As students read, they'll often come across vocabulary they're unfamiliar with. A great way to connect students with those new words is to have them create a storyboard that uses vocabulary from The Outsiders. In the visual vocabulary board, students can choose between coming up with their own use of the vocabulary board, finding the specific example from the text, or depicting it without words.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Demonstrate your understanding of the vocabulary words in The Outsiders by creating visualizations.
You might offer students a word bank or allow them to choose their own words that they want to focus on. You know your students best, and you know what scaffolding or differentiation you might need to employ with them.
Allow students to use an online dictionary or another method of your choice in order get a solid definition for the word. They should type this in the box.
Drawing is a powerful tool for elementary students, and when they create the scene to show the word's definition they will be using a variety of intelligences, and therefore will be more likely to remember the definition.
Students are continually refining their personal wordbanks, and it is important for them to understand a wide variety of words in order to gain cultural literacy. As an educated member of society, the more words the better, and books are a great tool for vocabulary enrichment.
Having to draw a definition of a word rather than write it out connects with more parts of a student's brain, so they will be more likely to remember and retain the definition of the vocabulary word. Plus, it is just plain fun to draw!