VOCABULARY Chapter 3

Vocabulary, Vocabulary, Vocabulary!
I love listening to younger children make up their own words or changing the meaning of words. My 3 year old nephew, Blake, told me one day that he was getting antsy. I have no clue where he has heard someone say "antsy" but he knew the meaning. We were playing disc golf and he was tired of walking so he said "Can we go home, I'm getting antsy." My other nephew, Jacob, said, "Daddy, Blakey has ants on him." HA! Don't you just love kids. This is just one story out of many where the boys have came up with their own definition.
The use of vocabulary is explained in Chapter . Vocabulary plays a major role in reading. If students do not understand the vocabulary or meaning of words they read, they will struggle with comprehension. Vocabulary should be taught in many different ways. I remember having vocabulary test when I was younger. We would be given a list of like ten words with the definitions. The words came from our weekly story. Other than reading the words in the story, we never used the words. Every Friday, we had a vocab test. I honestly do not recall any words or any other activities we did with the vocabulary. Maybe this is why my vocabulary is not up to par. This chapter talks about word walls and making children retain vocabulary. I  know at North Forrest the students do word walls. Each week every class is given around 5 words for the word wall. On Monday, they write the words down and do activities with the words all week. On Friday, the words are then posted onto the wall. I believe if students could experience a word first hand or have visuals, they will get a better understanding of the word.
Questions:
What are some ways teachers can get students involved in learning vocabulary?
How can we tell if students are actually learning words and not just memorizing them for the test? I know I just memorized them when I was younger.