A vocabulary flashcard is a note-card with the word written on one side and the definition written on the other. Students can fill out flashcards and quiz themselves on vocabulary meanings. While flashcards might seem low-tech and a bit old-fashioned, they're actually very good studying tools. Writing the definition on the flashcard can help students retain the information, especially if the student is a visual learner, and pacing while studying flashcards can benefit tactile learners.
Students come to school with varying abilities and knowledge, so it can be tough to make sure all students are equally challenged without leaving anyone behind. One strategy for differentiating vocabulary lessons is to have each student choose words they'd like to learn and write them in a personal vocabulary journal. Students could choose, for example, ten interesting words that they don't know the definition of. On each page, they would write the word, its definition (found in a classroom dictionary), a picture-depiction of the word and a sentence using the word. With this method, students learn words they don't know but are interested in, and they use the word in creative ways.
Vocabulary is often taught as its own separate lesson, but vocabulary development can occur while reading in the classroom. When reading a story to the class, point out challenging vocabulary words within the text, and ask students to predict the meaning of the word based on clues in the sentence.
Teach vocabulary within the context of writing by challenging students to replace commonly-used words with novel, lively ones. For example, ask students to replace common adjectives like "nice" with interesting ones like "lovely," "sweet," beautiful" or "splendid." Encourage them to replace dull verbs like "run" and "talk" with precise verbs like "sprint," "jog," "whisper," and "speak." Let students use a classroom thesaurus to come up with interesting vocabulary words.
Students today are particularly tech-savvy, and they love learning through play, so using websites like FreeRice.com is great for encouraging vocabulary development. Give students class time to play vocabulary games online, and the activity could serve as a reward for good classroom behavior as well as a vocabulary-enriching strategy.