Students create a wall space or poster for difficult words or words of particular interest from the unit of work they are studying.

Students should:

  • annotate the word according to its function in the sentence
  • write collocates which go with the word
  • write synonym phrases
  • write the definition
  • write an example sentence to show the word in context
  • provide a translation

Each week, different pairs or groups of students can be responsible for a new word.  At the end of the term or year the words can be voted on and the winning pair/group presented with a prize.

This tip has been taken from a practical article and series of teaching tips on 'Working with Words'. Written by Keith Kelly the article offer's practical advice on identifying which vocabulary to teach and how to deal with new vocabulary. He also provides excellent tips on teaching vocabulary.

Teaching tips