Are vocabulary activities still needed in middle school?
Absolutely!
But vocabulary instruction does not have to be boring or focused on memorization. Using vocabulary games and student-centered vocabulary activities are at the heart of my vocabulary instruction in middle school. Not only are students learning words that will help them talk and write like experts, but they are engaging in fun vocabulary activities that make them ask, “Can we do that again!?”
Read on to discover 5 engaging vocabulary activities for middle school students.
Vocabulary Games
One of my students’ favorite games is Literary Language Bingo. Yes, Bingo! They ask to play this game frequently, and it is an easy yes for me. Vocabulary games, such as Literary Language Bingo, are a fun way for students to engage with middle school vocabulary words over and over again. And we all know that repetition is a valuable part of the learning process.
While this bingo game isn’t the only vocabulary activity for middle school, it is an easy activity to prep and have available whenever the mood strikes my students to play.
Other vocabulary games that my students like to play are digital games, such as Free Rice or the vocabulary jam on vocabulary.com.
Digital Escape Vocabulary Activities
Escape activities are popular for obvious reasons: they are fun, challenging, and encourage critical thinking skills, all wrapped in competition. So it makes sense to incorporate escape activities in helping students learn and engage with middle school vocabulary.
Digital escape activities, such as this Figurative Language Escape Activity, are one of my favorite ways to incorporate vocabulary learning that is quick and no-prep.
In vocabulary activities like this, students have to determine the correct vocabulary term that matches the definition. But in an activity such as this digital escape activity, students must ‘unlock’ the definitions by getting previous questions correct. This type of vocabulary activity pushes students to problem solve and push through challenges, use their resources, and engage with words over and over. The vocabulary activity is simple, and it sets students up for learning success.
Vocabulary Graphic Organizers
When I need to explicitly teach new vocabulary words, I use graphic organizers, such as the Frayer Model.
The Frayer Model is a graphic organizer that engages students in learning vocabulary by applying their new knowledge of a word to generate examples and non examples, as well as provide a definition and image for that word.
Student Directed Vocabulary Lists
Another vocabulary activity for middle school is to model and value self-created vocabulary lists.
My students have a reader’s notebook that they use to think about their reading, specifically during our reading units. Using a reader’s notebook is an integral strategy that my students use to analyze and synthesize their reading. You can read more about how I teach and assess reading here.
But a reader’s notebook it is also a place where students create their own vocabulary lists based on their reading.
I start this vocabulary activity by modeling how I keep a vocabulary list of interesting or new words that I come across in my reading. There are no requirements to this list, except that it is developed by the student. I don’t assign any expectations or assignments to this list, but I do encourage students to share their list with their partner frequently. I even give them some sentence starters for sharing these new vocabulary words such as:
- “One word I’m noticing that comes up often in my reading is________ and I think it is because…”
- “A word in my text that is really interesting to me is_________ because…”
- “Some words that are specific to the topic that I’m reading about are _________”
The goal with this vocabulary activity is based on the concept known as the ‘Tetris effect’. The ‘Tetris effect’ happens when a person engages in an idea or activity so frequently that they notice a pattern. If students are intentionally looking for new or interesting words in their reading, or even words that are specific to the topic they are reading, those words will become more apparent to the students over time.
Intentional Use of Words in Discussion and Writing
I’ve been working on helping my students include academic language in their writing for the last few years. One vocabulary activity that I use to achieve this goal is to have a list of words that I expect them to use in their discussions or writing.
For example, when I recently taught an argument writing unit, the students read about a topic from a text set, engaged in some debate, and took some notes over a couple of days. Then I asked my students, “What words do you think your audience would need to know in order to understand your argument?”
Students gave me some words from the texts they read, and I added a few to create a vocabulary list. Then I told students that I expected that they use those words in their argument writing.
Using vocabulary that is specific to a topic is how they not only sound like experts, but become experts, because they must engage with those words over an over again in their writing. I love vocabulary activities that require students to use the vocabulary repeatedly in authentic ways.
BONUS: Another way to do this is to create a word wall for students to use a scaffold during a particular unit of study. When my students study spooky stories in October, I have a word wall with terms such as suspense, mood, and cliffhanger, so that students have access to that language at all times.
No matter the vocabulary activities you choose to use in your middle school classroom, I encourage you to find activities that are engaging and encourage students to use the vocabulary over and over again.
