Building Vocabulary

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Building Vocabulary

• Cindy Gwinn
• Staff Development

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Fun With Words!

• The man who recently fell into an upholstery
  machine is now fully recovered.

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Dictionary Definition for Vocabulary

• A list or collection of words or of words and
  phrases usually alphabetically arranged and
  explained or defined
• a. A sum or stock of words employed by a
  language, group, individual, or work or in a
  field of knowledge b. A list or collection of
  terms or codes available for use (as in an
  indexing system)
• A supply of expressive techniques or devices (as
  of an art form)
• http//meriam-webster.com

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Are Dictionary Definitions Always Effective?

• Using a Dictionary is Not Enough
• Reading a definition does not tell us how a word
  is actually used
• We need examples in context
• Dictionary definitions can be incomplete
• Being able to define a word is an end result of
  knowing the word very well

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Reinforce Definitions With

• Gestures
• Pictures
• Objects
• Examples and non-examples

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What is vocabulary instruction?

• Process that continues throughout life
• Includes the development of receptive (listening
  and reading) and expressive (speaking and
  writing) vocabularies
• Includes both direct and indirect methods of
  instruction

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Research-based components of effective
instruction

• High-quality oral language experiences that
  develop word consciousness, the knowledge of and
  interest in words
• Explicit instruction of specific words
• Modeling and instruction in independent
  word-learning strategies (ex CPR OPIN)
• Time and support for wide reading
• Texas Reading Initiative (TRI), 2000

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Fun With Words!

• What did the triangle say to the circle?

Youre so pointless!
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Why build vocabulary?

• The meanings of individual words contribute to
  the meanings of sentences and therefore to
  understanding.
• After the age of five, oral conversation is a
  much less effective way of developing vocabulary
  knowledge.
• As students increase their reading skills, text
  becomes the vehicle for learning many new words
  that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

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How do our students feel about vocabulary?

• What is the author saying?
• Discuss with your neighbor
• Paula put down her pirn, wrapped herself in a
• paduasoy, and entered puerperium.

• Story about birthing
• Pirn tool for weaving
• Paduasoy Japanese style silken robe
• Puerperium the time of beginning labor to birth

• We have no access to meaning because we didnt
  get the vocabulary!

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Five Components of Reading

1. Phonemic Awareness
2. Phonics
3. Vocabulary
4. Comprehension
5. Fluency

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Framework for Reading
Vocabulary
John Shefelbine/Developmental Studies Center
See p. 20 of the CA Reading/ELA Framework
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Fun With Words!

• He didn't tell his mother that he had eaten the
  glue.
• His lips were sealed.

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Research about Vocabulary

• Kindergarten students vocabulary size is a
  predictor of comprehension in middle school.
  (Scarborough, 1998)
• A single book reading improved significantly
  childrens expressive vocabulary. (Senechal and
  Cornell, 1993)
• Vocabulary instruction has a strong connection to
  comprehension. (McKeown, Beck, Omanson and
  Perfetti, 1983)
• Children with weaker vocabularies are less likely
  to learn new words from incidental exposure than
  children with larger vocabularies. (Nicholson
  Whyte, 1992 Penno et al., 2002 Robbins Ehri,
  1994)

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Something to Think About

• Words Heard in an Hour
• Poverty 615 words
• Middle Class 1,251 words
• Professional 2,153 words
• Hart and Risley, 2003

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How Do Children Learn Vocabulary?

• NRP (National Reading Panel)
• Recommendations
• Teach directly and indirectly
• Repetitions
• Rich Context
• Incidental Learning
• Computer Technology
• http//www.vocabulary.co.il/
• Use multiple vocabulary instruction methods
• NPR, 2000

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Model for Choosing Vocabulary From Text3-Tier
Model
Low-frequency words Technical words
Developed by Isabel Beck
Tier 3
Words to Teach high frequency, high utility
Tier 2
Tier 1
Known, common words
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Words to Teach Directly

• Words critical to understanding the text
• Words that are likely to be encountered many
  times
• Difficult words that need interpretation
• metaphorical, abstract, nuanced
• Beck McKeown, 2002

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Fun With Words!

• I couldn't quite remember how to throw a
  boomerang, but I knew eventually it would come
  back to me.

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How to Select Vocabulary Words

• Pick 3-5 words for direct teaching
• Select words that are
• unfamiliar to the students
• big ideas of the author
• words used to summarize the text
• words that travel well (Tier Two words)

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Direct Teaching Vocabulary-What Does It Look Like?

• Refer to your folder for a detailed lesson
  example
• Example of a Vocabulary Direct Teach
• Explicit Instruction of Specific Words

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Practicing Vocabulary

• Synonym Race
• You have 30 seconds.
• Think of as many alternative words as you can
  for

look
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Practicing Vocabulary

• Articulate
• Take a noun card.
• Describe it to your partner without naming it.
  Use descriptive language to help your partner
  visualize.
• Can your partner guess your word?

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Repeated Read-Aloud

• Use literature to maximize childrens vocabulary
  growth.
• Pre-reading discussion focused on key vocabulary
  and concepts that may be unfamiliar
• During first reading allow children to follow the
  story thread without frequent interruptions.
• During repeated reading sessions, stop to discuss
  vocabulary and concepts
• Read each story at least 3 times
• Provide repeated exposures to new words in the
  classroom in different contexts

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Fun With Words!

• Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the
  hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay
  here, I'll go on a head.'

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Practicing Vocabulary

• Refer to your folder for more vocabulary practice
  ideas
• Vocabulary War Card Game
• Vocabulary Circles
• Vocabulary Swat Game
• Vocabulary I Have Who Has?

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Summing Up Building Vocabulary

• Vocabulary is important because
• readers use their oral vocabulary to make sense
  of the words they see in print.
• readers must know what most of the words mean
  before they can understand what they are reading.
  
• Vocabulary can be developed
• indirectly, when students engage daily in oral
  language, listen to adults read to them, and read
  extensively on their own.
• directly, when students are explicitly taught
  both individual words and word-learning
  strategies.
• Put Reading First The Research Building Blocks
  for Teaching Children to Read, 2001

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Bibliography

• Beck, Isabel. McKeown, Margaret G. (2002).
  Bringing words to life Robust vocabulary
  instruction. New York Guilford Press.
• Hart, B., Risley, T. R. (2003, Spring). The
  early catastrophe The 30 million word gap by
  age 3. Ameridcan Educator, 27 (1), 4-9.
• Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (2002).
  Vocabulary. Retreived April 25, 2010 from
  http//www.merriam-webster.com
• Put Reading First The Research Building Blocks
  for Teaching Children to Read, 2001
• Shefelbine, John. Developmental Studies Center.
  CA Reading/ELA Framework.
• Texas Reading Initiative. (2000). Promoting
  vocabulary development Components of effective
  vocabulary instruction. Austin, TX Texas
  Education Agency.
• www.kidsjokes.co.uk