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TITLE:  VOCABULARY STUMPERS

AUTHOR:  David E. Rollins, Youth Services Center,
         St. Anthony, ID.

GRADE LEVEL:  Appropriate for grades 6-12.

OVERVIEW:  This activity was designed to increase students
understanding and usage of new words. The student will be
exposed to new words and phrases which will stimulate their
creative and reasoning abilities.

OBJECTIVE(s):  Students will be able to:
1.   Describe ways in which words are used in context of
     written or spoken statements.
2.   Develop new pronounced words, and word meanings in
     order to baffle opposing teams.
3.   Increase their comprehension of new words and phrases
     through completion of this activity.

MATERIALS:
Teacher Materials = Dictionary, Thesaurus, 3" x 5" cards.
Student Materials = pencil, paper.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
1.   Students in the classroom will divide into groups of 3-
     4.
2.   Give each group member a 3" x 5" card, one of these
     cards will have the word or phrase, and its definition.
     The remaining cards will only have the word or phrase
     minus the definition.
3.   One student within the group must give the correct
     pronunciation of the word, and its correct definition.
     The other group members can alter how the word is
     pronounced, and give false definitions.
4.   The other groups are to determine who has offered the
     correct word, and definition. This decision must be
     made unanimously within the group. If the group selects
     the correct answer they receive one point.  The group
     with the most points at the end of the hour wins. A one
     minute time limit is allotted to each group to respond.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:  As a result of this weekly activity
students' interest in vocabulary has increased. Student
usage of the Dictionary and Thesaurus has increased. As an
added complement I bring in old Reader's Digest magazines.
The section "Word Power" receives much attention from the
students to enrich their vocabulary.

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