Fun Vocabulary Activities for Maniac Magee

Middle School Vocabulary Builders for Jerry Spinelli's Novel

Oct 30, 2009

Teachers can help middle school students access challenging vocabulary by using fun activities to introduce new words. Here are suggestions for Maniac Magee.

Helping middle school students learn new vocabulary is a language arts teacher's perpetual struggle. Facing challenging new words is a common reason why middle schoolers do not want to independently read books. However, when teachers make learning new vocabulary a fun activity, they find that students can actually get excited about decoding unfamiliar words. Here are some suggestions for exploring new vocabulary in the Newberry Award winner, Maniac Magee.

Teachers can ask students to work in a group to locate challenging vocabulary words by scanning the first few chapters of Spinelli's Maniac Magee. Once they've gathered about ten words, they will list them in a four-column chart in their notebooks. Each column will have a title, as indicated below.

This chart is easy for students to create independently. To find the definition of each word, students can refer to a dictionary or online resource. They should try to write a brief definition by summarizing in their own words the dictionary definition. They can also add a synonym that is already familiar to them. The quote can be excerpted directly from the text. For this column, students may choose to write their own sentence using the word. Finally, students should draw a quick sketch of a character, scenario, or action that somehow reminds them of this word. It can be as silly or outlandish as they choose; the point is to make it memorable.

Fill in the Blanks Vocabulary Group Activity

This activity works well for ten to fifteen vocabulary words and with students arranged in multi-ability groups of four. Teachers can provide each group students with a pre-identified list of challenging words located in Maniac Magee. Students should practice identifying the prefix, root, and suffix of each word to help determine meaning before seeking out the actual definitions. Students can also think of words that look similar to the vocabulary words. They may share a similar prefix or root, for example. The teacher can ask students to take an educated guess about the meaning of these words; then, they can check their word by using a dictionary.

Once students have identified the correct meaning for each word, they should work collaboratively with their group members to write a two to three paragraph summary of the events they have read in the book thus far. The catch is that they must use at least eight of their vocabulary words within the summary and replace each word with a blank. They should list the words used in a separate word bank and then trade their summary with another group and challenge them to correctly complete the paragraphs using the vocabulary provided in the word bank. One group member from each group should read the final summary after they have inserted the correct vocabulary.

This vocabulary activity can be used as either a formative or summative assessment. Listed below are five vocabulary words. After each word is a sentence containing an italicized synonym of the vocabulary. Students should identify the correct word for each sentence below.

Learning new words is a necessary part of building reading comprehension and fluency. Once students realize that expanding their vocabulary can be fun in the context of studying a novel such as Maniac Magee, they may be more motivated to proceed. Vocabulary activities that promote collaboration and foster student interaction are sure to pique student interest.

The copyright of the article Fun Vocabulary Activities for Maniac Magee in Curricula by Grade is owned by Thadra Petkus. Permission to republish Fun Vocabulary Activities for Maniac Magee in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.