Vocabulary practice

My students are not retaining vocabulary this year.  I like our textbook, and I think it does a nice job of recycling vocabulary, but a large number of my students do not spend enough contact time with the vocabulary outside of class.  The traditional workbook and worksheets are not helping at all.  I think many kids just write down words to be done with the assignment or copy from a peer. So I have been brainstorming what kind of homework I can give that will be more useful for them.  At this level, I believe practice with vocabulary is what they really need, so during our March inservice our Foreign Language department got together to brainstorm activities that students can create to practice vocabulary.  We wanted a list of activities that would appeal to a variety of students and intelligences, and most important, I wanted activities that were tangible and student produced.  This is what we have come up with so far.  After our spring break, I plan on rolling out the options.  I will pick 9 activities & put them on a Tic-Tac-Toe grid & have students select 3 activities in a row to complete per week.  That will be their homework.  Since I teach 5 sections of the same level, I will stagger the due dates to make it manageable to grade.  Most of these activities will be a completion grade, but I will provide my students with 5-10 minutes every other day to use the activities they created in class with their partner(s) or co-operative groups.  Any additional ideas or suggestions are always welcomed :)