INSTRUCTIONAL
STRATEGIES
KICK ME
PURPOSE
PROCEDURE
To engage students in academic vocabulary and make
connections.
1. Print off vocabulary terms on either stickers, small pieces
of paper, or sticky notes that could be placed on students’
backs.
DESCRIPTION
2. Place terms on students’ backs. Remind them to not
divulge the term placed on another classmate.
Place vocabulary terms on small sticky notes or stickers
and one on the back of each student. Students must
get up and roam the room to find the terms that best
suit word analogies, definitions, synonyms/antonyms,
etc. Remember: the #1 rule of Kick Me is there is NO
KICKING!!!
Macauley, J. (2011, June 1). Kick Me: Making Vocabulary Interactive.
Retrieved October 30, 2014.
3. Instruct students to pair up with a buddy and begin asking
qualifying questions in order to figure out the term that is
on their own back. Questions such as, “Am I a person?”
“Am I a shape?”
4. Once each student has correctly guessed the term on their
own back, they may return to their seats.
5. Another variation would be to have students identify the
partner that would best be associated with the word
they have been given, for example find the synonym/
antonym to their word, or group up according to a central
theme, i.e. Union vs. Confederacy. Other variations include
students searching for missing words to an equation/
analogy with all of the correct answers being placed on
students’ backs.