Shake up your vocabulary lessons with some of these fun, exciting activities! Each game or activity below can be altered to fit the proficiency level of your students. If you have novice level students, use lots of images and words. For those with intermediate to advanced students, try to incorporate definitions to challenge your students!
Matamoscas: You will need either images of your vocabulary words or the vocabulary words printed out. (I suggest printing two per page or even one per page so they are big enough for an entire class to see.) Tape them to the whiteboard. Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a “matamoscas” or flyswatter. Call our a definition, show a picture, say the word, etc. The first team to slap the image/word on the board gets the point!
4 Corners: Put the letters A, B, C, and D in each corner of the room. Create a PowerPoint presentation. Each slide should have a picture of the word or a definition of the word in the center. In each corner, put a possible vocabulary word. Students will go to the corner that best fits the definition or image.
Quizlet Live: This activity is sure to liven up your classroom. Students work in teams to match vocabulary word to definitions as quickly as possible. One wrong word and they are sent back to zero! Find more fun ways to incorporate Quizlet here.
Pictionary/Charades: This is easy set-up because all you need to do is create envelopes of vocabulary words. (If you use Quizlet, there is a print feature that will print the words in different sizes – whatever works best for you!) Give students small whiteboards for Pictionary. They either draw the word or will act it out! Have them keep track of points. You can play as one large class or in small groups.
Around the World: Two students come to the board at the front of the class. You can either read a definition outloud, show a picture or a word. The two students must race to write the answer correctly. Whoever writes it correctly first wins and stays at the board. The other student sits down and now a new student comes up to challenge the winner! Everytime someone is right, they stay at the board. I like to say “If you win 3 times in a row you get a candy, and sit down.” That way no one is in control for too long.
Wordle: This is similar to Matamoscas but everyone plays at the same time. Create a word cloud using http://www.wordle.net/. Print it out, and give one copy to each pair of students. Read a definition or show a picture. The first student in the pair to find and highlight/circle/point to the word, gets a point!
4 Corners Paper: With this graphic organizer, students will write the vocabulary word in the center, then write a definition, synonym/antonym, draw a picture, and write a sentence. It is great to practice using the word and expanding their vocabulary. Download for free on my store!
Walkaround: Print out either images or definitions of your vocabulary words. Write a number on each paper, and tape them around the room on the walls. Let’s say you have 20 images/definitions. Then, tell each student to number their paper 1-20. When you say “Go!,” they must walk around the room to fill in their paper with the word that best fits what is on the wall! When they are done, they come check it with you. If there are any wrong, they must go back and try to fix it.
Vocabulary Chart: This helps students differentiate between different vocabulary words by using examples. Below is a sample chart based on art unit vocabulary and different artists we studied. You could do something similar with any unit. For example: animals… Put the names of different animals on the column on the left. Across the top write places they would be found… home, zoo, barn, ocean, etc. They simply check off where the animal is. Now, they’re getting extra vocabulary they wouldn’t have gotten before!
I Have Who Has: You will need to make cards for this activity. Each card should be divided into two parts. The top part “Yo tengo” with a picture of the word. The bottom section should say ¿Quién tiene…? With a different vocabulary word written out. Students can play in small groups or as a class. There is an airport vocabulary version to purchase and -AR present tense verbs.
Learning vocabulary can be fun for the students! Try out these games and activities. What works best for your students?
