This page is a wonderful resource for teachers who want a crash course on how to teach vocabulary effectively along with dozens of really fun vocabulary games that can be used for reinforcement and review.
The first pages of the document are devoted to summarizing the main points of Beck and McKeown’s Bringing Words to Life, which has become the go-to book for most educators around the topic of vocabulary instruction. These pages provide teachers with a quick and dirty guide to choosing words, presenting words to students, what it means to “know” a word, and how to review words for reinforcement and application.
After this crash course, teachers can read through the quick descriptions of games, many of which would work well in the adult classroom. Do these sound like fun?
Snowball—students write words and definitions on slips of paper, crumple them up, throw them at each other, and then students uncrumple one slip of paper each and find the partner that matches them. A bit wild and better to do at the end of class.
Jeopardy—For this game, you will need large pieces of paper with dollar amounts on one side and words on the other. Tape the pieces to the board in rows. Create categories for the words. $200 words should be easier than $400 words and $600 words. Students work in teams to choose categories and give the meaning of the word that appears on the card once it is turned over. Points are given for each word correctly defined and used in a sentence. The winning team gets small prizes.
Vobackulary—A vocabulary word is written on an index card and taped to a student’s back. The student can choose three fellow students to help her figure out the word. The students giving clues cannot use the word or a form of the word. If the student can use the three clues to figure out the word, they win the card.
Row Race—Words are written on the board in groups of five. The first student in a row of seats must choose one of the words in the group and write a definition or a sentence using the word correctly, the passes the paper back. As the paper moves farther back in the row, the process becomes more difficult because students have less choice. The first row to use all words correctly wins.
Swat—Words are written on the board. As definitions are read off, a student who knows what word is being defined can go to the board and swat the word with a fly swatter.
ESOL learners enjoy word games; games allow learners to engage with content in a non conventional way. For example, Vobackulary would be excellent activity for learners whereby they are conversing with each other using content material but not in a so academic manner. Snowball sounds like a fantastic activity but I would a little hesitant about have learners throw them at each other. I can see learners taking this up a notch by using descriptive terms about themselves and placing them in a pile. Individuals can then pick up a term and try to match it to the right person.
Learners of all level wish to learn more vocabulary and love games. This is a win-win situation.
As an ESL teacher, I am always looking for ways to engage the students, as well as, add a little fun to the lesson. Vobackulary is an excellent activity for any topic. Students are given one word each which is then taped to their backs. They are then allowed to choose 3 students to help give them clues to find out what the word is. For my lesson, I asked volunteers to write down one present progressive verb. The students were using prior knowledge while speaking with one another. This was a very successful review activity which increased their speaking skills, as well as, their confidence. It is also easily adaptable to any topic or subject matter.