Low Prep Vocabulary Activities and Strategies for Engagement

Low Preparation Vocabulary Games and Activities

1. Forwards and Backwards Association Chain22
Students form a circle or line. One student starts and suggests a word (e.g., tundra). Another
student says an association for that word (e.g., cold). The next student suggests an association
for the word cold. Students continue in this manner until after about 10-20 associations. The
student who says the final association writes that last word down and the group works together
to try and reconstruct the entire word chain back to the original word. Alternatively, a group of
students who were listeners in the first round have to reconstruct the chain.

2. Beat the Clock Ball Toss
The teacher sets a timer. One student suggests a concept word (e.g., industrialization). That
student tosses the ball to another student who thinks of an association (or defining feature) for
that word and then tosses the ball to another student who thinks of another association for the
original word. Repeat until the ball has gone around the entire class. Stop the timer. Then have
students repeat the same chain in the same order to see if they can beat their original time. As
a variation, you (or another designated student) might prompt the kinds of associations. For
example a student might start the chain with the word economy and you (or another
designated student) might tell the next student to say some types of economies. After a few
students you might switch the topic, by calling it out, to something else (e.g., descriptions of
economic systems). Another variation is that the student who has the ball when the timer rings
is out of the circle. Continue with associations and rounds until there is only one student left.

3. Blackboard Bingo23
Write 10-20 vocabulary words on the blackboard. Tell students to choose a certain number of
those words, about 5-10 (or have students choose words from a word wall) and write the words
on a blank sheet of paper. Give clues for the words as in a traditional Bingo game. (Perhaps you
tell students a definition of the word, show them a picture, say the word in Spanish, or provide
a synonym.) If the students have the word, they should cross it off. This can be competitive so
that the first student to cross off all words is declared the winner. Play the game with affixes
and roots as well.

4. Pyramid Review
Draw a pyramid on the board (see diagram). Have students pair up. One student
(in the pair) is the clue giver and one student is the guesser. The clue giver turns
towards the board and the guesser turns away from the board. At that point write words in
each square. The clue giver gives clues for the underlined word. Once the guesser has said the
correct word, students move onto the word in the bottom right square. They repeat and move
onto the word in the middle right square. Repeat and move onto the word in the middle left
square. Repeat and move to the word at the top. This can be competitive so that the first pair
to make it through all the words wins.

22 Modified from Ur and Wright (1992). Five-minute activities. New York: Cambridge University Press.

5. Head’s Up
Create a set of cards with vocabulary terms from a unit. Have one student flip a card over,
without seeing it, and put the card on his or her forehead, facing out. The other students in the
group have to give the student clues about the word without using word parts, “sounds like”, or
first letter clues. If the student guesses the word, he gets to keep the card and earns a point. A
modification is to have a timer and see how many words the person might be able to guess in 1-
2 minutes before switching turns. One modification is that there is an iPhone app (Head’s App)
that works in the same way. With this app the teacher can also create a word list for students
to use and play.

6. Blackboard Crossword24 B
A
Write a vocabulary word on the blackboard. Students think of other RP
words (related to that word) that share a letter with the word on the TR
blackboard. Students should explain how the word they wrote is related ECONOMY
to the center word. For example, a word might be: economy. A RD
student might write the word produce. The game can be played
until there is a word for each letter in economy. This can be played U
competitively by splitting the class into teams and the first team to C
complete the crossword wins. E

7. Vocabulary Splash
Write about 5-8 words in random order on the board. Have students close their eyes or face
away. Erase one word. Have students open their eyes. The student who remembers the missing
word should say the word and do something with the word (use it in a sentence, say the
Spanish translation, say a definition, etc.). This can be competitive by assigning points for every
word a student correctly identifies. You may also use pictures of vocabulary terms or even
manipulatives, such as science materials, under a document reader.

8. Word Storm
On the blackboard write letters or a few sentences about a content topic. Have students
brainstorm as many words related to a certain concept or domain using the letters you have
written on the board. Set a timer or count the number of words to add competition.

9. Give a Word the Round of Applause
Have students clap in order to indicate something in relation to words you shout out or write
on the board (do each word one at a time; it is best to say the word while you write it on the
board). For example, you might shout out a list of words where half are related to George
Washington (or multiplication, plant cells, certain kinds of habitats, etc.). Have students clap (or
give sparkle fingers) for each word that describes George Washington or something he has
done. Students can talk to each other about why they clapped for some words and not others.
Other students can shout out/write the words.

24 Modified from Ur and Wright (1992). Five-minute activities. New York: Cambridge University Press.

10. Shapes

Draw the shape of a vocabulary word on the board. Students have to guess the

vocabulary word that fits the shape (e.g., teachers). Use word wall words or scaffold by writing

a list of words for students to choose from. The student who guesses the word should use it

meaningfully (say the definition, use the word in a sentence, etc.). As a modification you might

write the shape of the word in English and the shape of the word in another language.

11. Put a Word on a Timeline
Give students a concept word and have them brainstorm a timeline (with 3-4 numbers) in
relation to that word. For example, you might have students do a timeline for the Constitution.
The numbers for the timeline might be 7, 10, 1776. Students then turn to a partner and tell
each other the meaning of the numbers (7=articles in the Constitution, 10=Bill of Rights,
1776=year Constitution was established). For cells, the numbers for the timeline might be: 2,
23, 46, 100 trillion (there are 2 kinds of cells: prokaryotic and eukaryotic, there are 46
chromosomes [23 pairs] in human cells, scientists estimate that there are 75-100 trillion cells in
the human body).

12. Magic Square
See the following page of this packet for an example. Look online for combinations of numbers
to create “magic squares” with a 3x3 pattern, where each row, column, and diagonal adds to
15. Create a magic square answer key first with 15 terms and definitions. Then assign the
numbers to each term so that the rows, columns, and diagonals each total 15. Remove the
terms into a word bank, maintaining their numbers. Now have students solve by reading each
definition, inserting the words, and self-checking their work to make sure each row, column,
and diagonal adds to 15.

13. Page Protector Cloze
Put a short text in a page protector. Students (or teacher) use a black dry erase marker to
blacken a few keys words in the passage so the words can’t be seen. Have students work
together to guess the words using context clues. When they think they are ready they can erase
the dry erase marker to reveal the word and see if they are correct. This can be played
competitively and each pair can get a point for each correct answer. This can also be played by
crossing out affixes and roots within words as well. If you cut the bottom and side of the page
protector, it can be slipped over the pages of actual trade books and textbooks and you can
blacken out the selected terms.

14. Page Protector Game Boards
Slip generic gameboards into a page protector. (Some sites to download ready-made game
boards are in the back of this packet.) With a dry erase marker write the current vocabulary
words (or affix/root) on each square (on the page protector). (Students might use a word wall
to write words for each other.) Conduct each game as it should be played (e.g., Chutes and
Ladders), except students should read each word as they land on it. After students are done
with the game, you can erase the words from the page protector and keep it for future use.

15. Paint Strip Race
Get paint strips with shades of color from the local hardware store (or use notecards). Write
roots, affixes, or prefixes at the top of each card. Group students in groups of three or more.
Give each group at least one prefix, suffix, or root. Each student starts with a card. Students
pass the cards in a circle, writing one word that contains the target word part. All the words
should be different. Students continue to pass until one group has completed all the words on
their cards or until time is called and the group with the most words wins.

16. Ticking Timer
Create a set of cards related to concepts or vocabulary (e.g., character traits or the
environment). Take a timer or a stop watch and have students play hot potato with the timer,
so they have to name a word related to the concept or term, and pass the timer along. If it rings
while someone is holding it, they are out for the next round. Students may have cell phones
with timers if you want to do the activity simultaneously with several smaller groups. A
modification is to also have a set of cards with letters on them and then students have to begin
their word with that letter.

17. Morphology Memory
Use notecards to create a Memory game. One card should have a word part (root, affix, prefix).
The matching card should have a word formed with that word part. Make 16-24 cards,
depending on your grade level. Have students get into groups of 2-4 to play. A student picks up
one card and has to find the match. Before students can keep the match, they must define the
affix, root, and word or come up with another word using that affix or root. Can be played with
picture cards for younger students and the same set of cards can also be used for Go Fish.

18. Dictionary Treasure Hunt
Use your word wall or write a list of vocabulary words on the board. Set a stop watch or timer
for a certain amount of time (i.e., 2, 4, 6 minutes). Have students work in pairs or individually
find each word in the dictionary and write down the page number that the word appears on. As
a variation you can have students find another piece of information about each word such as

the synonym, head word, number of definitions for each entry, etc. See how many words they
can find in the set amount of time.

19. Dictionary Game25
Group students in small groups. One student takes the dictionary, chooses a word, and turns to
that word in the dictionary. The other students in the group go around in a circle and say a word
that might be in the definition. The student holding the dictionary gives a point to each student
who said a word in the definition. After each round, the dictionary is passed to the left and a new
student chooses the word.

20. Fun with the Word of the Day
Have the class vote on a word of the day (or decide on an important word to highlight for the
day). You might post or wear that word in some fashion (e.g., on a nametag or sticker). As a
variation, have students decide on their own word of the day or favorite word (from a
vocabulary list of your choosing) to wear for the day. For young learners, if you do class jobs, you
might implement a class job of lexicographer (traditionally a dictionary writer), who tells the
class about a word and makes a dictionary entry for a class dictionary.

21. Word Hunt Graph
Pick about four to seven of the unit vocabulary words (or wordwall words) and have students keep
track of the number of times they saw or heard the word in their environment (perhaps on TV
while at home). Perhaps put a tally on the word wall. At the end of the week have students make
graphs of their findings. They can also do statistical analyses with their findings (mean, median,
mode, etc.). As a variation, have students draw (or make) word clouds based on their findings.
Students might also find pictures from magazines and newspapers that illustrate the target words.

22. Cheer for Our Words
Use a wordwall or determine a few words (perhaps those that were explicitly taught for the day)
to target. When students hear the word they can do an action such as snap, clap, give sparkle
fingers, raise a pencil, or cheer.

23. Verbose/Taboo
In each of these activities, teachers create a set of cards with a target word at the top and related
words or phrases underneath. It is most helpful if the related words also come from the dictionary
definition of the target word. In Verbose, students *must* use the words underneath to try to get
another student or group to guess the word. An adaptation for beginners or early learners is to
use pictures. In Taboo, they cannot use the words underneath and this version is therefore more
challenging.

24. Odd Word Out (Padak, Rasinski, & Newton, 2008)26
Identify the word that does not belong in a group of four words and explain why. The reason
might be that the “odd word out” is different because it does not mean the same as the others,
because it is not the same part of speech or for another reason.

25 Modified from Blachowicz, C & Fisher, P. (2010). Teaching vocabulary in all classrooms. New York: Pearson
26 From Words in Motion Curriculum

Tool Box of Strategies and Activities

# Activities and Approaches for Student Engagement

Beach Ball Share
Use either one large beach ball or small groups with 7 inch balls. Write numbers on the
stripes and create a list of sentence stems to match those numbers.
Students toss the beach ball around and complete the sentence that their right thumb

1 lands on. Alternately, you can write vocab terms, sentence starters, or initial letter
sounds on the stripes.

Clock Buddies
Create a handout with a clockface with appointments at each hour. Have participants
circulate around the room and choose times for “appointments”. Have participants
exchange names (e.g., if Partner A and Partner B are making a 3 o’clock appointment, they
should have each other’s respective names on their papers at that slot). Later, the
facilitator/teacher calls out a time as part of a cooperative learning activity and has those

2 pairs meet to complete a task or have a discussion. Instead of a clock face, you can also
use maps, diagrams, etc.

Dictogloss
A teacher or student reads a paragraph aloud. Students work individually to record as
many words as possible. The teacher rereads the same paragraph and students again
record words. Then students pair up to discuss what was read and try to reconstruct the
paragraph. Then their paragraphs are compared to the original paragraph, which is

3 displayed for them to self-assess and make corrections.

Extended Anticipation Guide
Anticipation Guides act as an informal assessment and have 3 columns with statements
or questions in the central column, then students identify their answers or thinking
before the unit, lecture, or reading, and afterwards. These help teachers assess prior
knowledge, provide students with explicit links from past learning and their backgrounds
to new concepts, guide students through making their own links from past learning and

4 their backgrounds to new concepts, focus student attention, encourage critical thinking,
and promote discussion/interaction. In the extended version, there is a fourth column
where participants write why they did or did not change their original answer.

Tool Box of Strategies and Activities

Fishbowl
Students role-play a content concept (lab safety rules, mitosis) and the rest of the class

5 forms a circle around them and identifies certain concept features (e.g., hold up cards if
they think it’s mitosis or meiosis or do thumbs up if it’s a safe procedure vs. thumbs
down for unsafe procedures). This one targets listening skills.

Inside/Outside Circles
Students first write or draw a response to a prompt. This prompt should be one that elicits
multiple answers (e.g., not what is the capital of Virginia).Then divide the students in two
groups and ask group 1 to take their written response and form an inner circle. Then ask
the students in group 2 to form a circle around student in group 1. Each student should be
facing a partner. Tell the students that when you indicate it is time, (e.g., via a whistle or
other attention-grabbing method) students from group 1 are going to share their written

6 response first. Students from group 2 will listen, comment (you will want to decide what
that should look like and model for the students), and then share their written response
with students from group 1. When students from group 1 and 2 both have a chance to
share, call time again and ask the students from group 2 to take step to the left until they
are facing a new partner. Group 1 stays in place. Repeat as many times as appropriate.

Jigsaw
Divide a reading into sections. Form as many groups as there are text sections. Have
students number off according to the number of groups and go to their expert group (if

7 there are 5 groups, students within each group should number off 1-5). Each group reads
their assigned section and takes notes, fills in a graphic organizer, or creates a poster
reflecting content concepts. Once groups have completed their discussions, have them
return to their home groups. Now they will be the expert for that reading. Each expert
shares out in their home group so that students get to learn about the other sections of
the reading.

K-W-L
A K-W-L chart is a method for informally assessing what students know before and after
a unit. Draw three columns on a poster (preferably, so that it can stay up throughout the
unit) or on the board and label them with the three letters, one for each column. Tell

8 students the topic of your unit or lesson. Ask students to name as many things as they
know about that topic. Ask them to name what they want to know about that topic in
the form of a question. After the unit, come back to the chart and ask them what they
learned about that topic. Revisit the questions and find out if they did learn the answers.
If not, how could they learn that information?

Line Up/Fold the Line
Have participants line up by one criteria (number of years of experience as an
educator, birthday month, etc.) Then “fold the line” by having the last participant on

9 one side work with the first participant, the second- to-last participant work with the
second in line and so forth.

Tool Box of Strategies and Activities

Mix and Match
Each student gets a card; students find their matches and discuss; Cards may have

10 terms and definitions/affixes and roots/opposites/matching content, etc.

Numbered Heads Together
Students form groups and number off within the group (according to the smallest group

11 size). A question is asked, students have time to talk as a group and then the teacher
calls on one or two numbers to stand and give the group’s response.

Pass the Notecard
Students respond to a prompt or write a “ticket out” on a notecard, then form a circle.

12 The teacher plays music and when the music starts, students pass their notecards to the
left like “Hot Potato” until the music stops. The teacher calls on one or more students to
read what is on their card, then starts the music again and continues until appropriate.

Pick and Switch
Students each get a card with a question. They have time to think and record notes.

13 Students walk around the room and find a partner. They answer their own question and
then switch cards.

Sentence Generation
Teacher selects a visual, picture or diagram that captures a sample of complex text. The
visual should be labeled to align these sentences (1-3) in the text. In addition, the

14 sentences of the complex text should be targeted with sentence stems. Students
describe the visual using the labels and sentence stems. Next they write the sentences
describing the visual. Next the teacher gives them the text and they try to find the
sentence or sentences that most closely align with what they wrote. Students highlight
the sentences and then compare and contract with the sentences they wrote.

Sentence Stems
15 Posting and modeling sentence stems helps English learners practice the forms of

language that they need to communicate during content instruction.

Snowballs
On scratch paper, students write their names and answer a question that requires an

16 extended response. Students crumple the paper so it looks like a “snowball.” The
teacher collects snowballs from half the class in a box or another container. Then the
students who did not contribute a snowball select one from the container. They open
the snowball and find the person who wrote it. The students meet and the snowball
writer explains his or her answer. The other student may comment or ask another
question. Next, teacher collects snowballs from the other half of the class and repeats
the process. At the end, students may share out their or their partner’s response.

Stand Up/Sit Down
Call out a criteria and have participants stand up or sit down depending on their answer

17 (e.g., fact/opinion; agree/disagree; answer a vs. answer b, etc.)

Tool Box of Strategies and Activities

Stir the Class
Students are asked to walk slowly around the classroom until the teacher calls

18 “Freeze”. They are then asked to group themselves with other nearby students in
group sizes that are determined by a problem posed by the teacher (How many sides
are in a triangle? How many musicians in a quartet?). Once students are grouped, they
respond to questions concerning the learning topic. This procedure is repeated to
change groups and group sizes, and to increase the oral interactions.

Talking Chips
This activity is a great activity for building oral language development. Form student
groups of 4-6 students. Give each student one or more talking chips (lego pieces,

19 math manipulatives, poker chips, paper clips, pennies, etc.) Display questions or
discussion prompts and have students discuss in their groups. When a student
responds, she has to place her talking chip into the center of the table and then
cannot speak once she has put all her chips in the center. You can also give out
different colored chips (or pennies and nickels) for students to use one color as an
original idea, one for adding on or questioning a peer.

Teach the Text Backwards (see additional handouts)
Teach the Text Backwards is a reading comprehension strategy that focuses on
building oral language and content comprehension before reading the text.

20 Contrasted with the traditional model of reading when texts are assigned first and
then students answer questions and come to class to discuss, hands-on, meaningful
activities tied to the content are done first, then students discuss the material, adding
to their vocabulary around the topic, students then preview the questions or ask their
own questions about the material. The last step is to read the text, circling back to the
questions to see if they can answer the questions based on the text.

Think-Pair-Share
21 Partners are asked to think about the answer to a question. Next, they pair with a

partner to discuss their answers. Finally, they share their common answer with the
entire class.

Think-Pair-Share-Squared
This learning structure begins in the same way as Think-Pair-Share. However, after

22 two students have partnered and shared their information, they partner with
another pair (squared) and discuss what they have talked about as partners. At this
point, all four students share information.

Tool Box of Strategies and Activities

Total Physical Response (TPR)
23 This is an approach to working with English learners using a lot of motion, gestures, and

actions. This method connects physical movement with language. The teacher models by
using the target language while moving and students use whole-body actions to follow
along and practice the target language.

Video Observation Guide
Teacher prepares a graphic organizer for students to listen to a video clip or radio

24 program, checking off vocabulary as they hear it, sorting it, or recording notes. Teacher
may also consider creating cloze sentences for students to take notes and fill in, but
then having students work in pairs to answer only even or odd sentences, building in
conversation in order to complete the graphic organizer together. This also divides the
challenging listening aspect.
.

Visual Puzzle Activity
Documents, pictures or artworks are cut out into puzzle pieces and distributed to

25 students; Students first have to find their group, then assemble the puzzle and finally
talk through some guided questions or comments.

.
Writing from Boxes/Sentences from Boxes

Display the sentences from boxes sheet at the front of the room or give each student
a copy. Explain that students will use these boxes as a tool to write sentences. Model
writing a sentence for the students. Show them how you start each sentence with the
26 frame on the left (e.g., I see the ). Write that frame on a separate piece of paper. Then
you choose the boxes that correspond with the rest of the sentence. Show students
the whole sentence. Read it as a class. Then guide the students in using the boxes to
write a sentence on their own paper. Finally, have the students work in pairs to write
their own sentences. Have students continue in this manner until they’ve written
sentences for each of the stems on the left.
This activity can also be done as an oral activity.

Online Resources

Online Dictionaries

• http://www.wordsmyth.net/ – An online, leveled, dictionary
with word explorer component. There are also additional
features, such as a glossary maker and quiz maker (including
cloze quizzes).

• http://www.ldoceonline.com/ – Longman’s online dictionary provides definitions
and sentences.

Games and Activities

• http://quizlet.com On this site you can create vocabulary sets that can be used for
various learning and practice activities.

• http://www.wordle.net/ – This site allows you to make word clouds.
• http://www.visuwords.com/ – Visuwords provides color-coded semantic clouds for

key words.
• http://graphwords.com/- A visual thesaurus
• http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker – An open access site

that allows you to make puzzles and vocabulary games.
• http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/gameboard.htm- Free game boards exported

to Microsoft Word.
• http://people.uncw.edu/ertzbergerj/word_games.html- free game boards exported

to Microsoft Word.

Stock Photo Sites

• http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml – Royalty-free government stock photo
site.

• http://www.sxc.hu/ – Royalty free and open access stick photo site.
• http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/ – Clip art and stock photos.

Other

• http://wordsift.com/ – Online resource identifies important words that appear in
the text and connects those words to images and a visual thesaurus entry (semantic
map).

• http://www.lexile.com/ – You can upload a text selection and an output provides
the lexile level of the selection.
http://wordgen.serpmedia.org - Free, downloadable lessons with vocabulary
and language built into engaging grade-level lessons focused on
argumentation.