Junior Doodle - Indefatigable

We're all caught up with our Junior Doodle posts for now.  Check out the first three words of the year!  I thought this word would be difficult, and it was.  I realized that the children definitely can understand and remember words more easily when we use visuals, but I wondered if they could create an image of a word that was not very familiar to them.  And, I wondered if this would help them remember and "own" this word as part of their personal vocabulary.  The word "indefatigable" is a word that's in a book we are reading (see the blog post on our Junior Doodle page for more information).  So, through reading the book they were introduced to the word and its meaning.  But, they needed several explanation of what the word meant as they tried to show in their own drawings a representation of "indefatigable."  At the end of the week, however, several of the students completed a drawing and shared it with the class.  It was the discussions along with these images that, I think, where the most effective in helping the entire class build this word into their vocabulary.  

Check out the Junior Doodle Indefatigable page as well as the other two pages to see some great 2nd grade work!

Junior Doodle - Conductor

Click here to find our second installment of Junior Doodle.  The word is CONDUCTOR.  This activity is fast becoming a class tradition, and I'm thinking of ways to make the most of the children's interest in it. 

Visual representations of vocabulary words are a tremendous help to children as they build their knowledge of words and work them into their memory. 

Here's another resource for using visuals to help children learn vocabulary:  http://www.literacyhead.com/index.php.  Check it out!

Junior Doodle

This is the second year I'm working with Junior Doodle.  I have connected to the Creative Juices blog and their What the Doodle posts and created our own primary-level version of this activity.  I've found this is a great way to build vocabulary, connect with some creative authors and illustrators, develop critical thinking skills, and have some fun.  Basically, you obtain a word from a random word generator or any way you'd like.  In our classroom, we start by thinking of the various meanings and uses of the word.  Then we discuss some of the possibilities for creating an interesting drawing (later the children might find other ways of representing the word that are not just drawings).  Then, at the end of the week, we share.

We have only done one word this year, and the second word was just introduced today - it's "conductor."  What can you do with conductor?

Find out more about Junior Doodle here - http://tinyurl.com/24x8lnr