Can I Get A Word: Using "Word Girl" Videos to Teach Vocabulary

Part 2 of my earlier post on how I use Netflix to coax good behavior (and vocabulary lessons) out of my students:

I make my kiddos take notes while they watch Word Girl.  The beginning of each episode introduces two words that will be featured in that show's plot line.  I write those words on the board before pressing play, so that the kids can both see and hear each word.  Students then have to write those in their writing journal or on a sheet of paper, and keep track of the number of times they're mentioned in that episode using tally marks.  I have a few students who still don't "get" tallying, so this is great practice for them!  

After we're done watching the 15 minute episode, the kids have to tell me what the definition of each word is.  Word Girl does an amazing job of giving the kids context clues that lead them to the correct definition on their own.  The kiddos then write a definition of each word on their papers, and draw a picture for each.  Depending on time, I'll occasionally have the kids write sentences using each word as well. 

I have a pocket chart where I put the words we've learned so far, and for review I'll randomly choose a name from my stick jar every once in awhile to ask students what they mean.  So far, here are a few of the words we've learned as a class:

• devour
• confused
• persevere
• soar
• destroy
• flabbergasted

My students love learning new words!  (Or maybe they just love watching cartoons, and have been cleverly playing me in order to watch more cartoons . . . well, either way, they're learning, so does it really matter?)