When I was in elementary school, my parents bought these computer games for me and my siblings to play. I don't think they told us they were educational games, and me and my siblings played the ClueFinders game all the time. I had so much fun playing the game and solving the mystery, all the while growing in my math and language skills. The ClueFinders is what I was thinking about while reading Dalton & Grisham's article from
The Reading Teacher. Technology in the classroom is a fabulous idea. This generation is bombarded by technology 24/7 anyway, it is unavoidable. Why not throw some educational technology their way?
(this game... I would still play today)
Blachowitz and Fisher discuss ways to learn and use vocabulary. This is so important in reading instruction. Especially if we agree that "a strong vocabulary is the hallmark of an educated person"
I recall in my elementary language arts instruction, being assigned to write poems about something specific, and to write the poem in the shape of the topic, with as many related vocabulary words as possible. We always had lots of fun with this.
what are more fun ways to practice vocabulary?
I think I had some computer games too! Other ways you could practice vocabulary would be to stress the importance of learning new words to the children. If they are confident and passionate about learning new words, they are more likely to do it. Maybe keep some kind of journal in their desk when reading or a fun way to keep track of what they have learned.
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