Over the past year, I have received several e-mails asking about my word bag I mention in my choice boards. Each student in my classroom has a plastic bag full of academic words. Each card has the definition on the back and the word on the front that is student written. Students add three to four new words a week. Each Friday they take a matching test with a random twenty words from the bag. They do not know which words it will be. This way they study all the words each week. By the end of the school year, students will have over 200 words in During the week we use the word bag in centers for word bag buddies where they quiz each other on being able to read the words, the definitions, and giving an example. The main reason I have the word bag is students were coming to me not knowing how to read the word “noun” or be able to tell me what the word meant. If they do not have the basic understanding, they will struggle with the skill.
Now for my newest creation. Vocabulary is where my students struggle. Especially with multi-meaning words. I’ve created some dominoes sets of multi-meaning words. Students match the definition to the word in a sentence. Students will have to think about how the word is being used before they can match the word. If you would like to grab the free set go here.
