Vocabulary Exercises

Vocabulary Exercises:

What do they have in common? (comparisons)
Students are presented with two different concrete nouns. For example a pencil and a bag of almonds; a window and a piece of jewelry, etc. Students are then encouraged to find something these two things have in common – they both come from trees, they both are made of glass respectively.

Variation: This game can be used for comparatives also – the pencil is lighter than the bag of almonds, the window is bigger than the necklace. The window and the necklace are both clear.

Chain story (various vocabulary)
The teacher has students choose a word from the vocabulary list and write it on a piece of paper. The student will have to use that word in the game.

The teacher begins a story and then a student adds another sentence to the story using the vocabulary word they wrote down. The next student continues the story using the word they wrote down. After a short time, students can exchange words and continue the story practicing new vocabulary words.

Fashion show (descriptors, clothing)
Students get in a row and the first student comes forward as the “announcer” and describes the clothes that the next student is wearing while that student walks down the “catwalk” aisle of the classroom. The second student then turns and becomes the announcer and describes the third student and so on until all students have described the next person. The last student describes the outfit of the first announcer.

Picture dictation (various vocabulary)
The teacher describes a scene or person while students draw the picture. This can be used for even the lowest level students – three pink hearts, 2 blue diamonds, 7 green circles. The green circle is above a blue diamond.

Make 10 changes (past tense verbs)
Students pair up and one person is assigned as the “changer” the second as the “observer”. The observer turns around / closes eyes while the changer alters ten things about their appearance (turns their baseball cap around, takes off their watch, unties a shoe lace, etc.). The observer then talks about the changes made “You took off your watch, you untied your shoe,” etc. For older students having students then make ten MORE changes can be quite fun and a challenge.

Variation: Slide show
One student can move the people about and put them into different positions and then the rest of the group has to list all the changes made to the group of people.