Must Have Resources to Target Vocabulary
Remember when you were studying for the SATs and bought a huge box of vocabulary flashcards to study? Be honest, how many words were you actually able to memorize and how many of those words were actually on the test? Now think about your students. What would they do if you planted a box of flashcards in front of them? Would they be able to memorize 100+ words and apply them to SAT questions? 
Teachers now look at vocabulary building and development in a different way. We now know that it’s not about memorizing words and having piles of flash cards. Now it is about learning strategies that help you define the unfamiliar/unknown vocabulary terms. If your students are anything like ours, they really struggle with vocabulary. When we first started working with our students, we knew it was going to be important to research strategies for teaching vocabulary. We had a few questions, and you probably do too!
What are some of the best vocabulary activities?
There are a ton of activities out there. We love learning new strategies but the number of strategies available can be overwhelming! Our favorite way to help support our students’ vocabulary skills is teaching them the context clues strategy. We have also found this to be the most helpful when trying to generalize into the classroom setting. Another one of our go-to vocabulary activities is the ‘Vocabulary One-Pager.’ The feedback from our students has been very positive. They love having the opportunity to learn new vocabulary terms while being creative.
How can we make vocabulary fun for our students?
We love pairing vocabulary activities with upcoming holidays and seasons. Our students love celebrating in school so why not make their celebrations teachable moments? We also try to give them plenty of opportunities to be creative whether they are using a computer or drawing on paper.
How can we teach vocabulary virtually to high school students?
We continued to use our go-to strategies to teach vocabulary development in combination with the resources on the computer. When they were completing their ‘Vocabulary One-Pagers’ we would have them ‘insert an image’ from the internet that goes with the vocabulary word. We also used a website that created word art-the students loved working together and creating various images.
What are our favorite vocabulary strategies for high school students?
We have researched and designed a variety of vocabulary building materials that can be used with older students (i.e. worksheets, digital activities, distance learning activities, etc.) The following resources are our Must Have Vocabulary Resources. We love using these resources with our older students. We are always including vocabulary into our daily therapy sessions since it has such an impact for the student in the classroom setting.
1. Vocabulary Strategies Packet #1
One of our top sellers is the widely used Vocabulary Strategies Packet #1! This resource focuses on teaching vocabulary strategies. Your students will master the ability to use context clues at the sentence, paragraph, and text level. We break down the different types of context clues:
- Synonym
- Antonym
- Example
- Explanation
- Logic
- Punctuation
This resource also includes a mini-lesson on word parts- prefix, root words, and suffix. This resource is a no-prep resource, just buy it and start using it with your students the same day!
2. Vocabulary Development-Seasonal Bundle
Our newest product line includes a very fun and creative approach to teaching vocabulary strategies. We combine teaching vocabulary with the different seasons of the year. These resources provide you with the opportunity to differentiate your instruction all while maintaining your students’ engagement. This resource includes: 
Word Brainstorming Activity
- Students are given the chance to brainstorm words they associate with a given topic.
Vocabulary One-Pager Activity
- Great for the visual learner; Students place new vocabulary terms in a box are given the
- opportunity to add an image so they can associate a picture with the new word.
Vocabulary Cube Activity
- Great for the tactile learner; Students pick a word from the brainstorm and then find a synonym,
- antonym, a picture to go with the word, a category the word belongs in, and another word they associate with the main word.
Word Connect Activity
- A useful strategy for students to compare and contrast similarities and differences within words.
Word Association Activity
- An opportunity to generate a list of words associated with a general term and then have the
- words all form together into an image.
Your students will enjoy completing the activities and will be happy when you introduce the same resource for the next season!
3. Put a Ring On It: Vocabulary Strategies
Our students are often telling us, “I know what to do in your room but when I go into my classroom I can’t remember anything!” Our Put a Ring On It product line has great resources for the on-the-go teacher, small group instruction, workshops, and helping students target carryover of strategies into their classroom environments. This resource is best used if you print it out, hole punch the corner, and put a ring to keep it all together. This allows students and teachers to carry the resource between classes and bring home to help generalize the learned strategies. This resources includes a review of:
- Types of Context Clues
- Word Web
- Word Analysis
Your students will be happy to use this on-the-go resource in their classrooms and will come back thanking you!
Our resources are low-prep/no-prep, printable, and digital. Make sure to take a peek at our vocabulary section in our TpT store and look at the previews to get a better sense of what is in each resource. Most of these resources mentioned above will take more than one session to complete – you might even be able to use one resource for a few weeks! Having these resources will make planning for vocabulary lessons a breeze and save you precious prep time! Comment below with your favorite vocabulary strategy or activity!
