America's Funnest Vocabulary
For this project I put my students in charge of the vocabulary instruction by assigning each student a vocabulary word and challenging them to create a vocabulary video that demonstrates the meaning of the word through action, dialog, stop motion, or any silly gimmick that provides enough context for someone to guess the meaning of the assigned vocabulary word.
It was AMAZING to me the excitement that this project generated in my classroom. Students used a plethora of video formats to create their projects and brought them in on DVDs, jump drives, i-pod touch (4th generation), e-mail as well as postings from You Tube. For students without access to technology, I made myself available during designated times and loaned them a flip camera so they could record the videos in school.
As the year goes on, instead of 'teaching' this select group of vocabulary words, I show each video to the class and they complete a Frayer Model style worksheet (see Scribd link below). The tasks on the worksheet include:
1. Can you GUESS the meaning of the word using the context clues in the video?
2. Write the definition of the word (which students were required to reveal at the END of their videos
3. Establish synonyms and antonyms for the word
4. Identify and ROOT words
5. Create a mnemonic or association to help YOU remember the word
5. Write YOUR OWN sentence using the word and a context clue within your sentence.
No groans, no mumbling, no reticence.....eager students WANTING you to share vocabulary with them!!
Files to support this lesson:
AFV Assignment Sheet and Rubric - http://www.scribd.com/doc/50061609/AFV
