Learning is Remembering!

The review and recycling of new language items are critical to a student's ability to store and retrieve the words from their long term memory.  In fact, students forget many vocabulary words shortly after a lesson ends. 

Language acquisition research shows that no more than 5 to 10 new words should be introduced at a time and that students need as many as 5 to 16 'meetings' with a new language item, in a variety of contexts,  before it can be truly learned and activated for genuine use.   A tutor can help solidify new words in long-term memory by creating regular opportunities that encourage a student to make meaningful connections of new vocabulary items. 

Tutors will want to create regular opportunities for vocabulary review activities which use interesting and varied approaches and applications.  Both repetition and retrieval practice of new items are essential.  This can easily be achieved by organizing fun and motivating vocabulary games and activities.  Scrambled words, BINGO and Concentration are old standbys and students enjoy playing them.  Another game to use is called Scatter Sheet.

Scatter Sheet is a vocabulary reactivation and fluency exercise.  Give your student a piece of paper which has the 5-10 target words scattered across the sheet in no particular order.  Explain that you are going to give say the definition of a vocabulary word on the sheet and the student must identify it. Describe the word with vocabulary that is familiar to your student, for example:  it keeps food cold or frozen.  If the student recognizes the word refrigerator on the Scatter Sheet they can signal it by shouting it out or circling it.  If they can't recognize the word the tutor can make note that more exposure, review and practice is needed with this word.  Each word in turn is described and circled as it is recognized.   

An extension activity for another tutoring session or for homework is to make up a gap-fill worksheet using familiar and learned descriptors used for the word clues, for example:   

1)  A _______keeps food cold or frozen.   

This activity further cements acquisition.   A challenging activity for later vocabulary reactivation is to reverse roles. Have the student use the Scatter Sheet to recall and provide definitions and descriptions while the tutor identifies the target vocabulary on another Scatter Sheet.