Creating Vocabulary Posters in Class: Interactive Vacab Lesson

There’s no better way to kill a student’s interest than giving them a long list of vocabulary words to memorize. Instead, try this activity to help students remember words and their meanings.

Supplies

This creative lesson plan calls for a few supplies:

• 2 slices of plain white paper for each student
• colored pencils or markers
• dictionary or text book with glossary for each student

Preparation

• Write vocabulary words on the board, if possible, two words for each student.
• Give each student 2 slices of plain white paper.
• Space colored pencils throughout the room, accessible to each student.
• As students copy all words from the board, assign two words to each student.

Activitity

Students will make a small poster for each of their two assigned words. The poster must include:

• the word (preferably in the center)
• the definition
• a picture or symbol clearly showing what the word means
• a sentence clearly showing an understanding of the word’s meaning. I recommend having students clear their sentence with you before putting it on the poster.

An ‘A’ poster possesses the following characteristics:

• It’s colorful, neat, attractive, and uses space wisely.
• The word is used correctly in a sentence.
• The picture shows meaning clearly.
• The definition is correct.
• All words are spelled correctly and punctuation is correct.

Additional Activity

This creative lesson plan activity helps students become familiar with a large amount of words in a short amount of time, using visual learning skills:

• Give each student one finished posters (not their own).
• Instruct students to study each word for 45 seconds, writing down the definition if they choose. Although they don’t have to write it down, I encourage it by letting them use their notes on the vocabulary quiz. Students may also choose to write a positive comment on the back, or they can correct spelling and grammatical errors, if necessary.
• Every 45 seconds, yell, “pass” and students will pass their word to the next student. WARNING: be sure to provide a detailed explanation of how the passing process works; otherwise, you’ll have chaos. In addition, no matter how clear your explanation, at least one person will screw it up the first time. Be patient.
• When all words have been passed or a predetermined number of words have been passed, collect the posters and hang them on the wall.
• Give a multiple choice quiz. I prefer to hang the posters up and let them scan the room. That way I trick them into reviewing vocabulary.
• Hang up words with correct grammar and spelling only. If someone’s feelings are hurt, let them redo it.
• Show off how great you are when parents and administrators come to your room.

This post is part of the series: Learning Styles

These lesson plans are geared toward multiple learning styles.

1. Fun Language Arts Review Lesson Plan
2. Literary Terms Lesson Plan: Teaching to Different Learning Styles
3. Teaching Tips - Vocabulary Lesson Plans
4. Creative Lesson Plan: Vocabulary Poster
5. A Vocabulary Lesson Plan for Normal People