Know Your Lexicon Classroom Activities
Exercise 1 / Merriam-Webster Scavenger Hunt
Homework: Ask students to take the Merriam-Webster "How Strong is Your Vocabulary?" quiz online or on the app.
Goal: To teach students the myriad of resources for reading, writing, and vocabulary-building found at www.merriam-webster.com and/or at the free Merriam-Webster app.
In class:
Homework: Ask students to take the Merriam-Webster "How Strong is Your Vocabulary?" quiz online or on the app.
Goal: To teach students the myriad of resources for reading, writing, and vocabulary-building found at www.merriam-webster.com and/or at the free Merriam-Webster app.
In class:
- Ask students in a general way how the quiz went for them. After taking it, the quiz tells you: "You're in the top xx% Congratulations!" Then it lets you compare to others in your age group. This fun metacognitive activity is helpful in increasing awareness of vocabulary-building.
- Give small groups different tasks in a Jigsaw-type activity followed by a presentation from each group to the whole class.
- Group 1: Analyze the Merriam-Webster website itself.
- Group 2: Explain how to use this online monolingual dictionary.
- Group 3: Analyze the Merriam-Webster YouTube channel and "Games" tab.
- Group 4: Metacognitively reflect on your use of dictionaries, how you vocabulary-build, and what your attitude is toward dictionaries.
- Click the button for further instructions and for questions for each group that help you prepare your presentation to the class.