Vocabulary and Group Dynamics

I know many ELA teachers in particular who dread teaching vocabulary.  It seems like nothing but rote memorization and engagement is difficult.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, Ms. Baldwin teaches two eighth grade classes back to back.  It was interesting to see how the two groups responded to traditional vocabulary learning in very different ways.  The first group- comprised of a variety of high flying students- remained relatively engaged with the material.  At least, they participated and followed along.  They offered examples to go along with the root words (hyper, morph, poly) and wrote the words on flashcards.

The second group is heavily comprised of boys.  They all sit on one side of the classroom and tend to distract each other.  Ms. Baldwin threatened to separate them after many interruptions and disruptions.  Because she had to stop and address so many behavioral distractions, I felt the conversation between the class lagged considerably.  They did not ask about some of the words as much as the first class and it was harder to keep track of their progress.  In fact, Ms. Baldwin even had to directly tell them to write the assignments in their assignment books, checking to make sure they did-- something that was not explicitly brought up in the first class.

As teachers, we will obviously have a variety of groups.  It's interesting to see how much of a role group dynamics play within the classroom and strategies to work with those group dynamics effectively.

The classes are working on independent reading projects.  They can choose how to display their understanding of their individual reading books.  Some students made powerpoints. Some made movies.  Some made collages and posters.  They all had to address the essential question:  What is the purpose and importance of independent reading?

The students of both classes seemed engaged in these projects.  They were approaching the same question in different ways.  Students could collaborate with each other and offer input.