Vocabulary is the building blocks of language. As a lower
level German teacher, I teach a huge volume of new vocabulary to students in
all levels of German. If one really considers how large a task this is, it can
become overwhelming. We never know all the words in our native languages;
particularly when it comes to specialized lexicons. How daunting to learn
everything all over again in a new language!
That is why this chapter of Tierney & Readance is the
subject of this week’s blog. They provide excellent activities for building
vocabulary. It is important to have many tools at your disposal to provide
differentiated learning to diverse students and it is important to have a
variety so that students do not become bored with the same types of activities
over and over. I really liked that their strategies included useful advice on
how to implement the strategies in the classroom by providing pros and cons of
the strategies.
I intend to use a version of the contextualized vocabulary
activity in my classroom. I prefer types of activities in which students
construct their own knowledge. In the past I have struggled with ways to do this with
vocabulary, particularly in the beginning stages. Of course it is better if
students learn it in context! They will remember it much better than the
traditional flashcard method because it provides real meaning, not just
association.
No comments:
Post a Comment