I loved the Bean, Baldwin and Readence chapter on developing vocab. It has lots of awesome strategies for getting students physically and mentally engaged with the vocabulary that's essential for understanding. (You don't learn new words by osmosis!)
We actually did a semantic mapping activity the other day to start off Module 2 in my Geometry class to talk about what it means to 'study harder' -- things you can do by yourself, things you can do with others, and things you can do in class. (This discussion was prompted by a reflection ticket I had them do after the Module 1 test; they were to list 3 good things they're doing, 2 bad things they're doing, and 1 thing they're willing to change in the next unit to do better.) I used a semantic mapping software for the iPad called MindMeister, found here. It's pretty lightweight and easy to use on the fly, after you get a feel for where to tap to add new bubbles.
I also really like the idea of the feature analysis chart in general to compare and contrast things, but I think that I might use it later this module to wrap up quadrilaterals. It'll be a nice way to recap all of the different properties, and to look at which quadrilaterals are actually more than one type (a rectangle is also a parallelogram). I'm also thinking about having students do something like the verbal/visual representations strategy for each shape, as we learn them.
I'm stoked that this reading had so many strategies that are easily transferred to my content area!
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