Teaching Strategies
Word Maps
Relationships between words can be illustrated through word maps. Create
word maps by writing the focus word in a central circle and then
asking the students to brainstorm related words. Link these brainstormed
words to the focus word as in an elementary mind map. The word
maps could be:
- words with similar meanings to that of the focus word;
- words from the same word family;
- words that relate to the same topic or theme;
- different meanings of the focus word.
Word maps help students to
make connections between their prior knowledge and the new words. They
show conceptual relationships between words.
By showing these relationships students can modify their
existing framework of knowledge (schema) and
more effectively construct meaning when they meet the words in the text.
See Antarctica Unit Example.
The phrase word map is sometimes used to describe a more detailed mapping of the
meaning of one word, eg. see:
