Teaching vocabulary

I am still struggling on a vocabulary method; I have some questions. First, I pull words from reading material and I’m dealing with an 8 and 9 year old. I don’t know if what I”m doing is enough, maybe it is.

How many words should they be given?

Should they all be required to be defined?

How many do you test on?

Do you distinguish vocabulary words from spelling words?

What I’ve been doing is writing words on the chalkboard, then they look at it for a few seconds and then turn away, or close their eyes and spell it. If they’re wrong, then they write it. I also go over phonics, how many syllables, whether it’s a verb, noun, etc. at the same time. Then they use it in a sentence. This is all oral. Is that enough? I usually have to go through alot of words before I get a collection of five or ten for a test and they don’t need ten words to define, IMO, at this point. Besides, the words they miss in the initial spelling, they usually know what they mean.

Thanks for your viewpoints on this. I feel a little scattered.

Rachel