Vocabulary

1
Vocabulary

• Refining Classroom Practices
• Reading First Cohort 2
• March 5 6, 2007

2
Objectives

• Review Vocabulary
• Add new Vocabulary information
• Review and refine classroom vocabulary practices

3
What We Know from Research

• National Reading Panel Report implications
• Vocabulary should be taught directly even though
  a great deal of vocabulary is learned indirectly.
• Repeated exposure to new vocabulary is important.
• New words are learned more effectively in a rich
  context.
• Restructuring vocabulary tasks can help students
  learn new vocabulary.
• Active engagement with vocabulary improves
  learning.

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What We Know from Research

• Children who enter with limited vocabulary
  knowledge grow much more discrepant over time
  from their peers who have rich vocabulary
  knowledge (Baker, Simmons, Kame'enui, 1997).
• Vocabulary size in kindergarten is an effective
  predictor of reading comprehension in the middle
  elementary years (Scarborough, 1998).
• In 1st and 2nd grade, children need to learn 800
  words per year, about 2 per day. (Biemiller,
  1999)
• Children who are behind by 1st grade have a hard
  time making up the gap. (Biemiller, 1999)

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What We Know from Research

• Students develop vocabulary through

explicit vocabulary instruction
wide reading
reading a lot reading different types of texts
focusing on specific words and their meanings
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Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction

• Intentional Vocabulary Teaching
• Specific Word Instruction
• -Selecting Words
• -Rich and Robust Instruction of
• Words in Text
• Word-Learning Strategies
• -Dictionary Use
• -Morphemic Analysis
• -Contextual Analysis

• Incidental Vocabulary Learning
• Rich Oral Language Experiences
• Wide Reading Opportunities
• -Teacher Read Alouds
• -Independent Reading
• -Expository Text

Word Consciousness -Adept Diction Word Play
Word Origins
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Two Types of IntentionalVocabulary Instruction
Specific Word Instruction

• Word-Learning Strategy Instruction

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Card 17

• Specific Word Instruction
• Write student-friendly explanations
• Post words for students to see
• Find story context for each word
• Prepare Activities
• Word-Learning Strategy Instruction
• Find word in context
• Prepare Think Aloud or Model

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Promote Word Consciousness
Read good literature
Provide scaffolded opportunities to experiment
with language
The Teachers Role
Identify gift of words in context
Talk about language used by good authors
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The challenge of vocabulary instruction for
Reading First schools

• To have a useful impact on vocabulary growth, an
  intervention would need to add several hundred
  root word meanings per year. This is
  considerably more meanings than are presently
  addressed in classroom programs.
• Until schools are prepared to emphasize
  vocabulary acquisition, especially in the primary
  grades, less advantaged children will continue to
  be handicapped even if they master reading
  written words.

Biemiller, A. Boote, C. (2006). An effective
method for building meaning vocabulary in primary
grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98,
44 62.
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The current unresolved issue

• For very young children (K 2) with limited
  vocabulary (bottom quartile), is it better to
  teach many word meanings briefly, or a few words
  more intensively?

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Fast Mapping

• Introduced by Cary, 1978
• Direct, brief explanation of meaning can
  establish initial fast mapping of meaning
• As initially mapped words are encountered in
  other contexts, their meaning is extended and
  deepened.

Does it Work????
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Biemiller Boote Research Study Implications

• If 41 of taught words are learned, to acquire
  400 new word meanings, 1000 would need to be
  taught. This is 25 per week.
• Biemiller and Boote recommend teaching many words
  briefly in K 2 for three reasons
• Different children known different meanings
• Initial explicit learning may allow students to
  extend word knowledge as they encounter taught
  words in other contexts profit from context
• Other methods, involving more intensive
  instruction, do not begin to address the size of
  the gap

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Read Aloud and Fast Mapping

• Anita Archers Read Aloud Steps
• Fast Mapping

Read-AloudsProviding Robust Vocabulary
Instruction
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Read-AloudsProviding Robust Vocabulary
Instruction
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Provide Engaging Vocabulary Practice

• Practice activities should
• Be Engaging.
• Provide multiple exposures to the words. (Stahl,
  1986)
• Encourage deep processing on fthe words meaning.
  (Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002)
• When possible, connect the words meaning to
  prior knowledge.
• Provide practice over time.

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Word Walls

• Create a word wall in your classroom.
• Post a reminder of the context.
• Copy of the cover of the read-aloud book
• Copy of the first page in the story
• The topic in science or social studies
• Post the vocabulary words.
• Incorporate the words into your classroom
  language.
• Encourage students to use the words when speaking
  and writing.

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Vocabulary Logs

• Have students maintain a log of vocabulary to
  facilitate study and review.
• What can be recorded on a vocabulary log?
• Word
• Student-friendly explanation
• Any of these options
• A sentence to illustrate the words meaning
• Examples and non-examples
• An illustration
• In lower grades, create a group log on a flip
  chart.
• See Examples 4, 5, and 6)

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Vocabulary and Comprehension

• Of the many compelling reasons for providing
  students with instruction to build vocabulary,
  none is more important than the contribution of
  vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension.
  Indeed, one of the most enduring findings in
  reading research is the extent to which students
  vocabulary knowledge relates to their reading
  comprehension.

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Current Research

• Current research indicates that the kind of
  vocabulary instruction that is most likely to
  have an impact on reading comprehension involves
• Providing both definitional information about
  words and experience accessing their meaning in
  multiple contexts
• Total amount of time spend learning words has an
  impact on reading comprehension more exposures
  rather than fewer
• It is also helpful to require students to
  actively work with words use in sentences,
  redefine, classify, etc.

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Site-Based Planning

• Review your Vocabulary Plan
• Have you successfully implemented all areas of
  the plan?
• If not, what areas need to be addressed?
• Have all staff members developed a vocabulary
  plan?
• Are there elements of the plan that need to be
  changed or refined?

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Site-Based Planning

• Leadership Role
• Accountability
• Support
• Coaching Role
• Support
• Professional Development

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Site-Based Planning

• Data
• Which students need additional support with
  vocabulary?
• Which classroom teachers may need additional
  support?
• Core Program
• Lesson Maps
• Additional Vocabulary
• Student Engagement

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Site-Based Planning

• Refine Vocabulary Plan
• Plan Next Steps
• Professional Development?
• Grade Level Meetings?

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Thank You!

• Reading First Contact Information

• Debbie Hunsaker,[phone], dhunsaker_at_mt.gov
• Kathi Tiefenthaler,[phone],
  ktiefenthaler_at_mt.gov
• Courtney Peterson, [phone],
  copeterson_at_mt.gov
• Barbara Johnson, [phone], bajohnson_at_mt.gov
• Rhonda Crowl, [phone] Ex. 3412,
  rsiemens_at_mt.gov
• Minda Kolar, [phone], mkolar_at_mt.gov

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References

• Torgesen, J. Archer, A. Reading Comprehension
  Forum. NCRFTA January 2007. Atlanta, GA
• Beck, Isabel, L., et al. (2002) Bringing Words to
  Life Robust Vocabulary Instruction. New York
  The Guilford Press
• Hart, B., Risley, R. T. (1995). Meaningful
  differences in the everyday experience of young
  American children. Baltimore Paul H. Brookes.
• McChardle, Peggy and Chhabra, Vinita, et al.
  (2004) The Voice of Evidence in Reading Research.
  Baltimore, MD Brookes Publishing.

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References

• National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children
  to read An evidence-based assessment of the
  scientific research literature on reading and its
  implications for reading instruction on-line.
• The Partnership for Reading (2001) Put Reading
  First.
• National Institute of Child Health and Human
  Development (NICHD). (2000) Report of the
  National Reading Panel. Washington, DC U.S.
  Government Printing Office.
• US Department of Education. (2004) A Closer Look
  at the Five Essential Components of Effective
  Reading Instruction