Many of the Language Arts teachers I have been working with lately have been wondering how they can help their middle school students learn and retain new vocabulary words. They’ve tried everything, these teachers tell me, but teaching middle school vocabulary is still a challenge! Their students consistently struggle to integrate new vocabulary words into their everyday language! This common phenomenon begs the question:
Why are students not learning new vocabulary words–despite the best efforts of their dedicated and amazing teachers?
The answer is actually rather simple: lack of repetition.
In a 2007 study, educational researcher Stuart Webb found that in order for students to fully integrate new vocabulary words, they must encounter them in context at least 10 times; in some cases, new words must be encountered 20-30 times!
Why Traditional Vocabulary Instruction Doesn’t Work
Our traditional vocabulary method of assigning long lists of words for students to memorize each week may not be sufficient, as many of us ELA teachers know. Students become really proficient at passing a test, but fail to learn and integrate new vocabulary words. Most teachers would agree that passing a test is not our objective. We want our students to learn all the skills and content that we have prepared for them, vocabulary included!
As the saying goes, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. If we want our students to meet our outline objective (learning new words) we must be willing to try a new method of vocabulary instruction instead of defaulting to our old patterns that are not serving us or our students very well.
How Can I Effectively Teach Vocabulary?
Teachers need to provide ample opportunities for students to work with words over the course of several weeks and even months in order for the words to stick!
While many paths can lead to the same result, the most effective method I’ve found and used in my classroom includes assigning fewer weekly vocabulary words, and cumulatively adding more words to the students’ list each subsequent week, never testing on more than twelve words at one time.
For example:
- Week 1: Words 1-3
- Week 2: Words 1-6
- Week 3: Words 1-9
- Week 4: Words 1-12
- Week 5: Words 4-15
- Week 6: Words 7-18
And so on…
Students are asked to work with the growing list of words throughout the week, utilizing graphic organizers, vocabulary review activities, vocabulary games, etc. to dramatically increase the number of in-context encounters with each word.
At the end of the quarter, students review and test on all the words learned throughout the grading period. This requires students to do more than simply learn words on a surface level and immediately forget them following the weekly exam.
How Can I Easily Implement this Middle School Vocabulary in my Classroom?
While, yes, this sounds like it could be a very complicated system that is tricky to implement in your classroom, I have the BEST news:
Middle School Vocabulary DONE FOR YOU!
I have you covered! I have spent hours compiling this exact type of vocabulary program into a teacher-friendly package so as not to add more to your already full plate! Additionally, I’ve thrown in all sorts of bonuses and teacher-helps to help you implement this middle school vocabulary program in a streamlined and seamless way!
With this resource, you’ll no longer need to plan warm-ups or bell ringers! Every day, you will have an activity ready for your students to complete immediately as they enter the classroom! Over 250 Google Slides are included to make instruction time a breeze for the teacher! Vocabulary review activities and quizzes are included to help students LEARN and RETAIN the new words.
What’s Included?
- Daily Vocabulary/Grammar Warm-Up Activities
- Weekly Vocabulary Reviews
- Weekly Vocabulary Quizzes
- Answer Keys!
- Over 75 PDF Pages!
- Over 250 Google Slides!
- Frequently Asked Questions–Answered!
- Top Teacher Tips for Student Success
- Vocabulary Review Game Ideas
- Teacher Guidelines & Instructions
Julie says,
“I just wanted to tell you that I have been using the 6th-grade version of your sentence sleuth and vocab program since the beginning of this year and it is really amazing. My students are incredibly engaged every day at the start of class, they enjoy the sentences and are building their vocabulary. I have both anglophones and French students together in the same class group that really need both the language work (sentences) and a structured way to acquire new words. Anyway, we are reading The Giver right now, and particularly today (which is what prompted me to write!), many vocab words appeared in the pages we read.  Every time my students see a vocab word they acknowledge it, which is a testament to their learning and the success of the program. I just wanted to say what a fabulous job you have done!”
Free Vocabulary Unit Trial for Middle School Grades
But, I never want you to pay for a program blindly, so I’ve also included three two-week trials (one each for grades 6-8) so you can test out this method before purchasing!
​FREE Two-Week Trial (6th Grade).pdf​
​FREE Two-Week Trial (7th Grade).pdf​
​FREE Two-Week Trial (8th Grade).pdf​
Check them out here! Let me know if you have any questions!
