Learning New Vocabulary Words with Comic Strips

Vocabulary is a huge part of comprehension. It kind of goes without saying that if you don’t understand the words, you won’t make meaning of what you’re reading. Helping kids learn new vocabulary words is a worthwhile activity for this very reason.

This summer, I’m going to continue the vocabulary learning with this simple comic strip vocabulary words activity. The comic strip look adds a little fun to it, I think.

*The free download can be found towards the END of this post.
**This post contains affiliate links.

 

FREE Vocabulary Words Activity Pack

To prep this activity, I printed the 100+ vocabulary cards onto colored paper. {You do not have to print them all. Just choose a few or type your own on the editable page.}

I cut all the cards out with my paper cutter. {I do not plan to use all the cards this summer, but I may continue this through next school year, too!} I folded them and stuck them in an old, washed out peanut butter jar.

 

I printed multiple copies of the vocabulary words comic strip {note: there are two different versions in the download} and a stapled them into a “Vocabulary Power Journal” for each of my older 3 kiddos.

 

About two times a week {which seems totally doable}, we’ll pick a new word to study. According to the page I printed, we will

• read the definition,
• put the definition in our own words,
• draw a picture of the word’s meaning,
• write a sentence with the word,
• and write the opposite meaning of the word {the other version asks kids to write/draw another meaning to the word}

I particularly like the version that asks kids to write the opposite meaning of the word so it helps to solidify the word’s meaning better. In order to use a word correctly in speech, you have to know when you DO and DON’T use it, right?

The ultimate goal is to get kids using the vocabulary words correctly in conversation. I plan on making it my goal to use them often to reinforce them. It might even be fun to have a word of the day kind of thing where we make a big deal when one of us uses the word, but we’ll see…

10 Authors that Use Extraordinary Vocabulary Words

Here is a list of authors that use some fantastic vocabulary words. Many of the words in my word list were chosen from their books! Included beside each author’s name are a couple of their books that are full of vocabulary words

• • William Steig – Sylvester and the Magic Pebble & Dr. DeSoto
  • Kevin Henkes– Chrysanthemum & Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
  • Virginia Lee Burton– The Little House & Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
  • Leon Lionni– Swimmy & An Extraordinary Egg
  • E.B. White– Charlotte’s Web & The Trumpet of the Swan
  • Tim Egan– Metropolitan Cow & Friday Night at Hodges’ Cafe
  • Steven Kellogg– Paul Bunyan & Johnny Appleseed
  • James Marshall– The 3 Little Pigs & Goldilocks and the Three Bears
  • Patricia Polacco– Thank You, Mr. Falker & The Keeping Quilt
  • Cynthia Rylant– When I was Young in the Mountains & The Relatives Came

 

 

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~Becky