The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You have a list of words students need for a text or unit, and want definitions they understand plus a week of practice and review.
- {{students}}
- {{text}}
- {{words}}
- {{source_text}}
- {{schedule}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Teach this set of vocabulary words to {{students}}, so that by the end of the week they understand each word when they meet it in {{text}} and can use it themselves. The words: {{words}} Where the words come from (the sentences or passage they appear in, if I have it): """ {{source_text}} """ Days and minutes available for vocabulary: {{schedule}} Lay out each word as a numbered entry with these parts: 1. A student-friendly definition: one sentence in everyday words that explains how the word is used, not a dictionary entry. For example, "If you hesitate, you stop for a moment before you do something because you are not sure." That example shows the form only. 2. The word in its source sentence, if given, with a one-line note on what it means there. 3. Two example sentences from situations students know, and one non-example that shows what the word does not mean. 4. Related forms or word parts, only where they help, such as a prefix shared with other words students know. 5. One question that makes students use the word, such as "Would you hesitate before jumping into a cold lake? Why?". Then a practice plan, day by day across {{schedule}}: a short activity for each day, with new words introduced in the first days and every word coming back at least three times during the week in different kinds of activity (sorting, choosing the better example, using it in speaking, using it in writing). End with a quick check of ten items or fewer, with an answer key, that asks students to use the words, not just match them to definitions. Each definition should be simpler than the word itself and never use the word, or a harder word, inside its own definition. Avoid example sentences where any other word could replace the target word without changing the meaning, because they teach nothing about it. If a word has more than one meaning, teach the meaning it has in the source text and mention the other in one line. If I gave no source text and a word's meaning is ambiguous, list it at the top with the meaning you chose and the alternative, so I can switch.
Variables
- {{students}}
- Who is learning the words, for example "5th graders" or "new hires in a medical billing course".
- {{text}}
- Where students will meet the words, for example "the novel we are reading" or "our unit on ecosystems".
- {{words}}
- The words, separated by commas, ideally six to ten.
- {{source_text}}
- The sentences or passage where the words appear. Write "none" if you have none.
- {{schedule}}
- For example "five days, 10 minutes a day".
Why it works
- An example. A sample student-friendly definition shows the form wanted: everyday words describing how the word is used, not a dictionary entry.
- What good looks like. Definitions must be simpler than the word and never use it, and each word comes back at least three times in the week in different activities.
- If unsure. Words with more than one meaning use the meaning from your text, and ambiguous ones are listed with the meaning chosen so you can switch.