It’s time for chapter 6 for our Word Nerds Book Study! Chapter 6 is my FAVORITE chapter of all! I can’t wait to have our first end of vocabulary cycle celebration, y’all! What’s a celebration? These come at the end of your 5 day or 10 day vocabulary cycle, right before the assessment. These are great ways to celebrate all the learning that has taken place during the cycle.
I *LOVE* this idea! What a great way to change our students’ attitude on learning and assessments… Instead of handing out a scary, daunting assessment, we are providing a positive outlook on testing and celebrating the fact that we are increasing our vocabulary!
In this chapter, the authors give many different ways to have celebrations in the classroom. The following are my favorites:
{1} Block Party– oh my goodness, y’all! I already have our first block party scheduled and I’m planning refreshments! Here’s what a Block Party vocabulary celebration looks like: You know the neighborhood gathering? They remind me of the old TV shows like Andy Griffith and Leave it to Beaver. Or The Middle (which is one of my favorite shows, y’all! I fully understand Brick’s obsession with a good font). Anyways, a Block Party celebration is where you have all your students “mingle” as they are wearing their lanyards. They talk and mingle as their words. They discuss how they are connected and how they are used as words. A light refreshment is served such as cookies. How adorable and fun is this? And best of all, it gets the kids to TALK about the words and use them in real life settings!
{2} Toasting Party- kids toast their words while sipping water or juice. This one is simple and easy to do when time is an issue.
{3} Dance Party- Students answer vocabulary questions and do dance moves when they get them right. I love that this one provides a fun review prior to the assessment. And whenever music is involved, it’s always a hit!
{4} American Idol Party– students prepare a song about a vocabulary word and use plastic microphone to belt our the lyrics. Incorporating those HOTS!
{5} Art Show Party– students mingle around the room while viewing each other’s artwork depicting the vocabulary words.
The one thing I love about all of these celebrations is the fact that they are laid back. They provide a review in a positive way and promotes a laid back approach to the assessment.
Missed a chapter? Check them out here:
Chapter 4 (includes free editable templates for vocabulary lanyards!)
I also LOVED this chapter. What a wonderful way to get our kids invested in their learning! I'm still trying to figure out how I need to determine my words since I'm transitioning to a new grade level with all new vocabulary, but I'll get there!
You will! I keep telling myself it's a learning process and it won't be perfect at the beginning! 🙂