Method And criteria for assessing vocabulary skill

Fill in the Correct Term

• Rather than have students choose between two words to complete a sentence, you can also test vocabulary with a basic fill-in-the-blank activity that requires students to complete sentences with a vocabulary word. For example, when your students are learning adverbs, these fill-in-the-adverb worksheets can help you assess their skills. This doesn't have to be limited to a particular part of speech, but can be done with any list of vocabulary words.

Use the Word in Context

• The true value of knowing a word is being able to use it in context. Evaluating whether a student can use a word properly in context provides insights into whether they can apply their knowledge of the definition. One way to do this is to encourage students to write simple sentences using vocabulary words, then review their work to determine if they are properly using the terms.

Identify the Opposite

• To really push students to higher-order usage of vocabulary terms, test their knowledge of vocabulary words by using antonyms. Instead of asking students to simply define vocabulary words, provide them with terms that are the opposite of the words they're learning. Their task? Upon being presented with a word's antonym, they'll need to tell you which vocabulary word means the opposite. For example, if one of the vocabulary words is "used," provide students with the word "new" as its antonym. This assessment can be done verbally or as a written test. These examples of antonyms for kids can help you come up with words to use.

Creative Ways to Test Vocabulary

• Sometimes it's great to go beyond basic vocabulary assessments to incorporate some creative options to evaluate student performance.

Illustrate Vocabulary With Art

• If you're looking for a creative and fun vocabulary assessment, incorporate a drawing activity that students are sure to love. After giving students a list of vocabulary words to study, call out words from the target list one at a time and ask students to draw a picture that represents the word. This works really well with sight word lists. It's also a great way to coordinate vocabulary learning with sight word reading activities.