Concept Mapping of Vocabulary Words

Source: AVID resource book for World Languages, pp. 2—6. (See for more ideas)Also, see AVID book for step-by-step lesson planning.

Samples:Level I or II:

Students work in groups; each group is assigned a set of words (4, 6, whatever number you choose.) They create concept map cards (see sample below). They present them to the class. The cards are hung on the wall, folded so that you can only see the word on the front, but so that you can open them to look inside. The noun is in the target language, and the paper is folded. Inside, there is a picture of the food (the clothing, the object, etc) on one side and a bulleted list of descriptive words on the other side.

Follow up activities: Vocabulary logs or Cornell Notes, Gallery Walks, Quick Writes in which they have to use 8 words from the wall, extra credit opportunities, etc.

tristeSynonymes:

chagriné déprimé désolé grave malheureux mélancolique misérable

une voiture

Mots associés: rapide sportif conduire Renault, Peugeot, Citroën aller vite

Mots associés: students can brainstorm these (ie. any words they associate with a car). Any part of speech is fine, adjectives can be masculine/singular, verbs can be in the infinitive, etc, nouns can be common or proper (culturally appropriate is great!), etc.

Level II+

un ananasDescription:

un fruit tropical jaune à l’intérieur, brun/doré à

l’extérieur, avec des feuilles comme un pin

on ne mange pas l’extérieur on les cultive dans les champs

d’Hawaii

Level II+, especially the advanced levelsThroughout a semester, students create a word wall of vocabulary

concept maps for new vocabulary that shares roots with English language vocabulary. Goal: to build students’ English vocabulary base, to increase student SAT/ACT scores, to increase English language comprehension and usage of ELL.

Sample:

mourirDefinition: ne plus vivre, cesser de vivre

Antonymes:vivrenaître

Partie du discours:verbe (infinitif)

(Participe passé—mort)

Synonymes:périrexpirerdécéderêtre tué

Image:

Anglais (mots relatifs)1. mortician—funeral director2. morgue—place where dead bodies are kept3. mortuary—place where dead bodies are kept4. mortgage—“dead pledge;” a debt instrument that is secured by the

collateral of specified real estate property5. mortal—living; liable or subject to death6. immortal—not subject to death; everlasting 7. rigor mortis-- [Latin : rigor, stiffness + mortis, genitive of mors, death]

stiffening of a dead body8. mortify—to cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride;

humiliatePhrases (en contexte):

Quelqu’un l’a tirée avec un fusil, et elle est morte immédiatement. L’homme qui est perdu dans le desert ne mange pas depuis cinq

jours ; il va mourir de faim.Phrases idiomatiques:

mourir de faim mourir de froid mourir d’ennui

mourir d’envie de faire quelque chose mourir de rire mourir d’inquiétude ennuyeux (ennuyeuse) à mourir mort-né, mort-née

Online resources (students may find these to be useful in these assignments) :

http://www.linternaute.com/dictionnaire/fr/ o A French dictionary with synonyms, themes, word uses, etc.

http://www.forvo.com/languages/fr/ o All the words in the world—pronounced!

www.linguee.fr o Dictionnaire et moteur de recherche de traductions

http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-french/ o Robert Collins dictionary: online!

http://www.synonymes.com/ http://www.antonyme.org/

Documents from the AVID World Language Resource Book: