TIERED WORDS

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TIERED WORDS
I really have to try hard while climbing this big
mountain! I really have to be persistent while
climbing this enormous mountain!
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Mom, I finally learned the words that describe
mepugnacious and cantankerous!
That pizza looks hideous!
Mom, Ive been thinking all day of a perfect
word that describes President Bush..
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GOALS of this SESSION

• Introduce strategies that are being tried out in
  different schools
• Review some relevant research related to
  vocabulary development
• Identify and interact with Tier 2 vocabulary
  words.
• Practice explicit, systematic steps in vocabulary
  introduction.
• Encourage risk taking and accept that we will
  make mistakes while practicing.
• Explore resources that are already out there for
  you to use.

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Before We Get StartedLets review our
packetThree Tiers of VocabularySteps of
explicit, systematic introduction7-UpWhat tier
is this word?Whats the number for?Megatimer
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LeMoyne Elementary

• Early on we realized that with the extended
  reading and math blocks we werent doing a
  thorough job in the content and writing areas.
• To add to this frustration, many students could
  not read grade level text books
• WHAT TO DO?

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Once the blame game stopped, we began to put our
heads together

• We started to examine the prospect of infusing
  differentiated content related literature into
  our reading block.
• Content teachers began to ask questions about
  explicit, systematic instruction Meg Gregory
  will add to what I have said.

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Lets at some of the research related to
vocabulary development
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• Reading comprehension Knowledge of Words
  Knowledge of the World

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What Does Research Tell Us?

• Research clearly emphasizes that for learning to
  occur, new information must be integrated with
  what the learner already knows.
• Learning, as a language-based activity, is
  fundamentally and profoundly dependent on
  vocabulary knowledge.
• With inadequate vocabulary knowledge, learners
  are being asked to develop novel combinations of
  known concepts with insufficient tools.

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• Sadly,
• socioeconomic
• status has the most significant factor effect
  on a childs vocabulary
• knowledge.

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Children Caught in the Vocabulary Gap!
Differences in exposure to words over one year
Children in Professional Families -- 11 million
Children in Working-Class Families -- 6 million
Children in families who receive govt assistance
-- 3 million
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What is the Matthew Effect?

• This is referred to as the Matthew Effect where
  the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

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What can teachers do to solve this problem?

• Teachers must make effective vocabulary
  instruction a high priority in the educational
  system.
• According to research, teachers must make
  vocabulary instruction vigorous, strong, and
  powerful to be effective.

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Components of a Vocabulary Program

• High-quality Classroom language
• Reading Aloud to Students
• Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
• Word-Learning Strategies
• Wide Independent Reading

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We learn words up to 4 times faster in a
familiar context than an unfamiliar one.

• Consider topic immersion as a good way to
  induce fast vocabulary gains for young children
  staying on a subject long enough for the topic to
  become familiar
• Treat read alouds and the challenging
  conversation they generate as fundamental to
  building knowledge.

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What makes successful vocabulary instruction?

• A successful approach to vocabulary instruction
  involves directly explaining the meanings of
  words along with thought-provoking, playful and
  interactive follow-up.

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Bringing Words to Life Isabel Beck M. McKeown L.
Kucan Guilford Press
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Making Words Stick

• How do I introduce and teach words so that they
  stick?
• Use the research-based analytical steps for
  teaching vocabulary

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Lets Practice...

• Shes just too much of a distraction and Ive
  been getting calls from the other parents.
  Theyre afraid those stripes may be contagious.

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Sequenced Vocabulary Instruction

• First, contextualize the word for its use in the
  story that you are reading.
• Shes just too much of a distraction and Ive
  been getting calls from the other parents.
  Theyre afraid those stripes may be contagious.
• Next, ask the children to repeat the word so that
  they can create a phonological representation of
  the word.
• Say contagious with me. (clap it out)
• Next, explain the student friendly meaning of the
  word.
• Contagious means an illness that can spread to
  other people.
• Provide examples in contexts other than the one
  used in the story.
• The surgeon scrubbed his hands to prevent the
  spread of contagious germs.
• Have students interact with the word
• Could you be contagious if you went to work with
  strep throat?

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• If I say something about which you would be
  contagious, say contagious
• Going on vacation
• Pink eye
• Riding a bike
• Head lice
• MRSA
• Mowing the lawn
• Complete this sentenceI would be contagious if
  I
• Conclude with having students see the word and
  say the word
• Whats our word that means an illness that can
  be spread to other people?
• contagious

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Three Tiers of Vocabulary Words
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Selection Criteriafor Instructional Vocabulary
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Description Basic words that most children know before entering school Words that appear frequently in texts and for which students already have conceptual understanding Uncommon words that are typically associated with a specific domain
Examples clock, baby, happy sinister, fortunate, adapt isotope, peninsula, bucolic
(Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002)
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How do I determine that a word is TIER 2?
Word Is this a generally useful word? Does the word relate to other words and ideas that students know or have been learning? Is the word useful in helping students understand text? If you answer yes to all three questions, it is a tier 2 word. If not, it is probably a tier 3 word.




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Lets practice identifying Tier 2 words coaches
and specialists please support groups

• TASK On your table, you will find a variety of
  social studies and science related literature.
• With an elbow partner, choose a book that is
  interesting to you. Identify (4 )Tier 2 words.
  Use the selection criteria to help guide you
  through this process.
• Once you have selected the words, each partner
  should choose one word each. Then take turns in
  going through the systematic steps in vocabulary
  instruction. Refer to the yellow SEQUENCED
  VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION to write down the steps.
  Your elbow partner will listen and then you will
  switch.
• THIS TAKES PRACTICE and TIME

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Lets Try
A Bad Case of Stripes
Problem Solution
contagious distraction remedies vanished altered p
erplexed
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What are the things that you noticed?
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Lets EXPLORE!!!!

• Good NEWS! There are many, many resources
  available for you to use
• http//www.fcrr.org
• http//www.vocabularya-z.com
• www.edc.org/CCT/PMA

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In Closing
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• Research shows that average students learn
  approximately 7 words per day (Miller, 1978).
• At-risk students are learning less than 1-2 words
  per day or none at all.
• But there are too many words in the English
  language to teach!
• Not all words call for attention (Beck, 2001)

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More Research Findings

• Third grade students with restricted vocabularies
  have declining comprehension scores
• The gap continues to widen during the elementary
  years.
• By the end of second grade, students in the
  highest vocabulary quartile know 4000 more root
  words than students in the lowest vocabulary
  quartile.

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• Intensive students can learn new words at the
  same rate as benchmark students
• However, it is not enough to enable them to catch
  up to their peers.
• By fifth grade, intensive students only achieve
  the vocabulary knowledge of the average second
  grader.

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Reflect

• Do I provide activities that include more than
  repetitive practice?
• Do I vary the ways I teach new words?
• Do I assume that, once taught, a word is learned?
• Who does the talking about new words?

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Evaluating A Lesson
Curriculum Example Vocabulary (Grades 2-3)
Enhancements
How could you enhance the instruction in this
lesson?_________________________ _________________
__________________
How could you enhance students opportunities to
practice in this lesson? _________________________
__________ ___________________________________
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Fix-Up for the Lesson

• What vocabulary is being taught ___________
• Is it a high priority? Yes No

Areas Targeted for Enhancement Areas Targeted for Enhancement
Criteria How to Enhance
Explicit steps strategies Increase specificity.
Number of modeled examples Add modeled examples. Include think aloud procedures.
Opportunities to practice Provide students with additional opportunities to practice. Give immediate corrective feedback.