Each Flipped Learning Module (FLM) is a set of short videos and online activities that can be used (in whole or in part) to free up class time from content delivery for greater student interaction. At the end of the module, students are asked to fill out a brief survey, in which we adopt the minute paper strategy. In this approach, students are asked to submit their response to two brief questions regarding their knowledge of the module.
In this FLM, students are asked to complete a fill-in-the-blank outline which accompanies all three videos, covering the topics of expanding one’s vocabulary and understanding idiomatic language. The completed outline will enhance the students’ note-taking skills and will serve as a summary of the FLM that they may refer to in the future.
Key Terms
word, phrase, context, part of speech, prefix, root, suffix, idiom, synonym, style, tone, paraphrase, thesaurus, etymology
Module Overview
- Engaging New Vocabulary as You Read Authentic Texts in English
- What to Do When You Encounter a New Vocabulary Item
- Understanding Idiomatic Language
- Contextualization of New Idiomatic Expressions
- Using other Writers’ Language as a Model
- Borrowing Ideas from Other Writers
- Objectively Reporting an Author’s Words Through Paraphrase
- Additional Opportunities to Expand Your Vocabulary
Download Video Transcripts
Worksheet: Expanding your Vocabulary Outline
Please fill out the following outline while you are watching the videos, and bring a copy to class.
- What is recommended that you do when encountering new vocabulary items:
- (Recommendation 1) _________________________
- (Recommendation 2) _________________________
- (Recommendation 3) _________________________
- Name three strategies and ways to expand your vocabulary:
- (Strategy 1) _________________________
- (Strategy 2) _________________________
- (Strategy 3) _________________________
- An idiom is: ____________________________________
- If you encounter unfamiliar idioms in your reading, expand your understanding of them by:
- (1)_________________________
- (2)_________________________
- (3)_________________________
Download Outline
Video 1: Engaging New Vocabulary as You Read Authentic Texts in English
Expanding Your Vocabulary Online Activity 1
The article “How Boys Become Men,” by Jon Katz (
The Norton Sampler, p. 316), contains a combination of academic and informal vocabulary. Read the article to get the author’s main point, and then focus in on Paragraphs 4-5, analyzing several examples of academic and informal vocabulary. Complete the activity using the vocabulary log provided below.
Recommendation: Fill out the attached Vocabulary Log following the steps described in the video, and add a few words to it every day.
Please bring your vocabulary log to class.
Download Vocabulary Log
Video 2: Understanding Idiomatic Language
Expanding Your Vocabulary Online Activity 2
Read the article “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again,” by Barbara Kingsolver (
The Norton Sampler, p. 143). Using the steps presented in the video, identify and analyze the idioms found in Paragraphs 5-7.
Submit your response to your instructor.
Video 3: Using other Writers’ Language as a Model
Expanding Your Vocabulary Survey
Please answer the following two questions, and submit the responses to your instructor.
- What was the one most important thing you learned from this module?
- Do you have any unanswered questions for me?
Expanding Your Vocabulary In-Class Activity
Read the following excerpt from “Our Semi-Literate Youth? Not So Fast,” by Andrea Lunsford (The Norton Sampler, p. 571), and in your team, paraphrase the paragraph using a dictionary and thesaurus.
No doubt there’s a grain of truth in both these depictions. But the doomsayers who tell these stories are turning a blind eye on compelling alternative narratives. As one who has spent the last 30-plus years studying the writing of college students, I see a different picture. For those who think Google is making us stupid and Facebook is frying our brains, let me sketch that picture in briefly.
Once you have written the paragraph in your team complete the following:
- Trade papers with another team, and edit each other’s work to see if you have correctly interpreted the author’s meaning. Focus specifically on vocabulary. Underline each new vocabulary item.
- Note the various types of vocabulary that you, your team, and the original authors use. What new words, idioms, and phrases have you learned? Which ones are worth imitating in your own academic writing?
- As a class, discuss what skills you gained through these exercises.
Download Worksheet
Download Digital Implementation of the Activity
References
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary, 5th ed., edited by John Sinclair, HarperCollins, 2006.
Coxhead, Averil. “A New Academic Word List.” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 2, 2000, pp. 213-238.
Liu, Dilin. Describing and Explaining Grammar and Vocabulary in ELT: Key Theories and Effective
Practices. Routledge, 2014.
Longman Language Activator. 2nd ed., Pearson, 2002.
Nation, Paul. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition. 8th ed., edited by Thomas Cooley, W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.
Helpful websites include:
