Power of Words

writingspeakingaccuracypracticeindividuallow prep15-20 min

Students use given words to write about teacher- or student-suggested topics.

Procedure

Before writing, spend 3–4 minutes confirming each word's grammatical category and one typical collocate ("conduct research", not "make research"). Students who misunderstand register tend to avoid the word mid-task or use it incorrectly in ways that are hard to fix after the fact.
Let students choose from a short list of 4–6 topics rather than fully open choice. Open choice causes paralysis; at lower levels, also specify genre and word count ("one paragraph, 80–100 words").
At the 7–8 minute mark, pause and ask students to underline every target word they've used. Students who have used none or one will self-correct under gentle visibility without needing direct feedback.
For the speaking version, give 2 minutes of silent planning time to note which words they'll use and where. Without this, fluent speakers drop target words in favour of high-frequency vocabulary they already know.
During feedback, highlight collocational fit, not just presence: find one or two cases where the word appeared but the collocation was off and fix them on the board together. This is more durable than a usage count.

Students use given words to write about teacher- or student-suggested topics.

Before writing, spend 3–4 minutes confirming each word's grammatical category and one typical collocate ("conduct research", not "make research"). Students who misunderstand register tend to avoid the word mid-task or use it incorrectly in ways that are hard to fix after the fact.
Let students choose from a short list of 4–6 topics rather than fully open choice. Open choice causes paralysis; at lower levels, also specify genre and word count ("one paragraph, 80–100 words").
At the 7–8 minute mark, pause and ask students to underline every target word they've used. Students who have used none or one will self-correct under gentle visibility without needing direct feedback.
For the speaking version, give 2 minutes of silent planning time to note which words they'll use and where. Without this, fluent speakers drop target words in favour of high-frequency vocabulary they already know.
During feedback, highlight collocational fit, not just presence: find one or two cases where the word appeared but the collocation was off and fix them on the board together. This is more durable than a usage count.