CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR EXPANSION, PRESENTATION, REVIEW, ENRICHMENT Penny Ur Bnei Brak, February...

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR EXPANSION, PRESENTATION,

REVIEW, ENRICHMENT

Penny UrBnei Brak, February 2015

1. Expanding students’ vocabulary

Sources 1: Texts

• List the most important items to teach• Including ‘chunks’

• Make sure they are reviewed

Sources 2: Teacher initiative

• ‘Word of the day’ (words, idioms, proverbs)• Current events, ‘hot’ topics• Unexpected opportunities

• Vocabulary expansion tasks

Vocabulary expansion tasks

• Brainstorm associations (lots!) and add

Associations

appetite

kitchen eat

• Brainstorm associations (lots!) and add• Brainstorm associations (collocations) and

Collocations

A clear /…/…/… explanationA beautiful /…/…/… landscapeA small /…/…/… child

You can leave home /…/…/…Some people are afraid of mice /…/…/…To speak loudly … /…/…/…

• Brainstorm associations (lots!) and add• Brainstorm associations (collocations) and add• Look up a word you know in the dictionary –

find new meanings• Look a word you know in the dictionary – find

new expressions• Find ten new words that begin with a given

prefix

Useful prefixes

re-un-mis-dis-in-, ir- , il- (=not)down-inter-con-, com-, cor-, col-

trans-ex-mega-micro-non- mini-subsuper-

• Brainstorm associations (lots!) and add• Brainstorm associations (collocations) and add• Look up a word you know in the dictionary –

find new meanings• Look a word you know in the dictionary – find

new expressions• Find ten new words that begin with a given

prefix• Find ten new words that end with a given suffix

Useful suffixes

-less-able/ -ible-er/ -or-ology-ist-ment-tion, -sion-ance / -ence

-ness-ize -ate-ly -ive-al-y-ful

• Brainstorm associations (lots!) and add• Brainstorm associations (collocations) and add• Look up a word you know in the dictionary – find

new meanings• Look a word you know in the dictionary – find new

expressions• Find ten new words that begin with a given prefix• Find ten new words that end with a given suffix • Find a translation for a word / expression in L1

Sources 3: Student-initiated

1. Sharing: ‘Show and tell’

2. Individual: vocabulary notebooksExtensive reading (using dictionary)(International) news

2. Presenting new vocabulary

Known from research

• New items are not learnt very effectively through ‘incidental’ encounter, so…

• …Attention is necessary for learning• ‘Knowing’ an item involves a number of

different aspects• But spelling, pronunciation and most

common meaning – most important.

The process

1. In most cases, items are encountered first in a context.

2. Then we take time to focus on them out of context (isolated).

3. Later (review) used again, usually in context.

This section is mainly about stage 2.

Attention / noticingImmediate mapping of form onto meaningImpact and ‘imprinting’ (beginning to remember)

• Clear display of the written and spoken form of the item + its basic meaning

• Dramatic / humorous / pleasing presentation

• Writing on the board – and leaving there

How to present meaning: various options

• Picture?• Realia?

• Explanation + examples?• Context?• Mime?

• Translation?

How would you present the following items…

IncredibleWalkA thingAn appleTo describe

OnlyTo editVeryUnnecessaryReasonable

How to present meaning: various options

• Picture?• Realia?

• Explanation + examples?• Context?• Mime?

• Translation?Often best: a combination of translation with

one or more of the others

Why might these NOT be good ideas for a first presentation of an item in

class?1. Look up the new word in a dictionary: e.g.

discuss2. Guess the meaning from a sentence context

e.g. We discussed the problem.3. Give them meaning and a scrambled word,

they have to sort it out e.g. לדוןscidsus

Beware….

• Don’t teach words together that might be confused :• pairs of opposites (e.g. tall + short)• groups that all mean the same kind of thing (e.g.

shirt + pants + coat + sweater)• words that sound similar (e.g. accept + except)

• Don’t waste time on ‘not knowing’ (guessing, puzzling out …)

Some strategies that can help

‘Keywords’‘Retrieval’

Vocabulary notebooks

Keywords

Link the new word with an image, that associates with something in the L1For example: Gate: imagine a baguette stuck in a gateStar: imagine a star drawn on a banknote שטר Let students think of their own examples

Retrieval

Getting students to recall meanings or forms from memory just after they’ve been taught the new items.For example: You’ve just taught ten new items.

•Delete them, and challenge students to recall them

•Delete meanings, leaving only target words (or vice versa); challenge students to recall

•Do a dictation or translation dictation

First encounter: To recap:

The priority is immediate and clear mapping of meaning onto formBoth written and spokenMaximum impactOpportunities for quick, immediate retrieval

3. Vocabulary review activities

In order to acquire a word, a learner needs to review it

Probably at least ten timesCommon words like there – no problem, likely to come up in texts.But more advanced words like research: problem!Students also need to learn further aspects of the word: its connotations, collocations, appropriate contexts of use….

How can we find the time?

A myth

You have to practice new vocabulary in context (sentences, full texts)

Not always.

It’s also useful to practice it in isolation, or within brief phrases.

Features of effective review activities

• Validity (time is used to review vocabulary, not for puzzling out, searching, ‘busy’ work)

Games like ‘Hangman’ are not ‘valid’, mostly a waste of time.

This applies to a lot of word games.What about ‘wordsearch’?

Computer-generated wordsearchI Y H S H O N Y T F P M D M J

D X Z O C R C E E R T R E X E

R V U F O F L T E K M U F F Y

E S R I M E Z S I L K N G J U

E Y E S P I E N Z B I I K N A

F V W H U N U S C X W C W B D

K G O D T O O F U A L J O Y G

H N L W E O L E B B Q V G H V

E V F X R M L U G F D G N R E

E A R X U T A C W P F W U R N

I E M R T S B T M Q H Z G F Y

E N Y O C I A I H I L S M E Z

B P B K I N G Y X A K F L G H

A V A T P U C S T P E F F R W

Q Q L M D M F Q W Z V U M B Y

1 picture 2 computer 3 dog 4 clothes 5 house 6 sun 7 moon 8 bag 9 bottle 10 foot11 tree 12 flower 13 cup 14 key 15 cat 16 present (n) 17 eyes 18 ball 19 telephone 20 fish

Computer-generated wordsearchI Y H S H O N Y T F P M D M J

D X Z O C R C E E R T R E X E

R V U F O F L T E K M U F F Y

E S R I M E Z S I L K N G J U

E Y E S P I E N Z B I I K N A

F V W H U N U S C X W C W B D

K G O D T O O F U A L J O Y G

H N L W E O L E B B Q V G H V

E V F X R M L U G F D G N R E

E A R X U T A C W P F W U R N

I E M R T S B T M Q H Z G F Y

E N Y O C I A I H I L S M E Z

B P B K I N G Y X A K F L G H

A V A T P U C S T P E F F R W

Q Q L M D M F Q W Z V U M B Y

Home-madeT C U P H E K P E N

0 L F L 0 W E R A T

P O O C U F Y E S E

I T O A S I T S T Y

C H T T E S O E R E

T E L E P H O N E S

U S C O M P U T E R

R U H B O T T L E F

E N A D O G B A L L

C A T I N O B O D Y

Home-madeT C U P H E K P E N

0 L F L 0 W E R A T

P O O C U F Y E S E

I T O A S I T S T Y

C H T T E S O E R E

T E L E P H O N E S

U S C O M P U T E R

R U H B O T T L E F

E N A D O G B A L L

C A T I N O B O D Y

• Quantity (number of items, number of times ‘engaged’ with)

Try to use the activity for plenty of items, ‘engaged with’ more than once.

Try to use the activity for plenty of items, ‘engaged with’ more than once. For example:‘Recall and share’

bicycle

because people

independent embarrassed

friend encourage

privilege building

enough

• Success-orientation • Heterogeneity (can be done at various levels)

Copy the words into the correct column

a clock, a dog, a dress, a mother, black, a pen, bread, pants,a bag, a husband, red, boots, a cat, rice, a fish, a baby, pink,

a teenager, a hat, a banana, a book, a sheep, meat, kids, a desk, green, an elephant, salt, a t-shirt, white

people clothes food things colours animals

Find at least three things to put in each column

a clock, a dog, a dress, a mother, black, a pen, bread, pants,a bag, a husband, red, boots, a cat, rice, a fish, a baby, pink,

a teenager, a hat, a banana, a book, a sheep, meat, kids, a desk, green, an elephant, salt, a t-shirt, white

people clothes food things colours animals

• Success-orientation • Heterogeneity (can be done at various levels)• Interest (a stimulating task, often involving

higher-order thinking skills).

Which is the odd one out? (Where there is no one obvious answer!)

All the others are…It’s the only one which …

house, tree, stone, dog, pencilflute, accordion, violin, guitar, drumsdoor, window, gate, entrance, seat, chair, stool, sofa, benchearthquake, fire, storm, flood, drought

• Success-orientation • Heterogeneity (can be done at various levels)• Interest (a stimulating task, often involving higher-order

thinking skills). • Simplicity (not too much preparation or elaborate

materials)

Some review activities

• How many can you remember?

• ‘Recall and share’

• Quick Bingo

• Dictations (and variations)

Review activities using higher-order thinking skills

• Link two• Make a true sentence about yourself using…

• Create false statements using..• Ask questions to which the answer would

be…• Sort into positive, negative, neutral• What is the connection between…?

• How is a … like a…?

Link two

cellphone life all over the world

facts countries location

remote areas earthquake the invention of

communicate with important events

photographs hurricane save lives

for example rescue party

Make a true sentence about yourself

Make a false statement

Ask a question to which the answer would be…

Sort into positive, negative, neutral

What is the connection between…?

Make up a story that includes all the items

4. Deepening knowledge of previously learnt items

Deepening of knowledge

Learning more about items whose form and basic meaning you already know. Underlying meanings and connotations?Grammatical connections?Derivatives? Collocation?Appropriateness?Translation?

For example:

• Look up a word you already know, in a dictionary; find out more about it.

• Identify the difference in connotation / meaning between synonyms.

Synonyms

children / kidslamp / lightmacho / masculineseat / chairorchestra / band

policeman / police officerpal / mateapartment / flatdonate / give

For example:

• Look up a word you already know, in a dictionary.

• Discuss translations (to / from L1).

Translate?

The phrase ‘a born teacher’ is not usually meant to be taken literally. People who use it do not seriously mean that someone is born with a certain teaching DNA configuration in their genes. They are, rather, referring to stable personality characteristics, resulting from a combination of innate and environmental influences, that the teacher brings to their professional practice and that produce something that looks like a natural bent for teaching.

For example:

• Look up a word you already know, in a dictionary.

• Discuss translations (to / from L1).• Discuss appropriateness of items in a text.

Summary

We need to do a lot of vocabulary activities in class: for expansion, for initial presentation, for review.

These activities need to be effective in terms of the amount of learning going on,

But without too much preparation or time-wasting in class.

Thank you for your attention

pennyur@gmail.com

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR EXPANSION, PRESENTATION, REVIEW, ENRICHMENT Penny Ur Bnei Brak, February...

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