Getting Teens Up & Moving: A Vocabulary Activity Involving Movement

In my first year of teaching an especially hyper-active sixteen year old student taught me the importance of promoting movement in my high school English classroom. Andre (not his real name) had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that included requirements for moving, standing, and generally expending energy. Andre and I developed non-verbal cues signaling to me his need to be out of his seat and moving about the classroom. Andre also taught me that he wasn't the only one who needed to be active because a 90 minute English class + a 90 minute science class + a 90 minute history class + a 90 minute elective often meant active teenagers spent more time in a day sitting than moving unless as teachers we designed lessons involving more movement.

Now, with my own very active son consistently complaining of how little he gets to move in his academic classes, I'm once again remembering Andre and reflecting on activities I used in an academic classroom to get my students moving. Here's one of my favorites.

Let's Move: A Vocabulary Activity

1) Identify 10-20 words (approximately one word or phrase for each two students) or phrases associated with the major concept or theme in a text you are preparing to read together and write each word on a different index card.

2) Provide students the title of the text and the list of words previously identified. 

3) Organize students in pairs or small groups and ask them to predict what the text they will read is about (based on the title and list of words). This gives provides a chance to activate students' prior knowledge.

4) Have each student in the group choose one of the index cards containing a word they want to explore in more depth. Instruct them write their own idea of the word's definition on the back of the card. Then have them consult a dictionary (on their phones or a paper dictionary) to verify the accuracy of their definition. (This is an important step because they will be sharing their words/definitions with others).

5) Have students stand up and move around the room to find a person with a word different from the one on their cards. When they find their first partner, students will discuss the word, definition, and thoughts about how they think the word will be used in the text they are preparing to read. After sharing words with the first partner, ask them to move again and find a second partner.

6) Have students find a second partner with a word different from their original word and different from the word of their first partner. With the second partner, share and discuss words, definitions, and possible uses for the word in the text they will read.

7) Have students find a third partner and repeat the routine.

Note:  I was a big promoter of timers and music in the classroom. Both were signals when it was time to move to the next station or connect with the next partner.

By the time the vocabulary activity ends, students should have been exposed to four brand new words or phrases they will encounter when they read the selected text.  While some might say, "that's only four new words," I contend that it's better for students to learn and understand four new words well than to have a long list of words they memorize for a weekly vocabulary test and then forget. While reading the selected text, students can think about the different words they discussed with their partners and how the words appear in the text. They can also reflect on the conversation about the words to enhance their understanding of the text.

After reading, students can synthesize their understanding of the text as well as their learning of new words with the writing of a single summary sentence. While I never had access to individual devices and had to ask students to write on paper, I can imagine (from my GAFE Summit experience) the technology tools that would allow students to submit these summary sentences electronically.

This vocabulary activity is only one of many that I used to ensure students were active in my academic classroom, so maybe I'll share others in the coming weeks, but really, I'm curious about the activities you use to ensure students are active during the school day. Will you share your ideas below in the comments, please?

How I Learned about Vocab Instruction

When we were in our senior year of college and not yet married,  I recall my husband asking one of our major English professors what he should do to improve his vocabulary in preparation for taking the GRE.  This professor did not suggest a weekly vocabulary quiz or vocabulary flashcards.  No, this professor suggested my husband read even more and read widely.  So, he did.  He began reading both nonfiction and fiction with more fervor.  We married immediately after college graduation and promptly ordered subscriptions to The New Yorker and The Atlantic and took turns reading each issue. Any time I read an article after my husband, I noticed his markings in the text as he carefully read and studied language in preparation for the GRE and graduate course work that would follow.  Clearly, this strategy worked because my husband went on to earn not only a Master's degree but also a PhD in literature.

Much of what we learned from our professors, I took with me to the secondary classroom.  Fortunately, my professors valued critical thinking, close reading, and thoughtful reflection, and those were the exact practices I explicitly taught in my classroom.  I did not require weekly vocabulary lists of words committed to memory, and I did not offer weekly vocabulary tests for students to regurgitate what they had memorized.  My approach to vocabulary instruction was much more subtle and embedded within the texts we read.

After leaving the classroom, I learned more about direct vocabulary instruction and learned that I was probably right not to require dictionary definitions be memorized and recalled each week, but I was wrong not to teach strategies for learning new vocabulary. While the subtle methods of learning vocabulary in context were likely appropriate for my students who were reading on or above grade level, I should not have expected the teenagers who struggled with reading to be as savvy and devoted to learning vocabulary in context as they read without showing them how.

In the three years I worked as a literacy consultant for the state department of education, I learned new vocabulary strategies based on research; these strategies I modeled in professional development settings with teachers who then took them to their classrooms full of students.

Since I never learned many specific strategies for explicitly teaching vocabulary prior to leaving the high school classroom, I can't blame others for not knowing weekly vocabulary lists to memorize and recall on tests is an ineffective way to teach vocabulary. I've learned some schools even have policies requiring teachers to use vocab workbooks with weekly lists.  Still others are creating an entire year's worth of vocabulary lists, one for each week without ever meeting the students or knowing which words students know and don't know.  I've seen these lists on school websites.

An unidentified example of an ineffective approach to vocabulary 

The memorize and recall approach to vocabulary instruction and assessment is disheartening and ineffective for helping students improve their vocabulary for reading, writing, speaking and life.  In fact, Dr. Kimberly Tyson sites this as one of several fake vocabulary practices. Let's not fool ourselves, our students,  and our parents into thinking we are "tough" teachers because we assign "weekly vocab work."  Instead, I believe, together, we can share better strategies and help people who were like me when I was in the classroom (unaware of approaches other than frequent reading and  language study.)

Below are a few of the vocabulary resources I recommend for shaking up the weekly vocab test approach.

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I've written about vocabulary previously, so you know this is a hot button topic for me.

An amazing resource is this blog by Dr. Kimberly Tyson.  Be sure to check out the awesome infographic, too.

Another great blog post titled Doing it Differently:  Tips for Teaching Vocabulary is by Rebecca Alber on Edutopia.

One of my favorite recent finds comes from the Massachusetts Reading Project.  It's titled: Research-based Practices in Vocabulary Instruction:  An Analysis of What Works in Grades PreK-12.

Find a link here to a summary of research articles where you can read the summaries or access the actual research at Reading Rockets.

Adlit.org is a site I learned about when I was working at the state department of education.

How do you teach vocabulary? What strategies can you share?

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One School's New Focus on Literacy

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On December 14th I was looking forward to the weekend and the opportunity to write about my full week of literacy team planning with one of our middle schools in the district, but in the immediate aftermath of the Newtown tragedy my reflections on our literacy work didn't matter that weekend.   More pressing issues were on the minds of everyone.  Several education bloggers I follow posted thoughtful responses and reflections.

In a twitter exchange, one teacher shared  with me that he processes through writing, and so do I, usually.  For the past two weeks my thoughts have come in fragments typed into my phone or on my iPad, whichever I had available at the moment the thoughts arrived.  Two weeks is longer than I've ever waited to pull those fragments together into one cohesive unit for a blog post.

While adults across the United States argue about much needed gun control, I am hopeful for the kids at the middle school where I worked the week of December 14th because their new literacy leadership team is celebrating the work ahead with reading, writing, discussing, learning new vocabulary, and creating remixed poems.  In a thank you email, the principal of the school where I spent my week leading to December 14th, sent a modified version of 'twas the night before Christmas.  She and her staff (known as staffulty) wrote it and read it to students on the last day of the semester before they left for winter break.

The best part about my time spent in this school is that under new leadership they are focused on literacy and student success not just band-aid fixes to improve test scores.  They are changing their culture and making it cool to read and succeed.  Check out a few lines from their poem--

He was dressed in maroon, and white you can see.
With this LMS attire, a Charger he must be.

A bundle of books he had pulled from his case.
He handed them out and picked up his pace.

His eyes—how serious, His demeanor, how humble
His expression had everyone ready to crumble.

He started his speech about vocabulary and reading,
Things Chargers must do, to be succeeding.

...and a few of my favorite lines are here--


Specifically he spoke about the reading left to do,
By everyone there—students, staffulty, and administrators too.

The reading and vocabulary I will definitely support,
And I will see great results as I analyze reports.
To hear these sweet words, how they caused such delight.
LMS  students read and achieve, with all of their might!

But I heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight.
Merry Christmas to all and read every night!

What a fabulous way the leaders of this middle school ended the semester--reminding everyone to read over winter break.

 Peace~Joy~Love~Hope