Language Comprehension Skills: Bump Out Puzzles for Vocabulary Enrichment

All students need experiences with categorizing. In the classroom, this can look like sorting spelling words, organizing class materials, and grouping like things together. 

As an enrichment teacher, I love categorizing activities as ways to help students think more deeply about how different objects, words, and concepts relate. One of my favorite activities for this is a tried and true technique called "bump out".

The concept is easy. Present students with a list of four words, three of which go together. Students have to figure out which word doesn't belong and then "bump" it to the next box, making a new set of four words.

For example, in the set

chair

pencil

marker

eraser

the word "chair" is bumped out, because it is not a school supply like the others. 

While the concept is simple, putting together the activities can be tricky. I used to try to make one for each science unit, struggling to make the word boxes behave in Microsoft Word until I gave up and started hand drawing my sets. I still have some (bad) scans of these early bump out activities that I made!

This year, I started making new sets of bump out puzzles for my first and second grade enrichment students. Instead of hand drawing, though, I used Google Slides to get the text boxes right! Students enjoyed the challenge, and I enjoyed the rich discussions that followed as we talked about why some words didn't belong. On each puzzle, I include some that are very easy and others that require a little bit more background knowledge.  

If you'd like to pick up a set for your classroom, you can find the finished set here: Vocabulary Enrichment Bump Out Puzzles.