Survey says… Vocabulary just got an upgrade! 
Heading into a new academic year, it dawned on me that I need to up my vocabulary instruction game—so I dug into my bag of tricks. 
I created a Family Feud–style vocabulary game for my students. The idea? Students have thousands of words tucked away in the spongey recesses of their brains, but when it comes time to write, they don’t always pause to retrieve and use them.
This game flips that switch. Each round presents a mentor sentence with a missing word. Students have to fill in the blank with an appropriate Tier II/SAT-caliber word, choosing from multiple possible options. It’s all about flexing their retrieval muscles and making those words more accessible in their writing toolbox.
The video I put together goes over the rules and walks through 25 mentor sentences that teachers can use right away. 
Sometimes the best way to build writers’ vocab isn’t by teaching new words, but by training students to call up the powerful words they already know.
Slide deck is located in the video's description.
Happy teaching and happy writing!
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