Building Vocabulary - Pitt County Schools



Building Vocabulary

Reading is more than calling words. It is being able to understand what the writer is trying to say. Children encounter unfamiliar words all the time in stories and books. They can’t understand the story if they do not know what the words mean. Here are 3 games to improve their vocabulary. A child that enters the upper elementary grades with a big vocabulary clearly has an advantage.

1. What’s the Opposite?

You say a word and your child must come up with the opposite. Then let them tell you a word and you must tell the opposite. Teach them that words that have opposites are words that describe something. Not all words have opposites. If they give you a word that does not have an opposite you say, “I can’t think of things that are opposite of that word. I can think of things that are different, but that is not the same as opposite. Would you like to give me another?”

• Varitations: Instead of looking for opposites, try looking for synonyms. Say, What’s another word that is the same as ____?

2. Word of the Day

Announce that you have a special word to share. Pick a word that your child does not already know. An example is Radiant. Don’t tell them what it means at first. Use it in a sentence and see if they can guess what it means. If they can’t get it after 3 sentences give them the definition. If they do guess it, congratulate them. If not, be encouraging and use that same word several times over the next few days. Really make a big deal if they use the word in a sentence in everyday conversation. This way you have made vocabulary a family event, which is a good idea, so long as The Word of the Day doesn’t become “The Feared Examination of the day”, which would defeat the purpose. Your child may only need to do one a week. You must judge that.

3. Silly Words

Good readers naturally read a story to understand what it is saying. They do not get worried with sounding out each word correctly. They know that the word must make sense in the sentence, and they try to come up with a word that would make sense and it looks like the letters they see. Teach your children this skill by playing Silly Words.

You start telling a story or reading a book. You can make up your own, retell a fairy tale or borrow a story from a movie. Every now and then change one of the words with a silly word. Ask your child to guess what you meant for that silly word to mean. Accept any word that would make sense. They cannot be wrong in this game. If they give an answer you had not intended then you change your story as you go.

• Variation: When giving out chores or in daily conversation throw in a silly word. Ask them what they think you really meant.

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