Enriching Students

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Enriching Students Vocabulary and Word Choice

• By Mr. Gonzalez, M.Ed. Language Arts
• Reading Teacher
• John I. Smith K-8 Center

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Think about it

• Think about the vocabulary instruction taking
  place in each of your classrooms
• Jot down a true description or list of
  instructional strategies and activities you do or
  you are aware somebody else is doing
• Discuss it with a partner in your group
• Ask yourself
• What am I doing to teach vocabulary or
• What strategies or materials am I using?

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Goals of Vocabulary Instruction

• To build interest in words turn students into
  word detectives
• To connect words found in texts to students life
  experiences
• To clarify and extend word meanings across
  multiple curriculum areas
• To develop strategies for learning new words
• To give students many opportunities to use and
  receive feedback on correct and incorrect word
  use

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Guidelines for Effective VocabularyInstruction

• ?Word knowledge is essential for reading
  comprehension.
• ?Wide reading in a variety of text types is to be
  encouraged and supported by every teacher.
• ?Use direct instruction to teach Tier 2 words.
• ?Learning new concepts requires active
  involvement with the words rather than passive
  definition memorization.

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Guidelines for Effective VocabularyInstruction
(Cont.)

• ?Multiple exposures to a word is necessary to
  learn it well - conceptual, contextual
  definitional.
• ?Writing definitions in isolation from
  dictionaries is not a recommended practice.
• ?Relate new words to students prior knowledge
  and to other related words when possible.
• ?Students need to develop the ability to learn
  new words from the multiple contexts of reading.
• ?Students need to be taught the differences
  between denotational and connotational meaning of
  words.

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Where do we locate sources for Word Study?
Dictionaries, textbooks and Vocabulary Programs.

• ? Expressions (Idioms, jargon, slang, proverbs,
  slogans, quotations, clichés, catchphrases)
• Figures of speech (similes, metaphors, tongue,
  twisters, euphemisms, hyperbole, double talk,
  irony, puns, oxymoron)
• Word associations (Context clues, analogies,
  homographs, homophones, etc)
• Word formation (prefix, suffix, compounds,
  abbreviations, acronyms, etc)
• Word games (hangman, word puzzles, spelling bees)
• Different Kinds of Dictionaries (Online,
  Thesaurus, Textbook Glossaries)

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Rationale for Vocabulary Instruction

• Good 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.
• As students learn to read more advanced texts,
  they must learn the meaning of new words that are
  not part of their oral vocabulary.
• Multiple encounters are required before a word is
  really known and becomes part of the students
  active vocabulary.

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What We Know from Research

• The scientific research on vocabulary
  instruction reveals that most vocabulary is
  learned indirectly and that some vocabulary must
  be taught directly.
• (National
  Reading Panel, 2001)

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Indirect Vocabulary Learning

• Students learn vocabulary indirectly when they
  hear and see words used in many different
  contexts for example, through conversations
  with adults and teachers, through being read to,
  and through reading extensively on their own.

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Direct Vocabulary Learning

• Students learn vocabulary directly when they
  are explicitly taught both individual words and
  word-learning strategies. Direct vocabulary
  instruction aids and improves reading
  comprehension.
• Every teacher should be an ambassador in the
  use and teaching of new words.

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Four Stages of Word Knowledge

• Stage 1 No knowledge never saw it before
• (for example conundrum)
• Stage 2 Vague familiarity Heard it, but
  doesnt know what it means (For example Blasé )
• Stage 3 Recognizes it in context as having
  something to do with ____ (For example
  microprocessor)
• Stage 4 Rich and flexible knows it well
• (For example keyboard)

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Did you Know?

• High vocabulary people not only know more
  words, but they know more about the words they
  know and know how to use them in the right
  context and at the right time.

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Again, Think About It

• How do you select words for vocabulary
  instruction?
• Do you have a plan?
• Can you share with us what
• you do that really works?
• Do you conscientiously teach vocabulary to your
  students? Explain How?

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Vocabulary Instruction

• Choose interesting words with mileage
• Create student-friendly explanations
• Decontextualize the words provide other
  examples
• Create follow-up activities that prompt children
  to interact with meanings
• Create ways to maintain the words over time

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What words should I teach?

• Directly teach those words that are important for
  understanding a concept or the text (content
  areas, authentic literature, etc).
• Teach words that students are likely to see again
  and again.
• Provide some instruction for words that are
  particularly difficult for students.

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Choosing Words to TeachThree Tiers

• Tier One Most basic words rarely require
  instructional attention to their meanings in
  school (clock, baby, happy, walk). It is not
  necessary to spend a lot of time teaching them
  because they are easier to learn than the other
  two tiers.
• Except if you are teaching English Language
  Learners (ELLs).

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Three Tiers

• Tier Two High frequency words that are found
  across a variety of domains instruction toward
  tier two words is most productive (For example
  convoluted, lethargic, fluctuate, capitulate,
  negligible, capricious, benevolent, candid,
  pompous, pragmatic, fortuitous, sporadic,
  accolade, utopia). They are used in a variety of
  ways by mature language users. They should be the
  Main focus.

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Three Tiers

• Tier 3 words are the words whose frequency is
  quite low and limited to very specific domains,
  probably best learned when needed in content
  area. For example lathe, peninsula, refiner.
  These are important words, but need to be taught
  within the context and subject area where they
  will be used.

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Identifying Tier Two Words

• Importance and utility Words that are used by
  more mature language users and are frequently
  found in a variety of texts.
• Academic language.
• Instructional potential Words that can be used
  in a variety of ways so that students can build
  deep understandings and representations of them
  and make connections to other words and concepts.
• Conceptual understanding Words that deepen a
  students understanding of a general concept by
  providing precise and specific words for
  describing that concept.

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Specific Activities to Teach Vocabulary

• ? Select only key words from the story and teach
  them
• ? Relate new vocabulary to the students
  background knowledge and real-life experience.
• Have students predict what each word means by
  using context clues
• Teach context clues
• ? Stop and clarify new words whenever they come
  up in the lesson

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Specific Activities (Cont.)

• Use words in meaningful contexts, applying them
  immediately after they have learned the meaning.
  Students need to have many encounters with the
  word and use it in different situations.
• Use pictures to brainstorm words about a specific
  topic.
• Give students book assignments to learn and use
  key terms in every content area subject.
• (Social studies, science and math)

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Specific Activities (Cont.)

• ?Draw a picture to illustrate the meaning
• ?Keep a vocabulary journal or notebook for new
  words and vocabulary activities
• ?Build a word graveyard (Bury the Word Activity)
• ?Do an activity called Show, Dont Tell
• ?Do exercises to analyze word parts and parts of
  speech.
• ?Teach students how to use and learn from
  dictionaries.
• www.yourdictionary.com

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Specific Activities (Cont.)

• Do an Activity called Words of the Week
  (Use Board Space or Word Walls)
• Do exercises that target definitions, Matching
  the Meaning, Finding Synonyms and Antonyms,
  Completing the Sentence, Word Associations,
  Meaning Selections, Vocabulary in Context,
  Analogies, Word Families, Word Games.
• ?Use Graphic Organizers (Semantic map, Word Map,
  Word Sort, etc)

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Questions