The Family Word Sort is an excellent online resource to teach children different vocabulary words and word families. It is an excellent game where the children are given a vocabulary word and they have to choose which word family it falls under. The user begins by clicking on a vowel to begin a word sort with words in that vowel family. Then, they are given 28 words to sort into four different word families. Once the user has completed the chart, he/she can print off their word charts.I think this activity is helpful because it is a great activity for beginning or struggling readers. The vocabulary words it includes are short, simple words that children can sound out or break apart easily. This activity allows the children to visual see the differences and similarities among the vocabulary words they have to sort. Once they have completed the activity, they can check themselves by making sure they put the words in the correct categories. If they had made a mistake by accident, they can easily move the vocabulary word to its correct word family.
The only negative thing I don’t like about this activity is that whenever the user is finished with all the words, it doesn’t check to make sure they put the words in their correct word family. I would advise to have an adult present when a child is using this resource to monitor the child’s choices and make sure they are putting the words in the correct word family.
By: Amy Yarbrough
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By : Alyssa Sacco
3. http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/flip-chip-30031.html
Flip-a-Chip is a game on the website “Read Write Think.” This is an effective and fun game to build vocabulary comprehension skills for ELL students. Although the website says the game is intended for 6th-8th graders, I think students as young as 4th grade could use this website. Flip-a-Chip gives a fill in the blank story, and students click on a chip to “flip” it until the appropriate root word + suffix comes up to fill in the blank. This is a good activity because it shows students how to put together affixes and roots to form significant and appropriate vocabulary words. It also promotes the use of context clues, which is an important skill for children to acquire. I would use this activity in an ELL classroom because it teaches them how to create meaningful words that are different from how they are formed in the Spanish language. I would utilize this resource by having them do the fill in the blank story, read it out loud, and then create their own words to make a story. This would give them several opportunities to develop their English language proficiency.
By: D’Anna Siciliano
4. http://www.fekids.com/kln/games/wordjungle/
Word Jungle is a wonderful website to help students truly comprehend vocabulary words. It not only helps the students, but it is incorporated into a game format so students will have fun while learning. Vocabulary is key in reading so the students will understand what they are reading. The game is really easy once you learn the instructions. It is an interactive game where the child plays as a character of a monkey. At the top of the page a question appears such as what word means “to send a ball through the air towards a basket?” Then on the side there are several words that the answer could be and the child picks an answer. If the student gets it right then the monkey goes through an obstacle without falling. This game is so helpful with vocabulary because it asks students what words are similar and sometimes it gives the definition and the student has to pick the right word. The game is intended for 3rd graders, but I think this could be great for ELL’s. This game helps students get to know vocabulary while mixing things up so that the student really understand the meaning for words. This game really is helpful for improving vocabulary skills. Vocabulary is so important for literacy skills and this game will help!
In Hedgie's Alphabet, there is a vocabulary game in which there are five or six different words in a word bank and different pictures with blanks next to them. The target of the game is to match up the vocabulary words to each of the pictures, accurately. Once the first level is completed, then you can move on to the next level, in which the level of vocabulary increases in difficulty. This activity/game is great for vocabulary development, because students can read the vocabulary word and then see pictures that can activate background knowledge and lead them to make connections between the two. This game also has a great feature in which "Hedgie" the hedgehog reads out the vocabulary word that matches the picture when you scroll your mouse over it. This is helpful because when a student may be struggling between a word or two, this feature can give them the answer. Also, even though the student may hear the word, they too have to read the word so that they can make a connection between the oral word and written word, so they still have to practice their reading skills. However, the best way to use this feature is to check for accuracy, rather than just look for the right answer. The downside to this feature in the game is that students may abuse this feature and instead of making educated guesses for words they are unsure of, they simply just scroll over the picture for the answer. Overall, this is a fun way for students to develop their vocabulary, if used properly.
By: Noura Wakim
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