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
food
kitchen eat
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Vocabulary expansion tasks
• Brainstorm associations (lots!) and add• Brainstorm associations (collocations) and
add
Collocations
A clear /…/…/… explanationA beautiful /…/…/… landscapeA small /…/…/… child
You can leave home /…/…/…Some people are afraid of mice /…/…/…To speak loudly … /…/…/…
Vocabulary expansion tasks
• 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-
Vocabulary expansion tasks
• 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
Vocabulary expansion tasks
• 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.
Aims
Attention / noticingImmediate mapping of form onto meaningImpact and ‘imprinting’ (beginning to remember)
So…
• 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….
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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)
So…
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
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
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
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
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
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
Features of effective review activities
• Validity (time is used to review vocabulary, not for puzzling out, searching, ‘busy’ work)
• Quantity (number of items, number of times ‘engaged’ with)
So…
Try to use the activity for plenty of items, ‘engaged with’ more than once.
So…
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
Features of effective review activities
• Validity (time is used to review vocabulary, not for puzzling out, searching, ‘busy’ work)
• Quantity (number of items, number of times ‘engaged’ with)
• 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
Features of effective review activities
• Validity (time is used to review vocabulary, not for puzzling out, searching, ‘busy’ work)
• Quantity (number of items, number of times ‘engaged’ with)
• 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
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Features of effective review activities
• Validity (time is used to review vocabulary, not for puzzling out, searching, ‘busy’ work)
• Quantity (number of items, number of times ‘engaged’ with)
• 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
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 false statement
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
Ask a question to which the answer would be…
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
Sort into positive, negative, neutral
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
What is the connection between…?
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 up a story that includes all the items
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
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.
• Identify the difference in connotation / meaning between synonyms.
• 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.
• Identify the difference in connotation / meaning between synonyms.
• 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.
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