Combine Love of Competition with Fun of Playdoh

When targeting vocab instruction, students need multiple exposures to a word. They need to work with the word many times and in various ways. Applying the word and playing with it in different contexts helps students come to understand a concept's deep meaning.

One strategy for playing with a word's meaning is to use Playdoh. Students can "make the word." This doesn't mean spell out the word with Playdoh, but rather make something that represents the word's meaning.

This strategy isn't new, but maybe you could adjust it slightly and ramp-up the energy by making it a competitive game rather than just a group activity. Provide groups of students a container or two of Playdoh. Announce a term and give the groups two minutes to create something that visually represents the term's meaning. Then each group stands up, reveals their creation, and explains how it defines the word's meaning. This might include them making several parts to their Playdoh creation and even moving them about when giving their explanation. (NOTE: The power of this activity is in the students' explanations and rationale for what they made. This will demonstrate their level of understanding.)

Following the group explanations you can have a short conversation about their creations, validating correct information and clarifying misunderstandings. Award points to the team with the best Playdoh creation and move onto another term.

TECHNOLOGY NOTE: Those with digital technology can have students show-and-tell for all to see by placing their handmade creations under the document camera. Also, if you teach multiple class periods, you might want to have your digital camera ready to take photographs of the best creations that represent word meanings. By showing a creation from another class period, students can learn from their peers.