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Effectiveness of vocabulary games should be based on a relevant topic students feel comfortable understanding.
It is best to use common nouns with any vocabulary game because verbs and prepositions can be difficult to communicate with pictures. Be sure the image has enough clues to enable to student to correctly identify the word.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom  (p.14 ). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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When creating new vocabulary games, each game should be constructed into five categories:
- Design: The overall object of the game
- Materials: This section may vary greatly but will include any materials needed to complete the game.
- Set up: Preparations needed in advance
- Play: Outline or rules of game
- Vocabulary Words: Provided list of words that will be discovered or re-emphasized during the game.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p.8-10, 14). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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Classroom games can be adapted for younger students in the following ways:
- Provide students with a shorter list of terms, maybe only two to three words long
- Provide a photography instead of a puzzle that students must put together
- Ask students to construct only a sentence about what they see rather than the whole story
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p.20 ). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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Ideally, after each game is played, students should review the terms in their vocabulary notebooks that were addressed in the games.
Teachers should have students make changes in their vocabulary notebooks. Ideally, after each game is played, students should review the terms in their vocabulary notebooks that were addressed in the games. While students are reviewing the terms in their vocabulary notebooks, they should be asked to add anything new they learned about the terms as a result of the games and change anything about a term they realized was inaccurate.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p.6 ). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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Only teachers know their class well enough to decide how much competition is appropriate.
Only teachers know their class well enough to decide how much competition is appropriate. Should teachers decide to award points and select winners, we do not recommend that points from games be used when grading students. This does not mean that a game cannot be used for formative evaluation, quite the contrary. During play, teachers can glean valuable information as feedback to guide instructional discussions.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p.5 ). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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Teachers should identify what students know and do not know about the difficult terms.
Teachers should identify what students know and do not know about the difficult terms. When it is clear that students are having difficulty with a term, the teacher should determine whether their difficulty arises because they do not understand critical characteristics of the term or because they are inaccurate about some of the critical characteristics of a term.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p.6 ). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory. Back to top |
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A process for teaching new terms in six steps
Dr. Marzano’s rationale is a comprehensive schoolwide or districtwide approach to the direct instruction in academic terms as well as terms necessary for general literacy. This recommendation can be attempted by using the following six steps:
- Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
- Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.
- Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term.
- Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of terms in their notebooks.
- Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.
- Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms. (Marzano & Pickering, 2005, pp. 14-15)
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom  (p. 1). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory. |
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Direct vocabulary instruction is fundamental to effective teaching.
Direct vocabulary instruction is fundamental to effective teaching. Our knowledge about and understanding of any topic is rooted in our mastery of the terms relevant to that topic. To some degree, this is common sense. Consider social studies students learning about the U.S. government. Certainly they must have a firm grasp on terms such as executive, legislative, judicial, presidency, bill, amendment, and vote (among others) in order to demonstrate proficiency for learning goals on this topic. In other words, there is a direct link between an understanding of academic vocabulary and an understanding of academic content
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p. 1). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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Data collected as far back as 1941 indicate there is roughly a 6,000-word gap between students at the 25th and 50th percentiles on standardized test in grades 4-12.
What is also clear is that there is a vast difference in the vocabularies of low-versus high-achieving students. Data collected as far back as 1941 indicate there is roughly a 6,000-word gap between students at the 25th and 50th percentiles on standardized test in grades 4-12. Since the 1980’s, researchers have estimated the difference to be anywhere between 4,500 and 5,400 words for lower-versus high-achieving students (for a discussion, see Marzano, 2009). This means we can take the commonsense connection between vocabulary and content one step further and conclude tha the size of a student’s vocabulary is directly related to his or her academic achievement.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p. 1). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory |
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Vocabulary games should be seen as one part of a systematic approach to direct vocabulary instruction.
Vocabulary games should be seen as one part of a systematic approach to direct vocabulary instruction. As the steps in the preceding tip indicate, the teacher should introduce new terms to students in an informal manner via descriptions, explanations, or examples (step1). Next, Students should restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words (step 2) and construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representation of the term (step 3). Ideally, the results of steps 2 and 3 are recorded in a vocabulary notebook.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p. 2). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory
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Research indicates that the size of a student's vocabulary is directly related to his or her academic achievement.
Data collected as far back as 1941 indicate there is roughly a 6,000-word gap between students at the 25th and 50th percentiles on standardized tests in grades 4–12. Since the 1980s, researchers have estimated the difference to be anywhere between 4,500 and 5,400 words for lowversus high-achieving students (for a discussion, see Marzano, 2009). This means we can take the commonsense connection between vocabulary and content one step further and conclude that the size of a student’s vocabulary is directly related to his or her academic achievement.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p. 1). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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Although games should be fun, even more importantly, they should be viewed as one part of a systematic approach to direct vocabulary instruction.
To a great extent, this book is a complement to three other books on vocabulary instruction: Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools (Marzano, 2004), Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher’s Manual (Marzano & Pickering, 2005), and Teaching Basic and Advanced Vocabulary: A Framework for Direct Instruction (Marzano, 2009). Together, those books lay out the rationale for a comprehensive schoolwide or districtwide approach to direct instruction in academic terms as well as terms necessary for general literacy. Those books recommend a process for teaching new terms, which includes the following six steps:
- Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
- Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.
- Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term.
- Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of terms in their notebooks.
- Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.
- Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms. (Marzano & Pickering, 2005, pp. 14–15)
The focus of this book is obviously on the sixth step of the overall process—playing with new terms through games.
Although this book does not address the first five steps, it is important to keep them in mind when using the games described in this book. That is, vocabulary games should not be played just for fun (although they are fun, and teachers should capitalize on the energy and excitement that they generate). Rather, vocabulary games should be seen as one part of a systematic approach to direct vocabulary instruction.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p. 2). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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It is recommended that schools or districts create lists of academic terms for core content areas at each grade level, which teachers can incorporate in classroom games.
As described in Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement (2004) and Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher’s Manual (2005), it is recommended that schools or entire districts create lists of academic terms for core content areas at each grade level. If the school or district has done this, then teachers will want to incorporate those terms into the games described in this book. Teachers might also use the terms in the appendix to supplement the list generated by the district or school. However, if the school or district has not developed such a list, we have put together some terms that are commonly the focus of direct vocabulary instruction in the areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p. 4). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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There are three things teachers must do to ensure that each game enhances students' knowledge of the terms used.
It is important to remember that each game and the feedback garnered from it should be used to enhance students’ knowledge of the incorporated terms. To ensure that this goal is met, teachers must do three things: (1) note terms students have trouble with, (2) identify what students know and do not know about a term, and (3) have students make changes in their vocabulary notebooks.
Carleton, L., & Marzano, R. J. (2010). Vocabulary Games for the Classroom (p. 5). Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
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