Suggestions:
Start by creating a Word Wall display. There are many examples on the internet or take inspiration from the Charlton Park Academy photos below. Dolch, Sight or Core Words are graded according to difficulty. Select a few appropriate words to introduce to a class or group each week. Add them to the Word Wall. Use flash cards to explicitly teach these words. Reinforce this learning with some of the individual, pair and/or group activities listed below:
- Play Core Word bingo
- Play ‘pairs’ using a double set of Core Words
- Do a word search for each set of Core Words
- Sort Flash Cards of Core Word sets into alphabetical order
Lay Flash Cards on a table and ask students: ‘Give me the word that says . . .’
- Give students a multiple choice strip with three similarly spelt words and ask students to pick out the Core Word from the set
- Use Core Words in Clicker 7 and ask students to write simple sentences using the ‘word/words of the week’
- Make three sets of Flash Cards for one Core Word list and use them to play Happy Families.
- Give students a cloze activity with one or more core words missing. Provide students with the missing word [after the text] and get them to insert the correct word in the appropriate space. Alternatively, give students a text containing focus key words and ask them to locate and delete/highlight these words.
- Type Core Word adjectives into a digital visual thesaurus.
Links
- www.dolchsightwords.org
- www.commtap.org [Search ‘high frequency words’, then ‘Doc ER L1B’]
- www.languaguelab.org.uk [Search ‘Lessons and Activities’, then ‘Activities’]
- www.wordclouds.com
- www.visualthesaurus.com