Free iPad Apps note. Free Must-Have Apps for Grammar and Vocabulary.pdf. Doing It Differently note. Doing It Differently: Tips for Teaching Vocabulary. Every Monday my seventh grade English teacher would have us copy a list of 25 words she'd written on the board. We'd then look up the dictionary definitions and copy those down. For homework, we'd re-write each word seven times. Good, now you know it. Test on Friday and never for those 25 words to be seen again. Copying definitions from the dictionary we would probably all agree is not an effective way to learn vocabulary. The truth is, and the research shows, students need multiple and various exposures to a word before they fully understand that word and can apply it. Selecting Words Ah, so many words, so little time. My first year teaching, before my tenth graders began reading Lord of the Flies, I went through every chapter and made lists of all the vocabulary words I thought they'd have trouble with, so that I could pre-teach them.
When I looked at those long lists, I began to freak out. Then, here's what to do after the students pick their own words: Ranking Words Teaching Words. Free Rice note. Freerice.com. PBS Kids note. Vocabulary Games.