Reuse Reduce Recycle - It´s Easy to Do

Dear Agony Aunt,

I really love Spanish. I am crazy about studying Spanish but you know what, my teachers never make me really learn and remember new words. They don´t mind I struggle for the same word again and again (what the hell is the word for Thursday? miércoles, jueves or viernes?). They don´t even care that I keep using the same Spanglish words again and again and that I use gestures for many basic words repeatedly even though I am at least a B1 student! We always cover a topic, practise a list of words in one or two exercises and then we jump to a completely different topic immediately. This is soooo frustrating :( What shall I do with (or to) my teacher?

Cariñosos saludos

Katka

Well, the topic for the next two weeks is obviously how to recycle vocabulary and language. You all know it is not enough to encounter the new word once or twice. It is not even enough to meet the word five times or seven times as we were taught at university :) I have read that students should be exposed to each word s-i-x-t-e-e-n times to activate the word. Wow. How can this be done? The syllabus is tight. Even if the book is good enough to present the words in the context, present topical vocabulary via vocab banks, provide one or two exercises for the more or less controlled practise, ask your students to test each other to help memorization, and encouraging to use the words in real-life production tasks, it is still not enough. The topics change from file to file, from lesson to lesson. We start in the kitchen, jump to the ZOO, talk about the family and heritage and end up talkng about the environment … and recycling.

Source: www.flickr.com

Help me! How can I explain to my former and current teachers what recycling vocabulary or language means? Why don´t you take some notes and then create a nice mind map using the text2mindmap machine. Or, would you like to make a simple list of vocabulary activities to illustrate the point? 

How can one describe the process of recycling vocabulary?
Is it similar to the vocabulary practise and revision and practise?

When do you recycle vocabulary? At the beginning of the lesson? At the very end? Every lesson? Before a test? Once in a blue moon?

Let us know using Padlet/Wallwisher. Read the comments and then add yours by a double clic. You can upload web links, pictures, videos, etc.

I´m sure you can list and use dozens of activities to recycle vocabulary. First, could you tick each activity from my list below that you have used in (one of) your courses since the beginning of the school year? Make sure to google activities which you do not know. 

Bingo

Pictionary

Memory Game/Pelmanism

Taboo/ Hot Seat

Call my bluff

Scattergories

Jeopardy

Charades

By the way, most of these games are based on popular card/board games and TV shows. Could you think of a good game you play with your kids or friends and bring it to your classroom? Let us know :)

Verunka received a board game yesterday from her friend. You just need a dice, a board with all the letters of the alphabet and counters. Players roll their dice and as they move to a certain letter of the alphabet, they have to say as many words beginning with the given letter as the die indicates. Too simple? Give it a try in Czech ...

Here are some vocabulary activities I like using or would like to use next week: 

Lucky eights

Announce a category (e.g. sports or phrases to express your opinion). Prepare your own list of eight words. Students work individually or in groups/pairs and make their own list of words that belong to the category. They get a point for each match.

‘Beep’ sentences
Read a sentence using the word you would like to recycle. Instead of saying the word, say ‘beep’ or ´banana´. Students guess the missing word. When students get the idea, pass them the word bag, so they can create their own sentences. Do not worry to recycle sentences from the book, etc.

Word of the day

Have a 'word of the day' for students/each student to use in class (or even a 'chunk of the day') as many times as possible. It works great for the functional language as well, e.g. phrases to express agreement/disagreement but even random words from your students´ vocab list can do the trick.

Draw and Roll: Split class into 2 teams. T says Draw a ______ and Ss should draw that vocabulary word. If the drawing is correct then the student rolls a dice for points.

Role-play conversations

Two students are given roles of a host and an interviewee on a talk show, for example. Put some vocabulary slips in front of them. They talk but the listening students are asked to call out „new word“ anytime they want a change. Then the person who is speaking has to pick up a slip of paper and use the word or phrase in their next sentence.

Use the same with prompts including speaking strategies, e.g. express hesitation, ask for repetition, disagree politely, be an active listener, etc.

Slap the board - A vocabulary revision activity

Put the vocabulary items on the board in any order. Form groups. Give a mother tongue translation or an English definition for one of the words on the board. The students have to recognise the word. They then run to the board and slap the correct word (with a fly swatter J) or circle the word or erase the word from the board using their sleeves…. The first person in each group to slap the right word gets a point.

What are some activities you like using? Could you share at least one with the rest of the group?

To sum up, I really like activities which involve students and their multiple intelligences. Make your students select and prepare the sentences, draw the pictures, sing the definitions, create their own picture dictionary using the google clipart pictures, etc.

I like flexible and easy-to-vary-and-adapt-and-recycle activities :) Surprise your students. Maybe you and your students are tired of drawing a Hangman. Then draw a crocodile eating a man or simply a smiley/frownie face. Or would a smiling crocodile eating the frowning Miloš Zeman or a poor teacher make your day?

Challenge your students by coming up with some surprising topics/less obvious categories/unusual instructions, e.g. apart from recycling Colours, Food, and Drinks, include a category such as „adjectives describing how an insect can move“.

Instead of drawing/miming/defining words, let students lip read the words you whisper which fit for example the category of sports.

Basically,

• do a little bit every lesson
• put students in charge
• keep it fun
• change the context from the original lesson and “exploit” your textbook

Your final task:  imagine the list of unrelated words your students have in their vocabulary notebooks. What activities based on this list could you do with the students in the class? What could be their task for homework?

Looking forward to your great activities and inspiring tips.

Katka