Up and outta their seats, Vocabulary Activity

I teach junior high. Many of our students cannot, should not be seated all the time. So, get them moving. One strategy I employ is with vocabulary. I have a numbered list of vocabulary terms on the board. Students set up their paper in three column format ( column one: vocabulary terms, column two: definition and column three: an illustration of the vocabulary term). Students copy down the vocabulary list. I then assign each student a number and they are to define that vocabulary term. Then, when I say go, students get up and find other students who were assigned the other vocabulary terms. Students VERBALLY TELL their classmates their vocab. term and its definition, they are not to just trade/exchange notebooks and copy each others respective definitions. The listeners must copy down the word and its definition, which usually required the student to repeat their word and definition several times. Students are encouraged to validate the correctness of the definitions by asking other students for their definitions. My students like this strategy and find that time passes quickly and efficiently on days when we do this activity.

What do you do to get students moving and learning in your classroom? Please share it with us ! Thanks for reading my blog !