Vocabulary is essential. From nursing to mechanical engineering to football – and all points in between – one cannot discuss any topic without first understanding the essential vocabulary that frames them.

Whether the student needs to comprehend question stems or engage in interesting classroom discussions, the understanding of basic academic vocabulary is a necessary step.

As you usual, here is the framework I have found that works well, though as in the spirit of all suggestions of Teach Memory, feel free to experiment and share.

Step One: Choose your vocabulary word. In this example, I am going to use humble.

Step Two: Create a image that represents the sound of the vocabulary word. For humble, I imagine a bull humming. I continue to imagine details of what the bull looks like. The sillier the better. What is he/she humming? Is it loud? Is it off key?

Step Three: Supply a simple definition of the word. When I think of the word humble, I imagine the bull humming on a stage. While people cheer and throw flowers, the bull begins to get embarrassed.

Step Four: Draw a picture. Ideally, the student makes index cards WITHOUT the word or definition. Creating a puzzle of sorts, adds to the stickiness of the process, and lends itself to significantly longer retention rates. Having said that, using a traditional index card with the word on one side and the definition on the other can be effective, but a la the Frayer Model, a picture is always better. 

Step Five: As always, active recall is necessary. Make sure the students understand how to review the cards efficiently.

For any student, of any age, possibly the one reading this post, this type of vocabulary building works EXCEPTIONALLY WELL for foreign languages, making this technique great for both those who teach vocabulary and those who learn it!