Sidewalk Chalk for New Vocabulary

I thought it might be fun for me and my students to play with sidewalk chalk this week. After all, I'm 43 and I still like playing with sidewalk chalk, so I figured high school students​ haven't grown out of it either.

I wasn't wrong! They really enjoyed the activity and my other classes came in commenting on the pictures they saw.
Plus, the assignment was both easy to prep and easy to run.
Prep:
I put the following instructions on the board along with a list of new vocabulary words:​

In small groups of your choice (up to five students), write a sentence using as many of new vocabulary words you can. You can also include other vocabulary words that we have used in Latin I and Latin II in your sentence.

Running the Activity:
While students were writing, I made myself available to help them remember vocabulary (recall is harder than recognition), and when most groups were finished I told them to start considering how they might illustrate their sentences. Then I brought out the chalk and told them we were going out to the courtyard to draw!

It did rain off and on, so luckily I had a backup in mind: black bulletin board paper. You can see what that looks like to the right of this paragraph.

For a follow-up, I asked students to choose a sentence that was not their own to use as a prompt to write another Latin sentence using the vocabulary words.

Aside from being fun, the best part of this activity is the free advertising it gives your program! Other students in your school are sure to notice Latin sentences and stick figure art around campus, especially in fun chalk colors. 

So, low prep, in-context vocabulary practice, repetitions from reading other students' sentences, fun with sidewalk chalk, AND free advertising? This activity is all wins!