TEACHING TIP: Vocabulary Improv

Do you have an extra five minutes of class, and you aren’t sure what to do with the time? Wouldn’t it be great if you had a fun way to get your students to practice their vocabulary? It doesn’t matter which content or grade you are teaching; your students should always learn academic/content vocabulary. Next time, try “Vocabulary Improv.”

HOW TO SET IT UP:

Choose a couple of volunteers to come to the front of the room. (I always love when you ask students for volunteers and so many raise their hand before they even know for what they are volunteering. The first time they do this, I usually thank them for volunteering, and then tell them they need to pick their nose or something when they come to the front; you should see their faces…but then again, I teach middle school.)

START WITH VOLUNTEERS

To start “Vocabulary Improv,” give the volunteers a situation. For example, “Joe, you are the dad. Sarah, you are the daughter and you just brought home your report card for your parents. Act out the situation and use as many of the vocabulary words as you can.”

Even better, ask the students in the audience for a situation. (In middle school, sixth graders are not thrilled about acting out anything that has to do with dating or relationships, but in eighth grade, the students can really crack you up.) If you want to make it competitive, have another student tally the amount of vocabulary words used correctly by the pairs in a one-minute situation.

TEACHING TIP

It does help if you have the vocabulary words posted on the wall somewhere. If not, write out the words on the board ahead of time.

If you need some ideas for improv scenarios, here is a great website to use.