Vocabulary

My group members and I haven't discussed which vocabulary we will cover yet. The theme of our unit is gangs, so we have to identify any vocabulary words that might be associated with that theme. We will be asking our students to read Romeo and Juliet, parts of The Gangs of New York, The Pact, and various news articles, so we also have to identify unfamiliar words in those pieces that students will need defined. All three of us are English teachers, and vocabulary is one of the things we will be required to teach. The way vocab was taught to me in high school, which is the same way I observe it being taught with my cooperating teacher, is useless, in my opinion. The students are fed the words and definitions, complete a homework assignment for the unit (choosing the right word, completing the sentence, antonyms, synonyms -- I'm sure some of you remember those vocab books from high school), memorize the words, and take a test. Then, they usually forget those words to memorize the new ones to pass the next test. I'm helping my cooperating teacher's students with their vocab work and it's a shame how many of the words I don't know anymore. Memorizing vocab just to pass a test does not help the students internalize the words, which I think is the purpose of teaching vocab. So, for the unit plan and for my future teaching, I need to think of ways to incorporate vocab lessons through the students' writing in hopes that they will internalize them and be able to use them fluently.