Robin Talkowski’s Blog: Reading & Technology

A great vocabulary positively impacts reading comprehension. I enjoy having students develop and film skits that illustrate the meaning of vocabulary words and how they are used. However, there is just not enough time in the day or year to develop skits for many vocabulary terms. Drawing pictures or finding pictures to illustrate words and jog students’ memories can also serve as an effective learning aid. There are some good websites that help the process.

Quizlet helps you create on-line flash cards (that can be printed). You can upload an image to illustrate a word or search through Flickr to find an appropriate one.

Shahi is a visual dictionary that defines terms and provides different images to help illustrate the term.  Flickr, Google, and Yahoo are sources that can be chosen for images.

Literacyhead provides a unique way for teaching reading and vocabulary.  This site integrates art in all it does.  Vocabulary words are chosen from picture books.  These words are defined, sentences using the words are provided, and multiple images to illustrate the word.  To obtain full access to the site’s archives, there is a fee; however, you can access the current issue and follow Literacyhead on Facebook or Twitter.

Wordnik includes it all:  definitions, examples of the word in context, possible Flickr images, and the etymology.

Weboword uses its own word list.  It shares the word, its definition, a picture sketch illustrating an example, and then provides the word in context.  I use this site as inspiration for my students to create their own picture skit for words for which they are responsible.

Vocabahead uses common SAT/ACT words, shows a picture, and provides an audio script explaining the picture and how the vocabulary word is used in this context.

These are just a few great websites that helps the learner increase their vocabulary by employing a visual connection to the words.