I like to describe nominalizations as a double-edged sword that can obscure writing if taken too far, but it can also help students learn to write with concision, packing more information into less space as is the hallmark of much scientific writing.

Regarding the “Taboo” activity, I find that students enjoy it along with the use of COCA, which they often find useful. You may wish to reduce the time for the vocabulary activity for example as one of the modifications you may wish to have. I ask students usually to pick words from their writing that they learned or that capture key aspects of their ideas. They also learn about the notion of collocates, and formulaic writing can be taught as a useful notion along with collocates too as it is one of the most helpful approaches for ELLs.

Activity 1: Nominalizations

Directions: 

1. Read the list of action verbs and the examples below about how nominalizations can help academic writers write with concision and precision, packing more information into fewer words.
2. Find a sentence in your draft that would benefit from academic nominalization, and prepositional phrase, adverb and verb revisions. 
3. As a hint, look for sentences with excessive use of prepositions, adverbs, verbs that can become nouns, and instances of the verb “to be” that can become action verbs.
4. Create a Baruch account in COCA, click on “Chart”,  and enter your verb from your draft’s sentence and examine whether it’s more widely used in academic writing genres, other writing genres (e.g. magazines), or spoken English. 
5. If you find a less academic word in your sentence, select an appropriate replacement from the list below, run it through COCA to confirm its academic use, and use it in your revised sentence.
6. Revise the sentences you identify as a candidate to benefit from nominalizations following the example below, reducing wordiness and enhancing clarity.
7. Be prepared to share your original and edited examples from your draft with a teammate and then the class.

Nominalizations are a double-edged sword because they are a hallmark of much academic writing but they can obscure meaning; use them sparingly to enhance your writing. 

• Non-nominalized Original Example: The plan was implemented successfully.
• Nominalization Step 1: Plan implementation was successful.
• Nominalization Final Step:  Successful plan implementation demonstrated [the team’s ethics].

Academic Action Verbs

Activity 2: An Adaptation of the Game Taboo

STEP ONE

1. Write down two interesting words that you’d like your classmates to learn. Ideally, these words should come from your research. They could be words you just learned yourself or more common words you already knew for a while. Write the words in ALL CAPS and BOLD them.
2. Under the word, write down three words related to them that immediately come to mind when we think of that word. You can use Google search, a dictionary, or a thesaurus to find synonyms for example. 
3. Find at least one of the related terms using the collocates’ feature of COCA.
   1. COCA instructions: 1. Log into your Baruch COCA account; 2. Click on “Collocates”; 3. Put your main word into the “Word/Phrase” search box; 4. Click on “1” on each side so that it turns green; 5. Click “Find Collocates”. The first five words at the top tend to be the ones that happen the most with your main word, which can help you understand how to use the word and help others guess the main word.
4. Here’s an example of what each side of your index card should look like:
   1. INVESTMENT (Money, Stock, Profit)

STEP TWO

1. Once we have the words and their associated terms, we will divide the class into two teams. Each team will have a representative for each round. A round is when a team representative tries to help their teammates guess as many of the underlined words as possible, using body language, the related words underneath, and any other words, comparisons, or communicative strategies. Each team has 10 minutes to successfully complete more rounds than the other team.
2. A round is completed when a team guesses two words correctly, which is when a new representative must quickly take over trying to help the team guess more words.
3. A round is over if a representative skips more than two words. 
4. While one team is working, the other team should be in complete silence and not help. 
5. Please see below for an example of an interaction between a representative and their team:

SAMPLE INTERACTION

• Rep.: What is something made of paper, you need to retire, and you need to pay bills? 
• Team: Money
• Rep.: What do you need to do with that money to be able to afford to retire? 
• Team: Grow it.
• Rep.: What is the business word for that? 
• Team: Invest
• Rep.: What is the noun for that? 
• Team: Investment

After 10 min. per team, the team with the most correct words wins! ☺

LIST OF WORDS

SUSTAINABLE Green Viable Climate Change	COMMUNITY Group Center Local	IMPACT Result Consequence Influence
DIVERSITY Race and Gender Difference Cultures	ECONOMY Exchange Goods & Services National or International Crisis	CORPORATION Company Private Organization
MARKETING Major Sell Branding	MONEY LAUNDERING Drugs Cleaning cash The Show “Breaking Bad”	CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT Savings Long term Higher interest
MULTIFAMILY Real estate One Building Multiple Units	GENTRIFICATION Neighborhood and community Poverty & displacement Real estate	STOCK MARKET Investing Exchange Trading
COGNITIVE	CYBORG	MUSEUM
MORTGAGE	PAYDAY LOAN High Interest MoneyCredit	BONDS
FINANCE Money Major Wall Street	PRODUCTIVITY Work Results Progress	Universal Basic Income Money Government  Poverty
MARRIAGE	VULNERABILITY	GREENHOUSE GAS
WELFARE	RISK Bad Danger Take	NEOLIBERALISM Ideology New Conservatism
DISCRIMINATION	INFLATION Price Expensive Money	OUTSOURCING Jobs Foreign Trade
PROPOSAL	WRITING	RHETORICAL SITUATION
AUDIENCE Reader Target Listener	KAIROS Time Urgency Relevance	EXIGENCY Problem Need Topic
LOGOS	ETHICS	PORTFOLIO Investments Management Risk
PATHOS	ETHOS Reputation Credibility Personality	REVISION
DRAFT	CONTAGION	VIROLOGY
CHRONIS	TARIFF Tax Borders Export	INVEST Money Stock Grow
EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) Diversification Investing Funds	MUTUAL FUND	VACCINE
STAKEHOLDERS	ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE (ESG) Sustainable Climate Change Investing	GROWTH Bigger Up Change
REPUTATION Fame Opinion  Recognition	RISK Danger Uncertainty Jeopardy	INTERNATIONAL Global  Worldwide  Multinational
DIVIDEND Bonus Profit Reward	TAXES Government Law Money	SAVINGS
ROBOT	BILINGUALISM Languages Communication Monolingualism	HEALTHCARE System Treatment Medication
COMPETITION	NEGOTIATE	AUTOMATION
STATISTICS	BREACH	HIGHLIGHT
DEBT Credit Card Money Loans	LEVERAGE Investment  Loan Borrow	RESILIENCE
INVESTIGATION Search Crime Police	S&P 500 Market Biggest Companies Index	DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE Corporations Index Established
LOVE Feeling Relationship Fall	FRIENDSHIP Close People Lifelong	IMMIGRATION New World Countries
AUTHOR Writer Producer  Book	NEWS Information Recent Media	CULTURE Values Unique Diverse
ESTABLISH Prove Show Table	REAL ESTATE Building Economic Sector House	CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)
DEPRIVATION Lack Absence Withdrawal	CAPITALISM Individualism Laissez-faire Free Enterprise	MICROFINANCE Entrepreneurship  Loan Poverty
CIRCADIAN Rhythm Sleep-wake cycle	PLANT-BASED Diet Food Products	ASTONISHING Unbelievable  Amazing  Spectacular