Building Vocabulary with Graphic and Technological Supports

I get excited each year when the Massachusetts Reading Association (MRA) Primer calendar arrives. Full of fresh ideas, the editors and authors jam-pack the calendar with a wealth of information related to promising literacy instruction. Oftentimes, practices can be quickly and easily integrated into established routines. This year’s calendar is no exception. This post focuses on Catherine Steward’s (2018) feature page on promoting vocabulary development.

Steward (2018) emphasizes the “connection between vocabulary development and content learning,” and the importance of differentiating vocabulary instruction to support all readers (p.24). 

With this goal in mind, she offers the following resources:

1. Sensory Word Webs: These webs begin with a vocabulary word in the middle and branch out to include sensory words and phrases that relate to the vocabulary word (e.g., smells like…, tastes like… etc.).
2. Synonym and Antonym Cubes: Using a 3D cube printable, students are invited to write a vocabulary word on one side of the cube and three synonyms on the three other sides. Antonyms are written on the top and bottom of the cube. Cubes can then be collected in a container and used as a vocabulary building game where one student picks a cube and reads aloud the associated synonyms and antonyms in an effort to get other students to guess the word.
3. Blabberize: At https://blabberize.com/make, children and adults can bring vocabulary to life. The user uploads a picture representing the vocabulary term, places a “mouth” anywhere on the image, and then records what the mouth will say.  A definition, synonyms, antonyms, quotations from favorite books, or just about anything else that is helpful in remembering the term can be recorded. Blabberize is one of my favorites, as I have seen firsthand the motivational power of this web-based tool.

The interactive nature of the above-described vocabulary activities is intended to hook readers as they “create relationships between words” (Steward, 2018, p. 24).  Do you have any other ideas for differentiating vocabulary instruction in interactive ways? Share them with us in the comments.

The MRA Primer calendar is sent to members each year in January. You can become a MRA member at http://massreading.org/member/.

Steward, C. (2018). Vocabulary lessons from Hansel & Gretel, Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood. Massachusetts Reading Association Primer Calendar, 46 (1), 24.