the ASK: I never seem to have enough approaches to teaching vocabulary. Here, I wondered how I could get students to construct deeper understandings of words by seeing them as “families.”
the TRY: I gave students a series of words that all had something to do with the concept of hubris. They had to investigate the words and somehow arrange them in a way that visually demonstrated their relationships to each other. Then, they each took a picture and annotated the image with the rationales of their thinking.
the LEARN: I learned that the more students see the relationships words have to each other, the more likely they are to add them to their vocabularies, rather than just define them for a lesson or quiz. I was also reminded that it’s so much easier to think about words this way when you’re organizing teaching around concepts and ideas.
Love this vocabulary concept?
What tool do students use to upload and then annotate their images? Thanks!
Hi Heather,
Great question! They just take a picture with their tablets and upload to GoodNotes, an app that our school uses. However, there are many apps that would allow you to write on a photo, depending on the age of your students. Hope this helps!
Sarah