Introductory Activity : Duration: 30-40 minutes
Description: Students work in small groups to create a restaurant menu using SAT vocabulary words (a minimum of 20 from a cumulative list). Each meal description must give the reader a "clue" to the word's definition. [Example: Disdainful Veggies -- Filled with contempt because they have no rights. Sure, refuse to eat meat, but keep eating veggies? Carrots have feelings too!] This lesson can also be adapted by Foreign Language teachers to assist students with learning new vocabulary words.
Goals:
1. To increase vocabulary recall, synthesis, and knowledge.
2. To provide students with an opportunity to work cooperatively in groups.
3. To provide an alternative to the repetitive and "boring" nature of learning new vocabulary words.
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Body : Divide students into groups of 3-4. Explain that each student will have a specific role in his/her group. List the three roles on the board (Comment Recorder(s), Task Leader, and Presenter). Hand out a copy of the rubric, which lists the descriptions of the roles, and assign a role to each student. Remind the class that although each student has a specific job, everyone in the group must actively participate in the creation of the menu items and descriptions. All students will be held accountable for the correctness of definitions paired with menu items.
After checking for students' understanding of expectations (20 words, 30 minutes, "clues" or definitions in the description of menu items, menu format, a colorful and creative cover), students can begin working on their menus. During this process, the Task Leader will encourage discussion about the vocabulary words, along with researching definitions. The Comment Recorder will write down group members' ideas and suggestions for the menu. The Presenter will share the group's menu at the end of class.
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Conclusion Activity : Optional: At the end of class, students choose three words that they found most interesting on their menu. Incorporate these words into a vocabulary quiz for the next day's class.
Special Comments: In an anchoring activity, students could look up the words in a previous class or use this activity as a review with words they have difficulty remembering. Students who finish early can look up one synonym for each of their words in a thesaurus and incorporate those words into the menu.
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Evaluation Activity : Collect students' menus, and use the rubric to evaluate them. Provide each group with a score. Teachers may want to construct a vocabulary quiz, or another project as determined by the students and the teacher, based on students' strengths and weaknesses.
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