Building Vocabulary

One of my least favorite parts of third grade is our use of spelling tests. I sincerely think our system is completely meaningless and wastes more time than it does anything else. We still conduct our spelling tests the "old-fashioned" way, you know:

1) Get an arbitrary list of spelling words.
2) Do a bunch of mindless spelling activities for homework that week.
3) Turn in the homework at the end of the week.
4) Take a spelling quiz.
5) Quickly forget how to spell any of the words you "studied" all week.

This system is just an exercise in memorization. Is it important to memorize how to spell words and broaden our vocabulary? Of course! But there has to be a more meaningful and motivating way to go about the whole thing.

Our morning work consists of quick daily oral language exercises (DOL). In these exercises the students are asked to correct sentences using consistent proofreading marks, choose correctly spelled words out of a string of misspelled ones, combine two sentences into one, and many other tasks to encourage good writing skills. I enjoy the seamless connection between our DOL and the review stages of the writing process.  I know DOL isn't the most highly touted writing tool in MCPS, but I find that if I remind the kids to treat their writing like DOL, they get it. It works for us and they understand why DOL is important.

Now the question is: how can I make vocabulary building just as important?

A parent recently suggested Wordly Wise, a site geared specifically toward vocabulary acquisition. Wordly Wise separates its word lists into lessons and features different games and puzzles for each lesson. I like the idea of vocabulary games and puzzles, but there's still the missing application piece.

One way I've tried to bridge the gap is through the use of literature circles in guided reading. I typically assign each group member the job of Word Wizard (along with one of the other roles). The Word Wizard's task is to find "interesting words" in a particular chapter, define them, and use them in a sentence to share with the group. I've noticed the kids enjoy seeing who has the most "interesting" words to share. I've also noticed certain words we would have otherwise glazed over are popping up in their verbal and written responses.

What are your strategies for encouraging vocabulary building in the classroom?