4 Research-Based Ways to Teach Vocabulary So It Actually Sticks

Looking for fun ways to teach vocabulary that go beyond vocabulary lists, copying definitions, and Friday quizzes? Research-based vocabulary instruction gives students multiple opportunities to define new words, explore word meanings, make connections, and use vocabulary in context. The more students interact with new vocabulary, reading, discussion, visuals, and writing—the more likely those words are to actually stick.

Which makes a whole lot of sense.

As a teacher, I wanted vocabulary practice to feel different.

I didn't just want students to know the definition of a word. I wanted them to understand it, recognize it, connect it to something they already knew, and eventually feel comfortable enough to use it.

Over time, I've found that the vocabulary activities I like best tend to follow four simple steps:  Define it. Work it. Connect it. Write it.

Here's what I mean.

1. Define the Word

Start with a clear, student-friendly definition. Include the part of speech and help students see the word in context.

rickety (adjective) — shaky, unsteady, and likely to fall apart

The rickety bridge was unsteady and falling apart.

You can also give students the word in context first and let them try to determine its meaning.

The goal isn't Can you copy the definition?

It's Do you understand the word?

Find Daily Vocabulary Words HERE.

Next, make students do something with the word.

They might:

• find synonyms or antonyms

• choose the best example

• compare related words

• explore roots, prefixes, or suffixes

• complete a sentence

Even a quick question like "Which is more likely to be rickety: a new steel bridge or an old wooden bridge?" requires students to think about meaning.

Instead of copying the word, work the word.

Teach academic vocab with these tasks!

Words are hard to remember when they're floating around all by themselves.

Help students connect new vocabulary to images, experiences, other words, and ideas.

One of my favorite ways to do this is through doodling.

Instead of just defining rickety, ask students to doodle the ricketiest bridge imaginable.

Now they're translating a definition into a visual—which requires them to really think about what the word means.

Have you seen these Social Studies vocab resources?

Finally, students need to use new vocabulary.

Instead of asking students to use each word in a random sentence, give them several words and challenge them to use them together in a short passage.

Try:  rickety • peculiar • concoction • vanish

Suddenly students have to understand each word well enough to make them all work together.

And that's where vocabulary starts becoming actual language.

--------------------------------

Vocabulary That Sticks

This approach is what inspired my Doodle & Do Vocabulary activities.

Students get a word, part of speech, and student-friendly definition. They complete a quick activity to work the word, create a doodle to connect to its meaning, and then combine multiple words in their own writing.

I've created Doodle & Do activities for daily vocabulary, academic vocabulary, elements of fiction, poetry, geography, and more.

Because the goal isn't for students to remember vocabulary until Friday.

It's for the words to stick long after Friday is over.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary Beth

P.S. Here are a few of my favorite vocabulary games!

 

7 Fun Ways to Teach Nonfiction (and Sneak More Informational Text Into Your Classroom!)

Looking for fun ways to teach nonfiction and help students build their nonfiction reading comprehension skills without adding another worksheet to the pile?

Whether you're teaching nonfiction text features and text structures, working on main idea and supporting details, practicing note-taking and listening comprehension, or simply trying to get students to read more informational text, nonfiction practice doesn't have to feel like a chore.

Here are 7 easy and engaging nonfiction activities you can try in your upper elementary or middle school classroom.

1. Start With Something Weird

Put a strange-but-true fact on the board: Wombat poop is cube-shaped.

Then ask one question:  WHY?

Instant curiosity.

Use weird facts as bell-ringers, writing prompts, discussion starters, or introductions to short nonfiction texts to encourage students to read nonfiction and figure out the answer.

Need material? Bookmark National Geographic Kids' Weird But True, Smithsonian Magazine, Wonderopolis, and Guinness World Records. Search topics kids can't resist: strange animals, accidental inventions, unbelievable history, mysteries, extreme weather, space, the human body, and bizarre world records.

The rule is simple: If it makes you say, “Wait...WHAT?” kids will probably want to read about it.

2. Let Them Doodle While They Read

Reading comprehension doesn't always have to have the same formula: read, answer questions, turn it in.

Give doodling a job instead.

Ask students to sketch an important idea, illustrate a vocabulary word, add details to a diagram, make a visual connection, or draw something that will help them remember what they've learned.

The doodling isn't replacing comprehension.  It's showing comprehension.

That's the idea behind my Leveled Nonfiction Reading Doodle Passages. Doodle tasks are woven right into each passage, giving students opportunities to stop, think, and visually process what they're learning as they read.

Even better? Each topic comes in three reading levels, making it easy to differentiate while everyone explores the same topic.

3. Connect nonfiction to everything else they're learning.

Nonfiction doesn't have to live exclusively in ELA. In fact, some of the best opportunities are hiding in other subjects.

* Science: Read about the bizarre animal adaptation before teaching adaptations.

* Social Studies: Read a first-person account or unusual historical story before beginning a unit.

* Math: Find an article containing interesting statistics and have students interpret the numbers.

* Art: Read about the artist, culture, technique, or historical period before creating.

* Music: Explore the history of an instrument or genre.

* Health: Investigate sleep, stress, nutrition, exercise, or the brain.

* Technology: Read about an invention before students design something themselves.

If you're an ELA teacher, ask the science and social studies teachers what they're teaching next month. Then find nonfiction that connects. Students get extra background knowledge. Your colleagues will think you're wonderful. Everybody wins.

4. Give Independent Reading a Nonfiction Makeover

How many students automatically reach for fiction during independent reading?

Mix things up by occasionally challenging everyone to:  READ SOMETHING TRUE.

Biography. Sharks. Sports. Space. Fashion. History. Inventions. Disasters. Music. The Titanic. Video games. Whatever interests them.

Then ditch the traditional book report.

Have students create a Doodle Nonfiction Book Review filled with important ideas, interesting facts, new vocabulary, connections, a summary, illustrations, and their own rating and review.

My Doodle Nonfiction Book Review includes a step-by-step planning guide before students turn their thinking into a visual doodle review.

5. Play “Would You Rather?” — Nonfiction Edition

Would you rather...

- Explore the deepest ocean OR travel to space?

- Live in Ancient Rome OR Ancient Egypt?

- Experience a hurricane OR an earthquake?

There's just one rule:  You have to read before you decide.

Give students short nonfiction texts about both choices. Then have them make a decision and support it with evidence.

Suddenly, reading has a purpose.

They're gathering ammunition for an argument.

And that tends to get kids interested.

6. Don't Just Read Nonfiction. Listen to It!

We spend a lot of time teaching reading comprehension.

But listening comprehension matters, too.

Every once in a while, take away the copies and say:

“Just listen.”

Read an engaging nonfiction passage aloud while students take notes. Teach them to listen for important ideas, key details, unfamiliar vocabulary, and information they may need to remember.

Then let students compare notes.

What did you catch? What did I miss? What did we both think mattered?

Finish with small-group discussion cards or a few comprehension questions.

My Listening Comprehension lesson about Malala Yousafzai follows this exact process: students learn what to listen for, practice taking notes, work with key vocabulary, and answer multiple-choice and short-answer questions.

Once students know the routine, use it with articles, podcasts, biographies, or nonfiction connected to whatever you're studying.

7. Make Nonfiction a Mystery

Don't tell students what they're reading about.

Instead, reveal clues as they read and ask them to figure it out.

It can live for hundreds of years.

It doesn't have a brain.

It has survived multiple mass extinction events.

What is it?

Now students aren't just reading. They're collecting evidence, making inferences, revising predictions, and trying to solve something.

Sneaky, sneaky.

----------------------------------

Hopefully, these ideas have you thinking about a few easy ways to sneak more nonfiction into your classroom. If you’d like some ready-to-go help, here are the Brain Waves resources mentioned in this post:

Nonfiction Listening Comprehension Unit

Doodle Nonfiction Reading Passages

Nonfiction Book Review 

And here's a FREEBIE! 12 classroom posters all about nonfiction text features!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary Beth

P.S. Find more nonfiction freebies here!