English learners, those students who are still in the process of becoming fluent English speakers, have a lot of English vocabulary to learn. Beyond the words they need to know and use to communicate clearly with others and express their knowledge, ask questions, and convey ideas, they also have to acquire the academic language used in school subject areas, including a level of English that will prepare them to graduate and for college and careers.
That’s a lot of words. One way to accelerate their English proficiency is to instill in English learners the idea that learning about words can be fun. Teaching about words and word parts expands students’ vocabularies exponentially. Of course, there are key vocabulary terms that need to be taught and practiced so that specific lessons are understandable, but there is tremendous benefit to spending time letting students play with words.
English learners have the asset of their home language (L1). They already know a lot of words and the concepts those words represent. Tap into those words and use them to teach English vocabulary, and even expand their L1 vocabulary.
Word generation is used to demonstrate that many words are derived from a common root. Students are shown a root and then brainstorm words that share the root, with teacher assistance or in peer groups. Typically, the words are related to a lesson so students may be asked to look in the text to find as many related words as they can. In the example sho
wn, the root, geo, forms the basis for many other words, as does the root, therm. Awareness that words consist of parts, typically roots and affixes, can catapult vocabulary knowledge to a higher level.
Cognates are words that exists in two different languages and have the same root or origin. Since Spanish and English both have Latin roots, there are lots of words that are the same or very close in both languages. Word generation can be used to teach roots and their many derivations but can also show students the relationship between words in their home language (if Latin-based) and English, e.g., geocentric in English and geocéntrica in Spanish; thermometer in English and termómetro in Spanish. When both languages are posted, bilingual word generation charts bridge the languages.
There are many other ways that English learners can develop word-learning skills. Perhaps the first step is helping students develop word consciousness, which is an understanding that words have meaning and that the meaning of words can be learned and known. For many English learners, it can be sort of an “aha” moment when they grasp the idea that words that may be confounding can actually be understood with use of word-learning strategies. These strategies help them infer meaning or take an informed guess when they come across words they don’t recognize. Learning the meaning of the most common prefixes and suffixes goes a long way in helping English learners figure out unfamiliar words.
Word-learning strategies that are fun — and effective — for developing academic language include the following:
Use synonyms to expand vocabulary. Students tend to use, and overuse, the same words in their writing. In our book, Developing Academic Language, Deborah Short calls these RIP words, ones that need to be buried. Together with students, teachers introduce more descriptive words, called “Shooting Stars,” to replace RIP words. In the examples shown here, the one on the right illustrates how frequently can be used to replace the overused, a lot, and
enormous replaces, big. Like is an RIP word that can be replaced with, for instance. The poster on the left shows how words such as exclaimed, shouted, and commented are more expressive than, said, and so forth. The point is to make English learners aware that there are a variety of words at their disposal that are more descriptive than the ones commonly used. Further, they are likely to encounter the “shooting star” words in texts so there is a benefit to learning and using them.
Shades of meaning is another way to use synonyms. Have students come up with an adjective such as happy, seen in the example. 
Then ask students to brainstorm synonyms and rank them by degree. Lively discussion may ensue as students consider and revise where to place words.
Students can have a lot of fun playing with synonyms. They may use a thesaurus to find shooting star words and shades of meaning words, or the teacher may provide a bank of words from which students choose to complete the activity. The important part is to make it a purposeful activity. Further, to provide the multiple exposures to words that English learners need, draw attention to these words when they appear in texts or lectures, when students use the words in writing (make a big deal!) and provide opportunities for students to practice using the words so they become their own.
Concept Definition Map is a good way to develop academic vocabulary and has the added bonus of helping students learn and understand important content information. In the example here, students are learning about the legislative branch of the U.S. 
government. The teacher provides the key term, legislative, and students work together in groups with teacher facilitation to define the key term, generate related words, and write sentences to provide more information about the term, e.g., the legislative branch is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The map also presents an opportunity to teach the root leg, which means law. The teacher points out the relationship between terms such as legal, legislative, legislator, legislature, using visuals for clarity. Learning one term helps students understand other related terms. The poster is used throughout the unit as a reference for understanding concepts and also for expanding academic vocabulary. An individual Concept Definition Map may be created (or copied from the poster) and placed in a student notebook for reference and review.
Found Words. In an effort to make learning new words fun, ask student to be aware of words they encounter in their daily lives and bring a new word to class. You might ask students to be on the lookout for a word from the same word family that has been studied, or ask students to find a word in their neighborhood that is interesting and one they want to know more about. Then, talk about the words, explore their meanings, create a semantic map, etc. Make learning new words fun!
By the way, the sample posters shown here were created by participants at the SIOP National Conference this month. To see lots more examples posted on Twitter for teaching English learners, go to #SIOPNC19. Also check out this recap.