Download Bag Words

Bag Words
Description: This strategy allows students to choose vocabulary words for study in personal
reading selections or content area vocabulary words related to a concept. Categories for words in
this strategy are predetermined by the teacher. At the conclusion of this activity, groups of
students present skits using the words they have chosen.
Procedure:
1) Each student selects a book, newspaper, magazine, etc. for self selected reading.
2) Teacher lists 5 categories for vocabulary focus. For example: “Find a word that
expresses feelings, a word that can take the place of an overly used word, a strong
verb, a word that you do not currently use in your vocabulary but would like to”.
3) Allow students to read for 10-15 minutes and locate their choice words.
4) After individual lists are complete, put students into small groups of 3-5. After
sharing their words with one another, discussing and evaluating their word choices,
the group will select two words from each category for a total of 10 words.
5) Groups will write their words on separate index cards and place them in a brown
paper bag. Groups can then decide if they want to keep their own bag or trade with
another group.
6) Instruct the groups that they will have 10 minutes (or more) to use the words in a skit,
song, commercial, etc. that they will later present to the entire group.
7) Before presentations, each group will display their words in a pocket chart or on chart
paper. A member of the group will read aloud the list and discuss their choices.
8) During group presentations, the audience will be instructed to listen and count the
number of times they heard the vocabulary words on the presenting group’s list.
9) Groups can discuss their rationales for the relationships they created with their words
Possible Variations:
1) Use roots, prefixes, and affixes as categories students can choose words from
2) Choose words from the word wall
3) Using the textbook or other content area reading material, create concept questions as
categories – allow students freedom of word choice as long as it answers the category
(i.e. for variety, do not limit to specific vocabulary—allow for creativity)
 Find a word that explains the role of the nucleus in a cell
 Find a word that describes the cell membrane
 Find a word that might have been used to describe the Battle of Antietam
 Find a word that is associated with democracy
 Find a word that is related to algebraic functions
 Find a word that is important to the understanding of the Pythagorean theorem