4th Day of 4th Grade Celebration Back to School Activities
Have you heard about the 4th day of 4th grade celebration?!?! The first week of school is all about setting the tone for the year,
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Vocabulary word games are a fantastic way for teachers to increase student engagement and improve vocabulary retention.
Vocabulary practice is something teachers are always trying to increase!
Now, with more reading in the content areas, it has become critically important for students to have a well-developed vocabulary to both understand a subject and to increase fluency while reading about it.
But what can we do to give students repeated experiences with words so they can truly internalize them?
Students need to read and reread words, use them in various circumstances, and have multiple encounters with words in order to truly make those words part of the students’ internal lexicon. Don’t break out the dictionaries and start writing definitions yet! To get you started on this quest, we have a few simple vocabulary word games and activities.
Most of these can be played in a few minutes, making great sponge activities, and they also require little or no prep!
This quick group game is a great way for students to grow familiarity with the basics of a set of words for any subject.
Each group gets a set of words (index cards are fine). Tell the class before the round how they will be sorting the words (part of speech, amount of syllables, etc…). When you say go, the first group to get them sorted correctly wins. Instruct everyone ahead of time to finish, even if other groups are done, because the first group won’t win if they’re not done correctly. This example is sorted by person/place/thing, but you can vary however you like. Sort the same set multiple ways. You can even have students come up with ways to sort them.
This one helps students both remember meanings of words and make connections with words, strengthening schema and familiarity.
Give the whole class one vocabulary word from your content topic. They have 30 seconds to make a group list of related words. The group with the most words (they can defend relation to) at the end of 30 seconds wins. Repeat with another vocabulary word. Regular blank copy paper works fine for these.
This can be done with one word from your list as a quick time filler or with the whole list during designated vocabulary practice time.
This is a great activity to use when introducing new words.
This can be done orally, or have students do it on paper. You can have them do it alone, in partners or groups, or as a class. Doing this orally as a class for review is a great sponge. Just pick one person to roll the dice. Call a student or group to answer it for a word. Then repeat until you are out of time. Give each group a number cube and put a list on the board of what each number represents.
Some options are:
1 = tell what it means
2 = use it in a sentence
3 = give a synonym
4 = give an antonym
5 = draw it
6 = act it out
You could make one of the numbers free choice. Also, put the list of vocab words up or give each group a stack of index cards with a word on each card. The first person in the group rolls a die, takes the top word card or the top word on the list, and acts accordingly. When the group is satisfied the challenge has been met, it moves to the next person. They roll the dice and take the next card or the next word on the list, etc.
This is a great way to practice words that have been recently learned.
This type of game also makes great centers or an option of something students can do when they finish work early. It’s easy to create a game using index cards and vocabulary words. Put the words each on a card, and their definitions each on a separate card. Students can play in pairs or small groups by turning over two cards to try to match the word to the definition. If they get a match, they keep the pair and get a second turn. If they don’t get a match, they turn the card back over, and it’s the next person’s turn.
You can make these to suit your needs or purchase games like this Earth Science game or this chemistry vocab game.
This one is great to break up monotony and allow movement.
It works especially well shortly after introducing new words or as part of introducing them. Assign each group a different word from the list. The group should make a short definition (using appropriate resources) in their own words and create a movement for it. Then each group teaches the rest of the class their definition and movement. The whole class should practice saying it and doing the movement together.
Management note: the short definition should be approved by you before teaching the class. It should also be in a complete sentence so the class practices saying the word and definition together.
Example: Furious means really angry.
Incorporating vocabulary word games into your teaching strategy can significantly enhance student engagement and retention. These activities not only make learning fun but also provide repeated exposure to new words, helping students internalize them more effectively.
The Elementary Professor (A.K.A. Alicia Christian) has an M.S. in Teaching and Curriculum and has been Teacher of the Year and County Elementary Math Teacher of the Year. She is currently writing out ideas and lessons she used in the classroom while taking a break from the school site to raise three young kids. While taking care of business at home, she is staying current in the education world by attending conferences and serving on feedback and development committees for Common Core in both her district and at the national level. You can read more about her ideas on her blog or check out her Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Building up children’s vocabulary can be easy when you use games and other engaging activities. Here are some vocabulary games for ESL students that you could use with young learners:
These vocabulary games for ESL students provide a fun way to practice target vocabulary words. Some games are best for individual students, some games are collaborative, and some games are competitive. Regardless, your students are sure to have fun and be engaged while playing these vocabulary games!
You will need:
How to play the game: Place the flashcards throughout the room. Practice the words before you start the game to make sure the children are familiar with them. Have 2-3 children stand on the starting line, with the fly swatters prepared. When you call out a word on one of the flash cards, they have to run and swat the card. Repeat this as long as the children are having fun.
You will need:
How to play the game: This game is played by one child at a time, so it’s perfect for small groups. The teacher or one of the children (who knows the words well) will give instructions similar to Twister. For example: “Put your right foot on strawberry,” or “Put your left hand on banana.” If you have very young learners, then you can simplify the instructions: “Foot on banana,” or “Hand on strawberry.” The kids can play one after another or all at the same time. The purpose of the game is to review vocabulary and improve gross motor skills.
These vocabulary games for ESL students provide a fun way to practice target vocabulary words. Some games are best for individual students, some games are collaborative, and some games are competitive. Regardless, your students are sure to have fun and be engaged while playing these vocabulary games!
You will need:
How to play the game: This game is played by two people at a time, so it’s perfect for small groups. Place the flashcards on the floor, close to one another. The teacher or one of the children (who knows the words well) says a word and claps his/her hands. Whenever he hears a word, the other child has to jump on that flashcard. Then, repeat the process on the next word and so on.
These vocabulary games for ESL students provide a fun way to practice target vocabulary words. Some games are best for individual students, some games are collaborative, and some games are competitive. Regardless, your students are sure to have fun and be engaged while playing these vocabulary games!
You will need:
How to play the game: The first child has to say the word she has on the card and then place a cup on top. Then, the next child takes another card, says the word, and then places a cup over the tower. It’s a fun collaborative game. For more advanced learners, you can use full sentences or descriptions of the images.
You will need:
How to play the game: Hide the shapes throughout the room. While singing the Shape song from Super Simple Learning (replace the word “make” with “find”), let the children go and find them and then bring them to you.
These vocabulary games for ESL students provide a fun way to practice target vocabulary words. Some games are best for individual students, some games are collaborative, and some games are competitive. Regardless, your students are sure to have fun and be engaged while playing these vocabulary games!
You will need:
How to play the game: The kids gather in a semicircle. Take 5-6 animal flashcards at a time and say the words in the pictures. Then, place them all in a bag. Have a child come to the front and sit on a chair. Take one flashcard from the bag and place it at his back so that the others can see it. The others have to give clues to help the child guess the animal. With very young learners, it can be the teacher who gives clues, or the kids can use just one-word clues (big, orange, bark, etc.).
These vocabulary games for ESL students provide a fun way to practice target vocabulary words. Some games are best for individual students, some games are collaborative, and some games are competitive. Regardless, your students are sure to have fun and be engaged while playing these vocabulary games!
You will need:
How to play the game: This game can be played in pairs. Place some flashcards on the table and some coins on them. One of the kids says a word, and the other child has to take the coin from that flash card with the magnetic wand. They should take turns in taking the coins.
Incorporating vocabulary games for ESL students into your lessons can make learning a new language fun and effective. By using games, children can engage with the language in an interactive way, helping them to remember and use new vocabulary words naturally. Try these games in your classroom to see how they can transform your students’ learning experience.
I am a kindergarten and English teacher in Helsinki, Finland. I’ve been teaching kindergarten for six years, and I’m absolutely obsessed with it! I enjoy creating teaching resources, printables, and songs, and blogging about fun activities. If you want to read more about my activities, please stop by my blog.
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