Children"s attention span is extremely short compared to that of adults. Thus your job as a teacher is to use the few minutes you have to present vocabulary as effectively and successfully as you can. Be creative. Be appealing. Be quick. To make sure your students will remember all the new words you taught them, be fun and have fun as well!
Keep in mind that no matter what memorization techniques you use, children are not able to remember as many words as adults at a time. In most cases, approximately five totally new words seem to be enough to present during a single lesson unit. If you follow a course book, make sure that the new lexical items actually and/or significantly differ from their counterparts in the kids" mother tongue. It makes no sense to prepare elaborate activities for the students to memorize that "computer" is actually "komputer" (Polish). In addition be open to familiarizing the children with the so called "difficult words". For YLs any new word can be memorized as long as they can relate it to something they already know in their own language.
As visuals appeal a great deal to kids, have a set of flashcards or pictures ready for any new words or phrases you want to introduce. Forget about the old fashioned "What"s in the picture?" sometimes. Instead, roll the cards over in many directions, show for a second and cover again, let them slowly appear from the back of a book. Not only will it make your students enjoy this stage more but it will also make them remember the new words better.
Whenever possible bring realia to the classroom. There is no better way to make a person remember something than to see, smell, touch and taste it. Another way of making the lesson more attention-grabbing is letting the children bring s of their own. By doing so you will allow personalization and let them have some fun too.
Feel free to invite people to your classroom. If you are teaching professions, ask a doctor or a musician to visit your class and talk about their jobs. The students will be given the opportunity not only to memorize the name of a given profession
Try to create a single movement for (if possible) all the new words presented. Even if it is only waving your hand in a specific way or touching your cheek, the chance that the students will remember a word better is much greater. Another useful idea is making noises related to the vocabulary taught. "Meow" if you want to teach "cat" and "moo" if you teach "cow". With some students the auditory intelligence is more dominant so make sure you facilitate the learning process for
Try to create a single movement for (if possible) all the new words presented. Even if it is only waving your hand in a specific way or touching your cheek, the chance that the students will remember a word better is much greater. Another useful idea is making noises related to the vocabulary taught. "Meow" if you want to teach "cat" and "moo" if you teach "cow". With some students the auditory intelligence is more dominant so make sure you facilitate the learning process for them additionally
