Vocabulary Development Strategies for Third Grade
1. Listening Walk:
Description: Read The Listening Walk (1961) by Paul Showers to your students.
Purpose: To encourage the use of vivid descriptions so their vocabulary is enriched.
Directions: Read The Listening Walk (1961) by Paul Showers to your students, afterwards take a walk on the playground or around the school with your students. Once you return to your classroom, have the students discuss with one another what they heard on the walk around the playground or around the school. While the students are discussing what they hear, strive for the students to use vivid descriptions of what they've heard, so their vocabulary is enriched. Ask the students to share their discussions aloud with the class. While the students are sharing what they heard on their walk, write each idea into a sentence so the text becomes predictable.
For example, on the playground you can begin each sentence with "On the playground, I hear _______________ and ___________." In the hallway of the school, the sentence pattern can be "In the hallway, I hear ______________ and ___________."
Description: Read The Listening Walk (1961) by Paul Showers to your students.
Purpose: To encourage the use of vivid descriptions so their vocabulary is enriched.
Directions: Read The Listening Walk (1961) by Paul Showers to your students, afterwards take a walk on the playground or around the school with your students. Once you return to your classroom, have the students discuss with one another what they heard on the walk around the playground or around the school. While the students are discussing what they hear, strive for the students to use vivid descriptions of what they've heard, so their vocabulary is enriched. Ask the students to share their discussions aloud with the class. While the students are sharing what they heard on their walk, write each idea into a sentence so the text becomes predictable.
For example, on the playground you can begin each sentence with "On the playground, I hear _______________ and ___________." In the hallway of the school, the sentence pattern can be "In the hallway, I hear ______________ and ___________."
The Listening Walk by Paul Showers
Begin by reading The Listening Walk (1961) by Paul Showers to your students.
2. Schoolyard Safari:
Description: An activity that can be used during the fall and spring seasons.
Purpose: To encourage the vivid use of adjectives.
Directions: In the fall or spring when there are signs of the seasons changing, take your students outside and have them observe the different changes that are occurring. When the students return back inside, inform the students that they will be writing a book based on the following pattern:
On the playground, I see ______________- ______________, and ______________.
On the playground, I hear ______________- ______________, and ______________.
On the playground, I smell ______________- ______________, and ______________.
On the playground, I feel ______________- ______________, and ______________.
While the students are writing their book, encourage the students to use vivid adjectives such as; decomposing leaves or howling winds.
Description: An activity that can be used during the fall and spring seasons.
Purpose: To encourage the vivid use of adjectives.
Directions: In the fall or spring when there are signs of the seasons changing, take your students outside and have them observe the different changes that are occurring. When the students return back inside, inform the students that they will be writing a book based on the following pattern:
On the playground, I see ______________- ______________, and ______________.
On the playground, I hear ______________- ______________, and ______________.
On the playground, I smell ______________- ______________, and ______________.
On the playground, I feel ______________- ______________, and ______________.
While the students are writing their book, encourage the students to use vivid adjectives such as; decomposing leaves or howling winds.