A Gargantuan Vocabulary
"Look it up in the dictionary." This teacher's mantra took a new twist in my composition class this semester.
I offered extra credit to students who looked up new words they encountered in the course of their reading. (The dictionary itself was off-limits as a "mine" of new words. It was to be used only for information on words first encountered elsewhere.) To get extra credit, they had to fill out a form listing the word, its part of speech, a definition, and the word used in a sentence. If they shared their findings with the class they got an additional extra credit point.
The other students were to take notes on vocabulary words being introduced, in order to score well on a vocabulary quiz at the end of the quarter. Those who looked up the words originally will get only a proportionate number of extra credit points, based on their percentage score on the quiz. (They and I understand this. Don't worry if you don't.)
The students unofficially and unknowingly sorted themselves into groups: 1) Those who liked expanding their vocabulary for any reason, or none at all 2) Those who grasped desperately at the extra credit opportunity 3) Those who groaned at having to learn all those words 4) Those who took it all in stride, without much irritation or passion.
I wrote the quiz on all 102 words last week, and then took it myself without looking back at my notes. I divided all the words into seven segments of "matching" questions, with 16 words in each grouping. I missed only two answers, by switching the definition of two words with similar meanings, so I think it's a fair test for students who are expected to spend some time studying in preparation for the test.
Only a few were words I had never encountered before. Williwaw and cadge are two that come to mind, but I would not have been able to produce a definition for many of the other words. They fall into the "readily recognized in context" category for me.
The payoff came for the students in being able to use their-newly acquired vocabulary in writing assignments. I loved seeing this whenever it happened.
Last week I worked on grading their research papers, and found that three of them had used the word "gargantuan" in their papers. That vocabulary word must have made a gargantuan impression.
********************
I got the feeling several times during the semester that some students were spending time trying to earn extra credit points while they should have been concentrating more on doing well on the routine assignments. But a bargain is a bargain, and I consoled myself with the knowledge that the expanded vocabulary might be as memorable and necessary as anything I might concoct and assign.
Letting students feel that they're pulling a "fast one" on a teacher probably doesn't hurt, as long as the "trick" results in solid learning.
I offered extra credit to students who looked up new words they encountered in the course of their reading. (The dictionary itself was off-limits as a "mine" of new words. It was to be used only for information on words first encountered elsewhere.) To get extra credit, they had to fill out a form listing the word, its part of speech, a definition, and the word used in a sentence. If they shared their findings with the class they got an additional extra credit point.
The other students were to take notes on vocabulary words being introduced, in order to score well on a vocabulary quiz at the end of the quarter. Those who looked up the words originally will get only a proportionate number of extra credit points, based on their percentage score on the quiz. (They and I understand this. Don't worry if you don't.)
The students unofficially and unknowingly sorted themselves into groups: 1) Those who liked expanding their vocabulary for any reason, or none at all 2) Those who grasped desperately at the extra credit opportunity 3) Those who groaned at having to learn all those words 4) Those who took it all in stride, without much irritation or passion.
I wrote the quiz on all 102 words last week, and then took it myself without looking back at my notes. I divided all the words into seven segments of "matching" questions, with 16 words in each grouping. I missed only two answers, by switching the definition of two words with similar meanings, so I think it's a fair test for students who are expected to spend some time studying in preparation for the test.
Only a few were words I had never encountered before. Williwaw and cadge are two that come to mind, but I would not have been able to produce a definition for many of the other words. They fall into the "readily recognized in context" category for me.
The payoff came for the students in being able to use their-newly acquired vocabulary in writing assignments. I loved seeing this whenever it happened.
Last week I worked on grading their research papers, and found that three of them had used the word "gargantuan" in their papers. That vocabulary word must have made a gargantuan impression.
********************
I got the feeling several times during the semester that some students were spending time trying to earn extra credit points while they should have been concentrating more on doing well on the routine assignments. But a bargain is a bargain, and I consoled myself with the knowledge that the expanded vocabulary might be as memorable and necessary as anything I might concoct and assign.
Letting students feel that they're pulling a "fast one" on a teacher probably doesn't hurt, as long as the "trick" results in solid learning.
posted by Mrs. I at
12:39 PM
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