Have you ever learned a new word the first time you heard it? You probably have done it in one or two cases, but mostly you know that it has taken you several times to learn the new word. This is also true for your students.
For students to truly OWN the vocabulary they are learning, it is essential that they have ‘repeated encounters’ with the words. As a teacher, you don’t have to spend money or a lot of time preparing. What is necessary, however, is awareness. This article offers suggestions on how you can ensure that you and your students have multiple, repeated, and varied encounters with the words.
Here are ten suggestions to include to ensure students have ‘repeated encounters’ with the vocabulary you want them to learn:
- Keep a list of words the class is learning posted in your classroom. Just by reading it every day, you will find yourself using the words as part of your natural language with students.
- Tell students to listen to the target vocabulary they are working on. If they bring examples of how others used these words: at home, in the news, in a book, etc. then pay special attention or acknowledge them in some way.
- Create mind maps of the vocabulary you are teaching. Place one word in the center, and then ask students to provide other words that are associated with the target word in some way. Plan for these mind maps to be dynamic, that is, never finished. There are always more words to add, which allows you to expand not only the mental map, but also the mental connections.
- Set up a game-like atmosphere in your classroom so that anyone who enters the room is immediately challenged to use one of the target words or say what one of the words means.
- Use words on your person! It can be a tag or a tag, just showing the word. It’s a great conversation, believe me!
- Have students outline their understanding of one of the words they have been focusing on and display that outline (along with the word) around the room or hallway.
- Encourage students to find pictures that represent the vocabulary they are learning: in magazines, on the Internet, in the newspaper, on billboards, etc.
- Have students go to http://www.visualthesaurus.com/ to find additional words that are synonymous with or related to the words you are helping them learn.
- Whenever any of the words you are studying also have cognates, highlight that fact. This helps students who are native speakers of other languages similar to English (for example, Spanish, French, Russian, etc.) to use some of what they know to help them make connections to words in English. Note: When there are false cognates, it’s always worth discussing that as well.
- Play with the words. For example, you (or one of the students) can choose a word and say, “I’m thinking of a word that _______” and then give a hint as to what the word means or how it might be used, etc. This is perfect for when you’re standing in line waiting to go to lunch, go home, or head out the door to an assembly. It takes seconds and allows for one additional encounter with a word.
Remember… repeated encounters are the only way to ensure that students have a chance to “own” the words.
