Vocabulary! Vocabulary! Vocabulary! A Foundational Skill for Reading

 While Reading This Strategy 

I hope that you will...
Think about how vocabulary is presented in your classroom
Think about how we can make the process of teaching vocabulary more intentional
Share some strategies that we have used in different content areas to teach vocabulary (or other reading strategies)
Discuss how this strategy could be modified to fit your classroom.

Why Use Vocabulary Journals

I have focused on vocabulary as a primary reading strategy because of its necessity in creating engaged readers. Teaching vocabulary before encountering it in a text allows the students to analyze the word for meaning, learn different variations of the word, and discern how it may be used in the context with your lesson. Teaching vocabulary before students encounter them in text as been proven to enhance the readers' comprehension of the material. 

There is vocabulary in every content area.  There are vocabulary terms that are set up by the state guidelines, the district, our textbooks, and those that are naturally embedded in our curriculum.  Depending on the students in your classroom and the content that is covered, these words vary.  However, what strategies are out there that students could learn and adapt to many different classrooms?

How to Use Vocabulary Journals in Your Classroom

I personally like the idea of a vocabulary journal.  Journal sheets could be created and three-hole punched for a student binder and gathered throughout the year or they could be stapled together in a packet for each new unit.

The vocabulary journal sheet I found at Teaching is My Game is one of my favorites because of various ways in which the students build meaning to a word rather than just memorize a definition.

This vocabulary journal page also allows you to be flexible in how this is used in the classroom.  It could be used as a prereading activity when students may not have prior knowledge or background with your unit.  It could also be used while the students are reading and come across a word with which they are unfamiliar.


This strategy can be used with students of all ages.  Maybe your early readers have not been introduced to synonyms or antonyms yet. These students may enjoy a vocabulary journal such as the one found at In2Books.  If you would like to see a notebook version for a vocabulary journal, you can visit 4th Grade Frolics. Students in middle school or high school can also adapt this journal to fit their needs.

A vocabulary journal can also allow English Language Learners to make connections with words in their primary language.  If they have good knowledge of their primary language, they could place words from their native language in the meaning, synonyms, or antonyms categories.

How to implement this strategy in your classroom?

Show students some vocabulary words that are going to be used in your classroom.  Explain that the words are going to be used in the book or article they are going to be reading. Point out to the students that by learning these words, they will better understand the material they will be reading.  Read your list of words to the students.

Next, pick out a word to demonstrate the use of the vocabulary journal page. Model where they should write the word.  Then write in the date.  Explain that this will be useful to them as they organize their notes.  Read the sentence from the book or article that contains your vocabulary word.  Have the students read a definition of the word from a dictionary, glossary, or other source.  Then have them write a meaning of the word that fits the context in which it is used in the sentence.

After they have a meaning for the word, have them come up with some synonyms and antonyms for the vocabulary word.  Finally, have the students draw a picture of the word in the word box.

When students have completed the model, have students choose another word and complete a vocabulary journal entry on their own.  Pair them with a neighbor to share their entries and discuss the process.  Answer any questions that the students have come up with as they work on their own.

Links to Assessment

As an assessment tool, these journal pages can be filled out for a unit that has recently been studied


Students should keep their vocabulary journals until the unit is complete.  Depending on the age of your students, you could have the students tab their journals by unit and have them as a reference when studying for larger test, mid-term, or final.

Benefits of a Vocabulary Journal

* Students make a personal connection to the vocabulary they will be using
* If students are self-selecting the vocabulary terms they place in their journal, it increase student motivation
* This strategy provides social interaction as students share with one another the words they have chosen
* This strategy reinforces the idea of using the context to help define their word
* Works as a post-reading study guide


More sites where additional information about vocabulary journals can be found:
Reading Rockets
In2Books Vocabulary Journal
Essential Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary - this website includes more research on using this strategy effectively with students with small vocabularies and English Language Learners