It is difficult, but essential, for primary students to learn vocabulary in the content areas of math, science, and social studies. Understanding the vocabulary words in these subjects is vital to comprehension of the subject matter. Unfortunately, these words are not easy to learn because students usually do not have a lot of prior knowledge of these topics.
Build Elementary Student Vocabulary with a Word Splash
Word Splash is a teaching strategy that makes vocabulary acquisition easier for elementary school students. Before beginning a new unit of study, a teacher will determine the most important vocabulary words for the topic. These words are then splashed, or displayed, in the classroom at the start of the unit.
How the Word Splash Works
When the students enter the classroom and see the new words, their interest is peaked and they are motivated to learn what they mean and why they are there. The teacher then invites them to try and read the words and guess what they mean. These predictions help their brains to organize and assimilate the new vocabulary.
As the students read and learn about the content area topic, they add pictures to the vocabulary words that represent their definitions. Students can also create their own word splashes on the front of their folders or notebooks with definitions and illustrations of the vocabulary terms. The word splash can then be used as a study aid to help students interact with and recall the words.
Make the Word Splash Fun
To keep the Word Splash strategy fresh and interesting for students, teachers need to vary the way the vocabulary words are presented. The words can be displayed at the front of the room on construction paper or hung from the ceiling with paper clips and string. The teacher can write the new vocabulary on name tag stickers and stick them on her shirt or on each student as they come into the classroom to capture their interest and attention. The teacher can use window markers to write the vocabulary words on the classroom windows.
Use the Word Splash as a Culminating Activity
Teachers can use the Word Splash to sum up a unit of study by using the vocabulary words as a category in a jeopardy-style game or by having the students quiz the principal. The students can also demonstrate their math, science, or social studies knowledge by using the original Word Splash cards or stickers as the basis of an informative hallway bulletin board for other classes to read and learn from.
The Word Splash strategy sets the stage for vocabulary acquisition by giving the students’ brains a method for organizing and storing the new words. The more the students interact with the new terms by predicting their meanings, illustrating the definitions, and creating a folder Word Splash the easier it is for them to comprehend the content area topic they are studying. Teachers can build on the vocabulary strategy by using the words as part of their culminating activity.
Megan Sheakoski - Megan Sheakoski is a teacher, mom and writer whose ideas have been featured in college text books, graduate courses, on websites and on ...
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