Noting Vocabulary Lesson Plan

Learning Objectives: To raise awareness of

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

effective study skills for recording and remembering

Completion Time: 60 minutes

vocabulary.

Age/Level: Adult/Lower Intermediate

Skill: Vocabulary/Study Skills

Resources: Remembering Words

Worksheet, Remembering Words Key,
pens, paper, a whiteboard and pens

Preparation
As well as copying the two resources listed above, think of six items of vocabulary that you would
like to review in this class.

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

Ask each student to tell their partner the most useful word or phrase they have learned
recently, where they learned it and why it is especially useful.

Ask the students if they have a particular notebook where they record the vocabulary
they have learned. If they dont have one, nows the time to start one! Explain that the
aim of this lesson is to show students good ways of using a vocabulary notebook so they
dont forget the words they learn.

Presentation (20 minutes)

Hand out the worksheet entitled Remembering Words Worksheet. Pairs look at the
examples of students vocabulary notebooks and discuss the questions.
Hand out the Remembering Words Key. Students read the comments and compare

them with their own ideas about the methods of recording vocabulary. Encourage
students to ask if they dont understand something or dont agree with something in the
comments. Remember that the students are current language learners, so they are more
than entitled to their own opinions about the best ways to learn vocabulary. Sometimes
our role is to listen and guide, not correct and prescribe.

Key:
A. Writing the word with a translation is very quick and easy. When you learn a new word, you
probably want to write it down quickly. However, a lot of students forget most of their vocabulary
when they write it like this. There is no connection between the words, and there is no information
about how to use the words, only the meaning.

Author: Tom Booth

Pearson Education 2008

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Noting Vocabulary Lesson Plan

B. This student has included much more information about the words, for example if the noun is
countable, and where the stress is (in bold). Also, the meaning is in English. This takes longer than
a translation, but many people think it is easier to remember a word if you write the meaning in
English.
Some people find this way useful, but other people think it is difficult to remember all this
information when you try to use the words you have learned.

C. A lot of students use example sentences in their vocabulary notebooks, and most find it very
useful. For example if you look at the first sentence, you can see that after tell you need a person.
The best example sentences are original, (not copied from a dictionary) really true and personal
(connected with you in some way).

D. There are two really good things about this notebook. Firstly, the student has put the vocabulary
into a group with the same topic. If you put vocabulary into groups, it is much easier to remember
because one word or phrase can remind you of the others. Also, this vocabulary notebook has
phrases and whole sentences together with words. This is great. When you learn vocabulary, this
does not only mean learning words, you need to learn phrases and other bits of language as well.

Practice (30 minutes)

Explain that a good way to record vocabulary in groups is by using mind maps. Draw a mind
map on the board, like this:

Now pairs work together and expand the mind map. Monitor and assist. Point out that its a
good idea to combine new vocabulary with things learned some time ago on the same page.

Author: Tom Booth

Pearson Education 2008

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Noting Vocabulary Lesson Plan

During feedback, do not attempt to write all the pairs words on the board, but if any interesting
or particularly useful words or phrases come up, these can be added.

Brainstorm all the different ways of recording vocabulary that have been learned so far in this
lesson: translation, example sentences, English definitions, writing words in groups, mind maps.
Also add Drawing pictures to the list. Write on the board the six items of vocabulary that you
would like to review. Now students can work alone or in pairs, and use the different methods to
record these six items of vocabulary. They should try to use a different method for each
word/phrase. Monitor and assist where necessary. When most people have finished, group
students together in threes or fours to compare their work.

Closure (5 minutes)
Ask the class which of the methods they found most useful. Do different methods work best for
different vocabulary? Ask a few students to explain their preferences. Suggest that, even if
students only have time to note down a translation in class, it is a good idea to be creative and try
different methods when reviewing the vocabulary notebook, which everyone should do at least
weekly.

Author: Tom Booth

Pearson Education 2008

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