My favorite article was Vocabulary Lessons by Blachowicz and Fisher. Reading about the STAR model of explicit vocabulary instruction thoroughly explained how to plan purposeful instruction. Another aspect I enjoyed reading about how to use was the word wall the students shared vocabulary they have encountered and now understand what they mean. This seemed to be a great way to empower students and facilitate social learning. I wasn't sure if I agreed on the authors' suggestion to make it a contest. Would offering extrinsic rewards for writing words on the word wall undermine the intrinsic motivation of sharing knowledge with others? Is there an age group where extrinsic rewards could work? The word search I snipped and included in this post is actually one I created for free...here is the link! It is extremely user-friendly to those of us who may not consider ourselves tech savvy.
I agree with your thought that extrinsic rewards would be somewhat inappropriate. I think extrinsic rewards should be used as a somewhat last reward rather than the basis of the activity. I have seen vocabulary word walls work very well without rewards, based on the children simply enjoying showing other children what they know and can share.
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