Activating Strategy - Wordsplash

Brenda Hill
Nov 02, 2009

A Wordsplash is used as an Activating Strategy to build relationships between words and key concepts that will be taught in the lesson. The use of a Wordsplash requires students to bridge the knowledge they already know about the word as it relates to a new topic or concept.

How is the Wordsplash used?

The Wordsplash is an Activating Strategy that is often misunderstood. Many times teachers will provide the topic/concept for the students and have them brainstorm and list words about the topic they already know. This is an acceptable Activating Strategy but when used this way it is not a Wordsplash but a brainstorming activity. When using the Wordsplash as an Activating Strategy, the topic and vocabulary words are provided by the teacher. These vocabulary words - some familiar but most new - are provided by the teacher in an attempt to have students make connections and establish a relationship between each of the words to the new topic or concept. Because the lesson has not been taught students use the new vocabulary words to make prediction statements about how each word is related to the topic, Opportunities are provided during the lesson for students to reflect on their prediction statements for accuracy and make any needed revisions. There are adaptations that can be made to the Wordsplash to make it age appropriate. For example, with primary students the Wordsplash may exclusively use pictures or may use pictures and words. A Picturesplash used with younger students may be completed together as part of a classroom discussion.

Wordsplash Example:
The following is an example of a Wordsplash a teacher might use with students when beginning a unit on weather:

Weather wordsplash

Uses of the Wordsplash:

  • To activate a unit or lesson - Acquisition or Extending Thinking
  • Prior to a field trip
  • Prior to watching a video or listening to a guest speaker
  • Student generated Wordsplash at the end of a lesson or unit. Students create their own Wordsplash deciding on key vocabulary and completing statements showing relationships between the vocabulary words and the topic. When used in this manner the Wordsplash has now become a summarizing strategy instead of a predicting activity.


For more activating strategies see Connecting Exemplary Practices in Acquisition Lessons.