Word Nerds: Celebrating Student Success

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite books pertaining to English Education.  I find the techniques and activities so valuable and purposeful.  I can't wait to put them in practice (except there's so many, I can't decide which ones are my favorites!)

The chapter, "Celebrate to Validate" mainly hones in on the importance of recognizing student achievement in the area of vocabulary while still creating atmospheres for learning.

One such activity is called Block Party.  This activity is still a learning activity, but also brings in components of community and social skills.  The students all wear lanyards with a word on it.  The first student stands up and invites all of the synonyms in the room to the party.  Then, he or she invites all of the antonyms.  This process continues for all of the main and connected words.  Once all of the words are "at the block party," the students need to mingle and meet the new acquaintances (i.e. the new words).  They have to introduce themselves (i.e. the word on their lanyard) and tell each other a little about themselves (i.e. the meaning of the word and important things to remember about the word).  Another valuable component about this activity is reinforcing social skills, particularly in terms of introducing one's self and maintaining conversation.  PLUS it's always a good idea to actually have snacks for the block party.

That is one example of many that were provided in this chapter.  The general idea is that students will really engage with the words and find the material enjoyable, while simultaneously getting rewarded for their hard work in vocabulary practice.  In order for this game to go smoothly, the students should have a base understanding of the words.  As they engage with each other, they can learn more and more about their own words, as well as the words of other people.