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Building Vocabulary at Home
Suggestions
Sentences
Ask students to use the words in sentences.
Articulate
Ask students to provide explanations for words so you can guess them within a designated time frame.
Vocabulary Charades
Have students make actions for particular words. Students need to use their arms, legs and bodies to show they know the meaning of a target word.
Word Association
List words that are related to the target word. Students simply need to think about and say the words that come to their mind when they think about a target word.
Example
Target Word: Fraction
denominator, numerator, half, thirds, parts
Synonyms and Antonyms
Identify synonyms (words that mean the same or almost the same) and antonyms (words that mean the opposite).
Non-Linguistic (drawings or images) Representations
Ask your student to describe a target word in their own words.
Ask them to draw an image, symbol or cartoon to represent the target word.
Example:
Target Word: Revolve
Describe: When something moves around something else, like the earth revolves around the sun.
Non- Linguistic Representation/Picture:
Word Origins
Highlight a prefix (word beginnings) or suffix (word endings) and explain the meaning to help students remember the word. Here is a website where you can access word origins (Greek and
Latin Roots) and their meaning. http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.php
Example:
Biology – The prefix bi means life
Incredible – The suffix ible means worth and is generally added to adjectives.