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You are here: Home / Writing and Literacy / Improving Student Vocabulary: Free Word of the Day Activity

March 9, 2020 by: topteaching

Improving Student Vocabulary: Free Word of the Day Activity

Improving Student Vocabulary. The goal of improving student vocabulary should be front and centre for all teachers. Vocabulary development is important for all students, especially for their development of reading comprehension and writing skills. In fact, research has shown that children with larger vocabularies achieve better results at school. This looks at strategies for improving student vocabulary and offers a free Word of the Day vocabulary resource.

The goal of improving student vocabulary should be front and centre for all teachers – it really is that important. Vocabulary development is enormously vital for all students, especially for their development of reading comprehension and writing skills. In fact, research has shown that children with larger vocabularies achieve better results at school, including higher reading achievement in particular.

Unfortunately, research also shows that many students are coming to school with underdeveloped oral language skills. So what can we do to improve student vocabulary?

As The Oxford Language Report states:

Language opens doors. It unlocks the world of reading and the imagination, the excitement of writing, the capacity to explore new subjects and releases our potential to learn and grow as an individual.

Definition picture

How do we improve student vocabulary?

Alex Quigley, author of the book “Closing the Vocabulary Gap” suggests that we should improve student vocabulary using explicit instruction. I really like his SEEC ((Select, Explain, Explore, Consolidate) model:

Select words for students; both subject-specific words that they need to know and interesting words to enlarge and improve their vocabulary.

Explain by showing the correct pronunciation and providing or collectively looking for a student-friendly definition.

Explore the word’s morphology and meaning – how the word is formed its relationship to other words, such as root words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms and antonyms.

Consolidate. Students need regular and repeated opportunities to use their new words. Dominican Online explains that “Students must use a new word 10 to 16 times before it sinks in.”

Free Word of the Day activity

Improving Student Vocabulary. The goal of improving student vocabulary should be front and centre for all teachers. Vocabulary development is important for all students, especially for their development of reading comprehension and writing skills. This blog post looks at strategies for improving student vocabulary and offers a free Word of the Day vocabulary resource.

Our Free Word of the Day activity is a simple way to select, explain and explore new words (don’t forget to continue with the consolidation stage, too).

I suggest enlarging the poster and laminating it for durability. This also means you can write the new word on each day (or week if you prefer). Use post-it notes underneath each arrow to record results, or attach the poster to the whiteboard and write straight onto the board.

Your other option is to photocopy the smaller sheets provided and use this as a worksheet for individual students or groups to complete.

I’ve provided two options: one poster has students’ identify vowels while the other has students’ identify the antonym of the chosen word.

Free Word of the Day activity. Improving Student Vocabulary. The goal of improving student vocabulary should be front and centre for all teachers - it really is that important. Vocabulary development is important for all students, especially for their development of reading comprehension writing skills. Research has shown that children with larger vocabularies achieve better results at school. This blog post looks at strategies for improving student vocabulary and offers a free Word of the Day vocabulary resource.

Our Other Vocabulary Resources

We have two great sets of digital task cards to help students explore vocabulary and understand how words work.

Vocabulary Digital Task Cards. Go paperless with our Google Slides-ready vocabulary language writing resource! 50 interactive slides. Mobile Learning. Google Resource. Digital Classroom. They are great for early finishers, bell ringer activities, learning about poetry, or homework. Activities for context clues, Prefixes and Suffixes, Greek and Latin Roots in 4th Grade and 5th Grade classrooms. #DigitalClassroom #Vocabulary #GoogleSlidesVocabulary

Develop your students’ ability to use context clues, prefixes and suffixes and Greek and Latin roots. This understanding helps in their writing AND their reading comprehension! Click here to see more.

Vocabulary digital task cards. Vocabulary Digital Task Cards. Go paperless with our Google Slides-ready vocabulary language writing resource! 50 interactive slides. Mobile Learning. Google Resource. Digital Classroom. They are great for early finishers, bell ringer activities, and home learning.

Develop your students’ ability to use proverbs and adages, synonyms and antonyms, homographs and homophones. This understanding helps in their writing AND their reading comprehension! Click here to see more.

Grammar and Literacy Skills

If you are looking for a way of exploring vocabulary and word work within a wider writing skills resource, check out our Literacy Skills Activities. These come in Year 3-4, Year 5-6 and Year 7-8 packs.

Did you say freebie?

Improving Student Vocabulary. The goal of improving student vocabulary should be front and centre for all teachers. Vocabulary development is important for all students, especially for their development of reading comprehension and writing skills. This blog post looks at strategies for improving student vocabulary and offers a free Word of the Day vocabulary resource.

Sign up to our newsletter and you will gain access to our free resource library, including our Word for the Day poster!

Any tips for improving student vocabulary? Share in the comments section below.

Onwards and upwards,

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