Create a glossary from a classroom text: support vocabulary without rewriting the reading

A glossary gives pupils a short explanation of unfamiliar words while leaving the original reading intact. Use it when vocabulary is the main obstacle: pupils can follow the sentences, but a term such as chloroplasts stops them. In to teach, add the passage as a source, select Glossary and choose the output language. The example below pairs a short photosynthesis reading with six explanations.

Read the passage with its glossary

The example explains photosynthesis, carbon dioxide, chloroplasts, oxygen, atmosphere and stable food supply. Keep the passage beside the glossary. Ask pupils to locate a term in the passage, read its explanation, then explain the original sentence in their own words. Looking up a word should lead back to the reading, rather than become a separate copying task.

• Photosynthesis: The process in which plants make sugar from water and carbon dioxide using energy from sunlight, releasing oxygen.

• Carbon dioxide: A gas that plants use with water to make sugar during photosynthesis.

• Chloroplasts: Structures inside plant cells where photosynthesis takes place.

• Oxygen: A gas released by plants during photosynthesis that enters the atmosphere.

• Atmosphere: The layer of gases around Earth.

• Stable food supply: A dependable supply of food, supported by photosynthesis.

The source passage

Plants make sugar from water and carbon dioxide using energy from sunlight. This process is called photosynthesis and takes place in chloroplasts, structures inside plant cells. Oxygen is released during photosynthesis and enters the atmosphere, the layer of gases around Earth. Photosynthesis provides the starting point for most food chains and supports a stable food supply. Sunlight supplies energy; it is not a material that becomes sugar.

Choose the words that block the reading

For a class already familiar with oxygen, the useful entries may be chloroplasts and atmosphere. A different class may also need carbon dioxide. Start with the words pupils need to answer the reading question, not a fixed number of entries. In this example, ask: “What do plants need for photosynthesis, and where does it happen?” The terms connect the materials plants use with the place where photosynthesis happens.

Create a glossary in to teach

Open Glossary in Material Tools and add your passage through the source selector. Choose the output language. In the optional task instruction, name the class and focus, for example: “Explain the unfamiliar terms in this photosynthesis passage for pupils aged 11–12. Keep the scientific terms as headings and use short explanations. Focus on chloroplasts, carbon dioxide and atmosphere.” Select the create-task button. Compare the resulting entries with the words and meanings used in your passage.

Create a glossary

Make each explanation useful in its sentence

The example explains chloroplasts as parts inside plant cells where photosynthesis happens. That helps pupils understand “This process takes place in chloroplasts”; it supplies a location and function. For carbon dioxide, the entry connects the gas to what plants take in. Keep those relationships. A definition that introduces three more unfamiliar terms can leave the reader with a second vocabulary problem. Ask pupils to underline the materials plants use—water and carbon dioxide—and circle the energy source, sunlight. The photosynthesis entry keeps those roles distinct: plants make sugar from the materials using energy from sunlight.

Use the glossary in a shared reading task

Give everyone the same question: “Explain what plants take in, what they produce and where the process happens.” Let pupils use the glossary while reading. Afterwards, ask partners to compare their explanations and point to the sentences that support them. For a pupil who understands the vocabulary but loses track of the sentence structure, a simplified reading may be the more suitable support. If the aim is recalling terms after reading, move to flashcards.

Finish with a short independent answer using two or three key terms in connected sentences. Use the answers to decide whether pupils need more vocabulary practice or another explanation of the process.