LSN

Vocabulary Tree

Vocabulary Trees are graphic organizers and are useful in note-taking and building vocabulary, though vocabulary isn’t their only use. The Vocabulary Tree is used for finding relationships and making connections between groups of vocabulary words. In a social studies classroom, this strategy will be useful for comparing and contrasting political ideologies, key figures, and civilizations or empires. The basic Vocabulary Tree is made up of a trunk, roots, branches, and leaves. The trunk is where students up the main concept or a key term and the branches extend from that term and hold related terms, ideas, or examples. A prime example vocabulary word that could be used is facism. Others include communism, democracy, and capitalism. Leaves can be used for definitions, an explanation, or evidence relating to the branch it’s attached to. The roots of the tree are help for definitions or a Latin root of the key term on the trunk.

 

*Activate Background Knowledge & Make Connections

*Visualize