 5 vocabulary words on the board. One by one, have students pick up a definition and place it under the correct word. The student says the word and definition, and the next student continues the activity. Extra challenge: After all definitions are placed, the students will create their own sentences with the words, and share with the class. Great for lower level classes. Guest Linda K pros and cons activity Pair up students. Give students a somewhat controversial statement or concept to discuss. Clap once and tell to discuss "pros". After a minute or two, clap hands twice and ask them to discuss the "cons". Guest Heather A to Z Write the alphabet on the board. Have the students give a food/animal etc. with each letter. Fun! Guest Tzvia Extraction Question If you are using an article with key vocab words, have the students form questions. The catch is, the answer to the question must be one of the keywords in the article. Example: article says "The hungry animal VICIOUSLY attacked the boy." The answer must be "viciously" so the question formed by students could be "How did the hungry animal attack the boy?" If the other students don't answer correctly, ask the pair to reform the question, or if in a game context, they can be "out". Guest SDF vocabulary activity Give students cards with words. Give them some time to prepare. After 1 or 2 Minutes they have to explain their words so that their peers can figure it out. (pre- or intermediate level)Students of lower level can even draw or use mimics or gestures...it could be fun. Guest Anna Conversation game A student starts with "hello" and the student next to him responds. They keep going around the room in the form of a conversation. The class could be divided into two and see which one has the more "sensible" conversation Guest Teresa Class games

Divide the class into say, 4 groups. Then each group needs to say eg a piece of furniture, an article of clothing, different parts of the day, different types of tv programs, verbs involving movement, different flowers, Guest Teresa Brainstorm vocabulary Take one word e.g. 'travel' 'cinema' 'food' and brainstorm EVERYTHING that goes with that word - verbs, nouns, adjectives. For example, if you choose food, you could discuss types, cooking methods, flavours etc. Fills in that spare time and is useful for students. Guest Christina Hangman Have students pair-up and play Hangman on the vocabulary studied recently. This takes no prep beyond teaching the game. Guest Teacher Jan Fun Vocabulary Activities A group of students gathered together and they start smiling at each other and all the sudden a student starts spelling a word for example, k-n-o-w-l-e-d-g-e Guest John Vocabulary Activities A student starts the word chain game by giving a word for example, yellow, and the next person gives another word that relates to yellow: the next person, banana;food:hungry:dinner, and so on. it gets more interesting to limit a response within5 seconds. The student who breaks the chain starts a new round, or suffer a forfeit,whereby,he may have to answer a question. Guest Geraldine

esl.about.com/u/ua/esleflteachingtechnique/lmh_gvocab.htm