Yes-no-why vocabulary activities
Work toward multiple ELA objectives

Yes-No-Why is a class of vocabulary activities that can do double duty in other areas of the English language arts curriculum. Yes-No-Why technique is used for developing a deeper understanding of vocabulary than is cultivated by recall activities such as using a word in a sentence.

The yes-no-why format

The teacher poses a single-sentence question about the relationship between two words on students' vocabulary study list. The students answer either yes or no, but must state their reasons for their answer.

General vocabulary examples

Here are three yes-no sentences that ask students to reflect on general vocabulary:

• Can a chronic ailment be acute?

• Can someone be caustic without animosity?

• Are predecessors ever precursors?

ELA vocabulary examples

Here are three yes-no sentences that ask students to reflect on ELA vocabulary:

• Is nonfiction a literary genre?

• Can someone have a point of view without having an opinion?

• Is a novel's theme the equivalent of a nonfiction book's thesis?

In these vocabulary activities, the goal is not to get the right answer (there are no right or wrong answers), but to

• Support their opinions.

• Present their reasoning clearly.

• Defend their position logically.

Thus the activity not only helps students develop word knowledge, but also gives them practice in presuasive presentation of information.

Ways to use yes-no-why activities

If you expend a little effort, you can devise ways to make yes-no-why activities work toward two or more objectives of your ELA curriculum. For example, you could:

• Have students answer questions independently in informal writing, discuss the answers in teams, and have each team present its best answer as a 3-minute persuasive speech to the class.

• Do yes-no-why activity in preparation for a writing prompt that requires using or discussing one or more of the vocabulary terms.

• Couple yes-no-why activities with discussion of denotation and connotation prior to a poetry unit.

• Use a yes-no-why question as an informal writing prompt to activate knowledge or sum up learning.

• Couple yes-no-why activities with discussion of synonyms and antonyms.

• Couple yes-no-why activities with discussion of language references

• Use yes-no-why activities with along with discussion of word roots, prefixes, or suffixes.

To get maximum return on your investment when using yes-no-why or any other learning technique, you need to use the technique often enough to justify the time you spend preparing materials and training students to use the technique. Using a technique repeatedly throughout a year in short sessions almost always yields higher ROI than a one-time use.