Are you a teacher looking for easy to implement vocabulary strategies to strengthen reading comprehension? This vocabulary parade idea is perfect for year-round teaching of important testing vocabulary!

I recommend starting this a few weeks after the first day of school. You want to be sure you have your procedures in place before you start throwing so many new things at them. Each week a vocabulary word is presented on a poster. We show the vocabulary poster, read it in a sentence, and invite the kids to create their own sentences using this new word.

The posters look like this:

(click the image to see the posters)

After the work is presented, kids complete a small activity before lunchtime Friday. I give two options for turning the assignment in.

They either create a frayer model of the word on paper/pencil or on their iPad.

To read how I create digital formative assessments, click the image below:

You can incorporate a response sheet into your morning work so the kids know to work on the word of the week.

Click the image below to use the free template! Don’ t forget to pin this image so you have access to it in case you lose your master copy!

On Friday, the kids correctly explain what the word means and use it in a few sentences. If they can correctly do this, then I will give them a {dojo point} or {class money}. This depends on what is in my hand that morning. Hey, I could lie but let’s be real #FridaysBeCray.

Vocabulary Parade:

At the end of the year, I lay out all of the words that we have learned that year and tell the kids to pick their favorite word. The kids will be given a {sentence strip} and a bunch of art supplies. They can be as creative as they want to create a hat that symbolizes their chosen word. This is an activity that is not done in one day.

A simple outline could be…

• Day 1 –  Kids sift through the words and choose their word
• Day 2 – Kids brainstorm what they will create
• Day 3 – Block off an hour for the kids to create their hat

We involve the other grade levels as well, we block out an afternoon and alternate walking down the hallways so the kids can show off their knowledge and hard work.

Check out these examples and feel free to pin these images to reference them later.

The upper grades were given free creativity to create whatever they wanted. To ease the street with the younger grades, the teachers gave the kids a template and allowed them to decorate. You can choose have your vocabulary parade however you would like!

Get these items so you kids can make the best hats! 

• Colorful sentence strips
• White sentence strips
• Construction paper
• Colorful poms and pipe cleaners

If this is something you would like to utilize in your classroom check out my vocabulary posters!