Extra Credit Vocabulary

Vocabulary for ANY subject – ANY grade level

Educators strive to increase their students’ vocabulary bank across the board. Many students do not come to school with a depth of knowledge concerning words; therefore, teachers have to play catch-up to help those students. The students who do come to school with a robust schema concerning vocabulary words must continue to be challenged daily. I know this has been the case with me and my students. Fortunately, there are methods that can be utilized within the classroom which does not take away from the curriculum.

You can try this during the last few weeks of schools which will really help those students earn a few extra points to bump their grade to the next level.

Here is a suggestion:

Preparation

• Find academic words which are 1 – 2 grade levels above the level you teach. Here are a couple of websites to reference:
  • Greatschools.org – First, scroll to the bottom of the page and change the grade level to the one you seek
  • SAT Vocabulary Words
• First, choose 5 words that could relate to the material that you will cover for that week. Let them know what is the minimum of words they need to use for that week. (In the Word Document and the PDF, it states 3).
• On the first day of the school week, let the students and their parents know what the words are for the week.
  • Post to your online classroom
  • Hang the words with the definitions up around the classroom
  • Include in your classroom newsletter/homework packet/etc.
• If you choose to use the electronic form, include the number of points the student earned for that word, so they can keep track as well.

During the Week

• Provide a couple of examples of how to use the words in context. My suggestion is to use some examples that are already on the internet and inform the students you have familiarized yourself with sentences that are on the internet.
• Let students know that they need to correctly use the words in context (written and/or verbal). In other words, the students should not get credit for coming up with a random sentence out of the blue to get credit.
• Keep track of the words that they have correctly used. You can do this 2 different ways.
  • X-tra Credit Voc. Words – Word Document or PDF
    • Purchase big ring clips, so you can keep the miniature forms separated by class
    • Initial each one indicating that you approve of how they used the word
    • On the Friday of the prior week, either you print and cut the form for the following week or ask if a student office aide could assist with the task
    • Each week, use different colored paper, or use paper with some type of design
  • X-tra Credit Voc. Words – Google Form – Make a master copy for yourself
    • Each week, provide a different Google Form link, so you can then go into the file to determine who used which words
    • Have the student immediately fill out a Google Form indicating what word was used.
    • In the master form, click on Responses. Then click on the plus sign in the green square to download the responses. On the sheets document, you can include your initials or highlight the ones that you approve
• Encourage students to write the sentence(s) they use and post them inside and outside of the classroom. As a result, this shows everyone that vocabulary is meant to be embraced for long periods of time.
• Throughout the week, you try to use the words as many times as possible, so this will encourage the students to do so as well.

Follow up

• Reinforce correctly spelled word(s) when submitting the passes (paper or electronic) to you.
• You could create class charts to track which class is using the most words and possible give a class reward. In other words, create some healthy competition.
• Be sure to put their extra credit points in the gradebook right away, so the students know that this is important to you as well
• More importantly, send home encouraging notes or phone calls to parents whose child used all 5 words during the week
• If you feel that the words you are using are too easy, then bump up the level.
• Additionally, encourage students to bring in words that could potentially be added to the list you create.

Above all, make this exciting. Providing opportunities such as this is supposed to motivate students to want to learn more on their own without having to be directed by someone.