Методичні рекомендації "Vocabulary in the classroom"

Vocabulary in the Classroom

Presenter: Bevzyuk Svitlana, English teacher, Haivoron Lyceum №2

Objective: Teachers will learn how grammar is presented through the communicative method. how to plan communicative vocabulary activities, and will practice these activities.

Warm-up:

Vocabulary Scrambles

Take 5-10 vocabulary words and mix up or "scramble" the letters. (For example, "letter could be "telret") Write them on the blackboard at the beginning of class and ask the pupils to unscramble the words

Review:

Hot Potato

Tell the pupils to stand in a circle. Say a category of vocabulary words (for example, professions, Easter, rest day, etc.) and toss a small ball or stuffed animal to a pupil. They must say a word from this category and then toss the ball to another pupil who will say a different word. The pupils may not repeat words. The object of the game is to keep the ball moving quickly, as if the pupils were holding a "hot potato".

Presentation:

When introducing new vocabulary, first check to see if some pupils already know words on the subject. Give them a chance to show their knowledge. Then, present the vocabulary words and try to make the pupils understood the new words without simply translating them. For example, partner the word with a visual object or action. Say "to run" while you are running Point to a shirt and say "shirt", if you are teaching clothes vocabulary. You may also try explaining the word in English. For example, the word "interesting" could be explained by saying "a book is interesting when you like to read it and you want to read more and know more about it". Translation should be the last resort.

Vocub Cards

After presenting new words, tell all the pupils to take out one piece of paper and fold it in half Then give each pupil a vocabulary word. They must write the word on the front of the card and on the inside, draw a picture of the word. When they have finished, collect the cards and review the words and pictures with the pupils. The objective of this activity is for the pupil to make a mental connection between the word and the picture, therefore to help him or her to remember the words more easily. It also involves all the pupils in the class.

Practice:

When practicing new vocabulary with the pupils, try to show them how the words relate to their everyday life. For example, if they learn the verb "to be located", ask them to explain where their village is located, where the post office is located, etc. This will allow them to see the words as important, related to their lives, and to practice using the words in different situations, not only repeating them in sentences from the text.

Vocab Stap

This activity can be used for practice, or for review the next day. After making the Vocab Cards, lay them out on a desk so that only the pictures are facing up. Divide the pupils into two or more teams. Have one pupil from each team come to the desk. You say the vocabulary word and the first pupil to find the picture must slap their hand on the word. They may then take that picture After all the words have been taken, the teams count their pictures to see who has won.

Application:

In the communicative method, useful activities for working with vocabulary often have the objective of strengthening the pupils ability to communicate the meaning of new words. This is a great skill to have, because even if they forget the new words, if they are able to explain the meaning of them to another person and that person understands, then they have communicated successfully in the foreign language. Here are some examples of such activities.

Who (or What) Am I?

Send a group of 3-5 pupils outside of the room. With the remaining pupils, decide on a word for each of the pupils who are outside. For example, Eminem, Leonid Kuchma, and Julia Roberts, if you want to use people, or if you want to review a category of vocabulary, such as professions, it could be a doctor, a lawyer, and a teacher. Write each word on a separate piece of paper. Call the pupils back into the classroom and tape the paper to their backs. With their back to the class, they take turns asking the class "yes-or-no" questions to discover their word. For example: "Do I work with children?", "Do I work in a hospital?", "Do I work in Kyiv?", "Am I famous?", etc.

Description

Before the lesson, prepare category cards. They should look like this example:

Professions:

1. doctor
2. teacher
3. president
4.  actor
5. scientist
6. farmer
7. soldier

Divide the class into two or more groups and call a pupil from each group to the front. Tell the whole class the category but only let the pupils in front see the words. Then, starting with the first, they must describe these words to their groups, without showing and without saying the word itself. Once the word has been guessed, they may move on to the next one. The groups get a point for each word correctly guessed.

Evaluation

When testing pupils on new vocabulary, try not to have them simply give the translation. Instead, for example, give them a group of vocabulary words and then sentences where they must fill-in-the-blank, or ask them to write a sentence describing each word.