If you could be a fly on the wall of an average classroom, it’d be pretty likely that you’d hear something like “Don’t forget to study your vocab words tonight!” or “Remember to review your flashcards tonight!”
While there’s been a move away from the rote learning of yesteryear, most educators agree that having a firm grasp of content area vocabulary is still an important piece to the learning process. I think that there are two important goals for learning vocabulary in content areas: (1) retention of the words (sticky learning) and (2) application of the words.
In Episode 34 of the Educational Duct Tape Podcast, I spoke with Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, author of Stop Talking, Start Influencing, about both of these goals.
A week after that episode came out, I was joined by dozens of “Duct Tapers” in the #EduDuctTape Twitter Chat to discuss the podcast episode, including these two goals.
Below are some strategies that you can use in your classrooms to increase your students’ ability retain and apply their vocabulary learning. Some come from the chat and others come from the episode.
Retrieval Practice & Spaced Repetitions
Though he doesn’t reference them by these names, in his book Jared explains why both retrieval practice (Jared refers to this as recall) and spaced repetitions (Jared refers to this as spacing) are important pieces to student learning. Watch the video below to learn a little more about this.
Shout-out to David Allan for creating this awesome video!
I also recommend the work that cognitive scientist Dr. Pooja Agarwal and her co-author Patrice Bain have done on these topics. I found Pooja’s appearance on the Cult of Pedagogy podcast to be very informative.
In the episode, Jared and I discussed using the SuperMemo or Memrise to aide in this process.
Find the narrative
The third thing that Jared mentioned in the video above was to help students “find the narrative” or “find the story behind the words.”
In her response, Katherine Goyette shared about connecting the vocabulary to a shared experience or activity:
A3: I like to begin by building background knowledge through a shared activity/experienced to attach the new vocabulary to. This provides context to make the learning "stick". According to neuroscience, learning is strengthened when we can connect it to something. #eduducttape https://t.co/P5OIzTF5x9
— Katherine Goyette (@kat_goyette) January 16, 2020
Sarah Kiefer shared about how, in teaching history, the vocabulary is often naturally tied to stories that can be leveraged.
A3: Teaching history, I love how it's a story. Winding the stories together and helping Ss make connections is wonderful.#EduDuctTape
— Sarah Kiefer (@kiefersj) January 16, 2020
In her response below, Susan Aplin shared about a handful of great tools for creating these stories with edtech: Storybird, AdobeSpark and Book Creator.
A3. @PearDeck vocabulary factory! Also love having students write stories using new vocabulary. On paper, in Google Doc. Have also used @Storybird @AdobeSpark @BookCreatorApp for this 📝#EduDuctTape https://t.co/GFw6plqGaS
— Susan Aplin (@AplinTeacher) January 16, 2020
Decontextualize Concepts
In the episode, Jared shared about how learning is often locked to the context in which it was learned. So, the more contexts that it is applied in, the more decontextualized it becomes, meaning its easier for our students to access & apply.

In the second half of the video below, Jared shares about how the “transfer process” can aide in this decontexualization and memory of the words.
Shout-out to David Allan for creating this awesome video!
Dr. Sonny Magana, creator of the T3 Framework and author of Disruptive Classroom Technologies, also shared valuable insights on decontextualizing vocabulary to make it stickier!
It’s important to use #Edtech to help students acquire & consolidate academic vocabulary. That means having kids use digital tools to create explanations, nonlinguistic representations & usevocabulary in different contexts, and perhaps most importantly playing games! #EduDuctTape
— Dr. Sonny Magana (@sonnymagana) January 16, 2020
Ben Talsma shared some great–and fun!–ideas for decontextualizing the vocabulary:
A3: Pencils, papers, and props. We do a ton of pictionary and charades, and those games are incredibly powerful vocab tools. Sometimes simple tech is underrated. #EduDuctTape
— Ben Talsma (@BenTalsma) January 16, 2020
The Fast & The Curious eduProtocol
Ever since The EduProtocol Field Guide Series co-author Jon Corippo appeared on the podcast this “eduProtocol” has been a favorite in the Duct Taper community. Not familar with The Fast and The Curious eduProtocol? Check out this overview of it from Matt Miller.
A3 Fast and the Curious with @quizizz is my new fave! #EduDuctTape
— Brandy New (@Msbrandynew) January 16, 2020
PearDeck Flashcard Factory
One of my favorite vocabulary learning tools is PearDeck’s Flashcard Factory. On their site, PearDeck says “Flashcard Factory was designed to transform the way students engage with vocabulary. When you play Flashcard Factory students pair up and work together to create dynamic and engaging flashcards. Students collaborate to illustrate and define terms, making learning vocab an active and social experience! Flashcard Factory is free to use and works with
Google Apps for Education.”
#EduDuctTape A3: @PearDeck flashcard factory has been a good tool for several teachers in our district. I’ve also seen Quizlet Quizzizz and Kahoot used effectively in classrooms.
— 𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖙 𝖇𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖌𝖊𝖗 ツ (@MatTechEd) January 16, 2020
We have been using @PearDeck #FlashcardFactory
It brings together two mediums of sketching and writing in improve vocabulary skills. It empowers Ss. who vote for the best representation.
💚 it!!
#EduDuctTape— Jennifer Conti (@Conti_jen) January 16, 2020
PearDeck Flashcard Factory ➡️ Gimkit
From some of the insights that Jared shared, we know that it’s not enough to just create those definitions and visuals in PearDeck Flashcard Factory – the students need to recall or retrieve that knowledge more than once to truly commit it to memory. Along those lines, many Duct Tapers shared excitement about the ability to import Flashcards created in PearDeck’s Flashcard Factory into Gimkit. You can learn about how to do this in this blog post by Mike Mohammad.
A3- Eager to try #eduprotocol's version of #fastandthecurious. However, I have been mostly using @PearDeck and then exporting key vocabulary terms to @gimkit. #EduDuctTape
— Matt Meyer (@54Mr_Meyer) January 16, 2020
A3: Flashcard Factory by @PearDeck is a great way to help students learn vocabulary words. Each created flashcard displays the term, definition, example, and a visual. And, to make it even better, the flashcards can be exported to @gimkit for gamified review! #EduDuctTape
— Dan Stitzel (@mr_stitzel) January 16, 2020
Creating Visual Representations
We know from the dual coding theory proposed by Allan Paivio that “Recall/recognition is enhanced by presenting information in both visual and verbal form” (source). We also know, from what we’ve covered above, that giving content more contexts deepends our learning. In line with both of those points, some Duct Tapers suggested creating visual representations.
Krista Hachadoorian suggests using Google Drawings:
A3: Google Drawings. I have my Ss find a image and then draw an image to explain the concept. Helps them visualize a make it their own. Bonus: they are learning #googledrawings#EduDuctTape
— Krista Hachadoorian (@KristaHach) January 16, 2020
Jenny Ellison suggested a tool that was new to me: Adobe Fresco. I’m eager to check this one out!
A3: #eduDuctTape I use quizizz, too. We use @adobefresco to sketch and draw new words and ideas. Here is a random Iron Man drawn in @adobefresco to encourage reading pic.twitter.com/8PL1mt2Aqo
— Jenny Ellison M.Ed (@jellison23) January 16, 2020
Along with a few other suggestions, J Hamilton suggested using Google Slides.
A3: research & building google slideshow with terms definitions & visuals. @PearDeck @quizlet @GetKahoot #EduDuctTape
— J Hamilton (@mrmakemathsense) January 16, 2020
The Frayer Model
In line with the mentions of Google Slides and visual representations above, Craig Klement recommends using Slides to have students create Frayer graphic models, which combines 4 different ways for students to connect with the word. You can learn more about the Frayer model in this post from Teacher Toolkit. Eric Curts provides a great Frayer model template in this post.
A3: I like to do Frayer model on Google Slides. Quizlet, Quizlet live, and Quizizz are also great for vocabulary. #EduDuctTape pic.twitter.com/vXckEIjWiY
— Craig Klement (@craigklement) January 16, 2020
Quizlet
Quizlet is a great, tried-and-true tool for creating and reviewing digital flashcards. The great thing about is that it makes the retrieval practice and spaced repetitions that we mentioned above convenient.
A3. I also think it’s a great idea to have kids design and create flashcards in Quizlet to teach others the vocabulary words they know. Let the kiddos do the heavy lifting, sharing, and contributing. #EduDuctTape
— Dr. Sonny Magana (@sonnymagana) January 16, 2020
A3 I always loved @quizlet … I had Ss who really loved using it. They loved all the diff ways they could study. I'd even have some who'd write it all out on paper.#EduDuctTape
— Sarah Kiefer (@kiefersj) January 16, 2020
Nearpod VR
Want it to be sticky? Angela Grene says to let the students experience it with Nearpod VR, which is a virtual reality instruction tool that works on any device.
A3: Sticky Vocabulary? 🥽Nearpod VR🥽! Take students somewhere and ask them to wonder how a vocabulary word might fit into the 360° setting they are experiencing. Another way to decontextualize! Blow their minds! #EduDuctTape @nearpod pic.twitter.com/wD0TGik3iq
— ✨Angela Greene✨ (@AngelaGreene12) January 16, 2020
The Sticky Back Strategy
If you can introduce vocabulary words or concepts through a video, audio segment or reading passage, the Sticky Strategy that Lindsay shared could be super useful! Learn more about it here.
#EDUducttape A3: Love using #sketchnotes and #doodleandchat but I also love using #SpotlightOnStrategies like Sticky Back https://t.co/76axnbq79j
— Lindsay Foster (@BSGSCSFoster) January 16, 2020
Sign Language!
Jenny Ellison shared an idea (below) that could enhance learning through a novel & kinesthetic experience!
I love https://t.co/Xi0MbKxqG8 Sign language is so illustrative and teaching it my students provides a brain-body connection that really helps them remember meaning. #EduDuctTape
— Jenny Ellison M.Ed (@jellison23) January 16, 2020
What tools or strategies are your favorites? What ones are we missing? Comment below!