Monica Fischer

EDU 215 Early Childhood/Intervention Specialist

September 26, 2016

match.com

1. Objectives:

The students will be able to discuss and draw conclusions on the vocabulary words
meanings.

The students will be able to pronounce their vocabulary words.

The students will be able to define their vocabulary words.

The students will be able to use their vocabulary words in a meaningful sentence.

2. Content Standard (Common Core Standards, Grade 4):

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of
strategies.
o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4.a
Use context (e.g., definitions, examples, or restatements in text) as a clue to
the meaning of a word or phrase.
o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4.b
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to
the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).
o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4.c
Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both

print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise
meaning of key words and phrases.
3. Motivation:
Match.com is a game of activating prior knowledge. It requires no specific prior knowledge,
but it forces students to analyze and break down words they do not know. Students will use
strategies such as using background knowledge, looking at base words and making mind movies
to make their matches. For a little extra motivation, the number of correct matches will be
recorded each week and if class progress is made, the class will be rewarded with a treat.
Ultimately, Match.com is a game of work disguised as play that focuses on supporting
social development in the classroom. Throughout the game, students are working to learn and
define their vocabulary terms while interacting on a certain social level with their peers. This
type of play coincides with Bruners theory that children should discover ideas for themselves
and know and learn even before teachers instruct them (Isenberg, J.P., & Jalongo, M. R., 2014,
p.52).
Typically when students are asked to learn or define vocabulary terms for a class, they are
simply given the terms and are told to define them from the back of the book or the teacher
writes the terms on the board while the they copy them into their notebooks. Because the
approach that the game takes looks at vocabulary in a new way and defines the terms from a
different perspective, Match.com incorporates the flexibility aspect involved in the thinking
process of creative thought. Students are encouraged to learn the vocabulary because they need
to understand the terms in order to comprehend the stories they read. They also need to know the
terms for their vocabulary quiz. Why not present the terms in a fun and innovative way?

Another characteristic of creative thought involved in Match.com is risk-taking. Students are

challenged to express their ideas to each other, to expose themselves to criticism for guessing or
matching incorrectly, and to follow a hunch for what may or may not be the right match.
4. Instructional materials:

Match.com vocabulary cards (already prepared), weekly score sheet (for teacher),
paperclips, notecards, markers, notebooks, pens or pencils, the appropriate
reading book for the unit, and a chalkboard with chalk (whiteboard or smartboard
with the appropriate utensil), technology for students to type vocab (if needed)

5. Procedures:

As the students enter the classroom, they will each be given a card to play. Each
card will either be a term or definition

After everyone is in the room and seated with a card, the class will go over the
rules.

After the rules are discussed, the teacher will say Mix and match! and the
students will set out to find the match.

Students will examine the word, make connections, refer to their

prior knowledge, use context clues, look at base words, make mind movies
and just talk to each other to discover which terms go with each definition.

Once finished matching, the students will review their matches with the teacher.

Students are to return to their seats and sit with whoever had their matching card.

Going one at a time, the teacher will ask the pairs to write their word and the
corresponding definition on the board.

As a class, they will look at each pair and clarify.

Clarifying will include making corrections to mismatched terms,

indicating part of speech, and sharing meaningful sentences.

As corrections are made, the students will provide the class with meaningful
sentences and will copy the terms into their notebooks.

The number of correct pairs will be recorded by the teacher.

6. Classroom Discussion:

Before the game, the class will discuss or review the rules and purpose of the
Match.com.

During the game, the students will converse with each other over the terms and
definitions they are given in attempts to make the perfect match.

After the game, the students will reveal the matches they made and explain why
they made them. Then, the correct matches will be revealed.

7. Academic vocabulary:

Pronouncing, Defining, Clarifying, Explaining, Accountability (in learning the

definitions)

8. Assessment and Evaluation:

The students will be assessed by the correctness of their pairings and their
conversations once the correct matches have been revealed. Did they make the
match? Did they examine the word, make connections, refer to their prior
knowledge or use context clues? Were they able to pronounce the word and use it
in a meaningful sentence?

Ultimately, the students will be assessed on their knowledge of the vocabulary

when they take their vocabulary quizzes.

Value Added:
1. Resource(s) to support pedagogical decisions:
a. I Do, We Do, You Do Model (used during review)
b. http://www.council-for-learning-disabilities.org/effective-vocabularyinstruction-for-kindergarten-to-12th-grade-students-experiencing-learningdisabilities
i. The following link provides research on the importance of learning
vocabulary in special education.
2. Universal Design for Learning:
1. For English Language Learners, the terms will be listed in their native ot first
languages beneath the English term on the Match.com card. This will allow them
to understand the English terms better and to make connections between the many
languages.
2. Students who struggle with writing may type the vocabulary instead of
handwriting it or may receive a copy of the terms already typed out to put in their
notebook.
3. While the class is reviewing the vocabulary, the terms and definitions will be read
orally and written on the board to aid all kinds of learners.
9. Reflection:
Before I choose to create Match.com, I was bouncing around a couple of different game
ideas, but unfortunately, Pinterest had thought of them all first. I wanted to present something
new, but I was stumped. After a day of tutoring through the Success for All or SFA program,
it finally dawned on me. Teachers in the SFA reading program typically give the students the

vocabulary terms on a sheet of paper already defined. Why not make learning the vocabulary
a little more fun?
Creating this game was very simple! Any teacher can do it with a marker and paper.
Teachers could just use notecards. I choose to write the words on notecards and paperclip
them to colorful Match.com cards to make the game more official. I even laminated the
cards, so they could be reused. When I made the game for the class presentation, I used a list
of vocabulary from my time in early experience.
When it came time to brainstorm a name for the game, I could not think of anything
creative. I kept trying to incorporate the word match into the title, but nothing was
working. I considered titles such as Matchbox, Matches, and Vocab Tennis, but they all fell
short. Then, I had another light bulb moment: Match.com. The game would be based on
finding the perfect match. Students would be given terms they may have never seen and
through peer discussion, mingling, and a little bit of risk, they would have to make the match.
My presentation in class went very well. My classmates seemed to think the title was clever.
They thought it was an innovative way to present vocabulary to a class. Their positive
responses made me very excited to play with my students at school.
I tutor for the America Reads program twice a week at Garfield Elementary and one of
my weekly sessions is with three students for reading. Every session we review vocabulary,
get a head start on the story, and practice fluency and comprehension. They were the perfect
match for this game. Last week, I talked to my supervisor about receiving the vocabulary for
the story in advanced. She printed me out a copy and I prepared the game with some help
from my Crayola markers.

It was game time. I pulled the students for reading and as we walked down the hall, I
explained to them that we were starting the next story with a game. They were elated. They
were about to begin reading PompeiiBuried Alive! As the students sat down in their seats, I
passed out the matching cards and explained the rules. Since there were only three of them, I
made a slight adjustment to the rules. Instead of giving a card to each student, I laid them all
out on the table. The students were instructed to go one at a time, matching an orange word
(the term) to a blue word (the definition). To my surprise, they made eight perfect matches.
They took their time working through each word, describing what they thought it meant. I
waited until the end to go over each pair with them. As we reviewed their matches, I had
them think of meaningful sentences for each term.
Overall, the students loved the game. They asked me if they could play it again next
week. What is good about the game is that I can easily change it to suit the crowd or the
purpose. The game can be played in multiple content areas. What I liked about this game was
that it forced the students to activate their prior knowledge. The students demonstrated that
they could work through problem solving as a team and complete the game without any aid.
Typically, the boy in the group is easily distracted during tutoring, but today, he was focused
and ready to complete the task. From this activity, I learned that incorporating games into
lessons can really impact and enhance student learning. The game was a perfect match for the
students.

WEEK

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

NUMBER OF
CORRECT MATCHES

Goal: _______________
Total Number of Matches per 8 Weeks: ________________