Vocabulary Squares

[Rafael Nowning]

Understandinghow to use new words correctly is important. You have to have a thorough understanding of what the word means; you also have to know what it does not mean. One of the best ways to do this is to create a specific image in your mind to help you retain the definition. This is where the strategy of creating vocabulary squares comes in handy!

Are you looking for a new way to tackle vocabulary? Try the Vocabulary 4-Square Graphic Organizers. There are 13 options to choose from. These organizers will ask your student to define, illustrate, identify the synonym/antonym of a word, and or write a sentence using the word. There are different variations presented to meet a multitude of needs including blank versions. Take a look at all of the Vocabulary 4-Square Graphic Organizers available in this pack. You are sure to find just the right one to fit your individual needs.

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The first five vocabulary 4-square graphic organizers feature four guidelines for the student to complete on an assigned word: definition, synonym, illustration, and sentence. 2 blank versions are also included for your own convenience. This is convenient for teachers who want more flexibility or want to add their own personal touch. Once a student has written their vocabulary word in the center, he or she is required to define the word, find its synonyms, draw a picture representing the word, and then construct a sentence highlighting the vocabulary word. You have a choice between the single, double, or quadruple organizer.

To maximize space, the last six organizers offer room for four words per page. There is a blank organizer for those looking for an option not offered. Among the 13 4-square graphic organizers, there is sure to be one that works for you and your students.

For practicality, slide the grid sheet and vocabulary sheet into clear plastic sleeves and use a dry erase marker to fill in the grid and to match up vocabulary. Wipe clean when finished and it is ready to use again.

I wanted to share a very simple, yet effective tool for helping students build vocabulary skills. Vocabulary Squares are a way for students to record new vocabulary terms, explore their meaning, and begin using them in communication.

When a student is introduced to a new vocabulary word or phrase, they can record information about it in a page like the one below (feel free to click on the link below the picture to open up a downloadable version).

Thinking about how terms are connected is much deeper than simply defining the terms. You can do this easily by writing some terms on index cards. In groups, students determine how the terms are connected then explain their reasons aloud or on paper. They might also write on the arrows to show the connections.

I was thinking about how many of our anchor charts are teacher-made. Sure, we get student input, but what if we had a way to really include students in our anchor chart-making process? Collaborative anchor charts are made by groups of students after completing a task.

Explicitly teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade science content vocabulary just got simpler! Instead of looking for examples, images, and definitions on your own, the work is done for you! Use for word walls!

You provided educators with many different resources to help students learn the crucial academic language that they will be assessed on. Not only did you include vocabulary activities, but you also provided ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge through demo/experiments. I really like all 10 of your examples on how to teach students vocabulary. Some science vocabulary terms are hard to comprehend/remember, and these different learning opportunities will help students with the vocabulary. When students understand the vocabulary, it is easier for them to use inquiry to develop experiments to learn more about the are being taught. It is not only helping them with science but it is also increasing students skills in literacy. Thank you for sharing.

As a new teacher, I struggled to plan engaging, rigorous science lessons. Throughout my time teaching upper elementary and in my graduate studies, I discovered what worked well and developed science curriculum for busy teachers. Now, teachers across the country use Science Penguin activities every single day in their classrooms!

Of course, you want students to learn many other words, these are fringe vocabulary. But by focusing on core words you are teaching them a vocabulary that is used most often throughout the day and that they can use throughout their daily lives from classroom to playground to cafeteria to home.

We started-off in Part One with suggestions from Katie Brown, Jane Fung, Marilee Sprenger and Karen Bromley, and you can also listen to a ten-minute conversation I had with Katie and Marilee about this topic on my BAM! Radio Show.

The best instructional strategies for vocabulary development are grounded in an evidence-based model of vocabulary instruction. As a result of both our research and practice, we understand that vocabulary instruction requires more than simply asking students to look up a list of words, define them, and use them in a sentence. Vocabulary instruction needs to enable students to develop an interest and curiosity about learning words, provide students with rich and varied language experiences, provide instruction on specific words, and teach students strategies for approaching new words. These four components comprise a comprehensive model of vocabulary instruction.

Students develop an interest and curiosity about learning words in classroom environments filled with books, magazines, and word games with opportunities to use them on on a daily basis. Students learn many more words than those that are directly taught through reading widely and deeply on topics of interest, having chances to use new words in discussion and writing, in keeping personal word journals, and in playing with words. We ask teachers to try 3X5---take three minutes a day, 5 days a week to share a word riddle, a pun or a word puzzle. This helps students develop interest and curiosity about word learning making them likely to engage with instruction on specific words and strategies for approaching new words.

Effective instructional strategies for vocabulary are those that are rooted in helping students develop a conceptual understanding of the words they are learning.. There are many evidence-based instructional strategies for teaching specific words. Some that we consistently use include word sorts, knowledge ratings, word maps, and vocabulary frames (Cobb & Blachowicz, 2014). These strategies provide students with opportunities to actively engage with and manipulate words. They can also serve as diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to giving teachers clues to guide instruction.

Students also need to develop word-learning strategies. This includes teaching the range of context clues, (i.e., definition, synonym, antonym, example) and helping student learn to look around the word (context clues) as well as within the word (word parts) when they are trying to determine the meaning of a new word.

Most importantly, vocabulary instruction needs to be consistent and intentional. Students need multiple opportunities to encounter words in a variety of contexts. Teachers need to embed vocabulary instruction into all subject areas and make time for engaged vocabulary instruction each day.

Katherine S. McKnight is an educator, award-winning author, and consultant specializing in adolescent literacy. She is the author of Common Core Literacy for ELA, History/Social Studies, and the Humanities: Strategies to Deepen Content Knowledge and Common Core Literacy for Math, Science, and Technical Subjects: Strategies to Deepen Content Knowledge. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter:

Our ultimate goal is to encourage transfer of learning, so we must teach students about words. Instead of focusing on long lists of words, carefully choose some to explicitly introduce, but focus instruction on using context and other resources to figure out meanings. Most importantly, model and give students the opportunities to absorb words into their spoken and written vocabulary.

Susan Chenelle is in her seventh year of teaching English and journalism at University Academy Charter High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. She is co-author, with Audrey A. Fisch, of the Using Informational Text to Teach Literature series from Rowman & Littlefield Education:

In accordance with the Common Core State Standards, I have students practice their dictionary skills to define a word and/or determine how a word is being used in a particular context. On other days, I give them sample sentences so that they can practice using context clues. I use fill-in-the-blank questions to reinforce student awareness of various forms of a vocabulary word.

Rigorous and meaningful vocabulary activities can also be fun. The vocabulary skits my students create and perform skits are often quite hilarious, but also allow the class to hear our new words used in various ways in a short timeframe. And the vocabulary squares (Burke) and illustrations (Antinarella) my students create provide visual reminders of word meanings all around my classroom.

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Students learn genetics vocabulary (traits, hereditary, dominant, recessive) and Punnett Squares with this NO PREP digital resource. The information on these Google Slides is interactive with drag and drop activities. Use as a stand-alone lesson to teach the basics of Genetics, or a comprehensive reinforcement after an introduction to the concepts.

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