A fun way to do vocabulary work is by playing a game called Taboo. I print blank cards with the vocabulary words printed on the top. (Template linked here with some 8th grade geometry terms.) There are lots of ways you can do this, but I'll describe the steps I took with students./
1) Make a set of cards for each team. (4 students is ideal) I make them on cardstock so they are a bit more durable and then students can't see through the paper when playing the game.
1) Make a set of cards for each team. (4 students is ideal) I make them on cardstock so they are a bit more durable and then students can't see through the paper when playing the game.
2) Have teams write 3 words on each card that best describe the term that is typed on the card. For example, if the card has right triangle typed on it, three possible words that I would write are 90 degrees, corner, hypotenuse. These words will NOT be able to be said verbally later in the game so emphasize that they need to be the words that students would want to use to describe or define the typed vocabulary word. ... Side note: There usually is a great discussion between students when they were "arguing" about which words to write on the cards. They were trying to prove to each other why certain words describe the term better. Love it!
3) After the team has all the cards filled out, they need to cut the cards out so they have a deck of cards to play the game with.
3) After the team has all the cards filled out, they need to cut the cards out so they have a deck of cards to play the game with.
4) The team of 4 now needs to split into 2 smaller teams of 2. (Team A & Team B). Looking at the picture to the right, you can see that the boys in blue are on one team and the girls (you can only see the backs of their heads) are on the other team. The girls hold up a card and person A from the boys team describes the term WITHOUT saying the three words on the card. If he says any of the words, they do not get a point for that card. The girls keep putting up cards for him to describe until time is up. I've found that one minute is a good time for 8th graders. After time is up, now it is the girls turn. So one of them stands up and goes to the other side of the table while the boys show her the cards. The teams keep switching back and forth until your overall time limit is up.
5) If you are a reward person, go ahead and give a prize to the team who has the most points throughout the total time. I encourage students to keep shuffling the deck so that they get words more than one time. They usually get much better at their descriptions as time goes by.
5) If you are a reward person, go ahead and give a prize to the team who has the most points throughout the total time. I encourage students to keep shuffling the deck so that they get words more than one time. They usually get much better at their descriptions as time goes by.