Transcript vocabulary - WBRC Literacy Plan

Why VOCABULARY
is Critical for Reading
and
What You Can Do About It
Vocabulary
“It is widely accepted among researchers that the
difference in students’ vocabulary levels is a key
factor in disparities in academic achievement but
that vocabulary instruction has been neither
frequent nor systematic in most schools.”
Common Core Standards Appendix A, pg. 32
“…Research shows that if students are
truly to understand what they read, they
must grasp upward of 95 percent of the
words.”
Common Core Standards Appendix A, pg. 32
Common Core Vocabulary
Anchor Standards
Reading - Craft and Structure
R4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a
text, including determining technical, connotative, and
figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word
choices shape meaning or tone.
Language – Knowledge of Language
L3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how
language functions in different contexts, to make
effective choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
Common Core Vocabulary
Anchor Standards
Language – Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context
clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting
general and specialized reference materials, as
appropriate.
L5. Demonstrate understanding of word relationships
and nuances in word meanings.
L6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general
academic and domain-specific words and phrases
sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at
the college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge
when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
To Read, You Need…
• Automatic word recognition
• Reading comprehension
• Vocabulary – word meanings
• Other factors (strategic knowledge,
motivation, general knowledge, purpose
for reading…)
• Language comprehension: Vocabulary &
Background Knowledge
If a child has limited vocabulary
when they get to school, they may
sound out the words but not know
what they mean; they won’t enjoy
reading and will read less, and they
will struggle to get new knowledge
and vocabulary from reading.
Vocabulary knowledge
• …contributes to reading ability
AND is a consequence of reading.
• ...can often be equated with
important conceptual knowledge;
if you know a word, you know a
concept.
Research
• Very little vocabulary instruction
happening!
• Several studies have shown that a year of
school has NO IMPACT on vocabulary
development.
• NAEP: 68% of 8th graders scoring below
the 25th percentile; low scores on
vocabulary = low scores on
comprehension
BIG Ideas About Vocabulary
Development
• Multiple times – hear and use the word
• For children to learn a word, they need a lot
of information about the concept of a word
• Explicit and Implicit Instruction must take
place. In the study, implicit was the least
effective, explicit alone the next best, and
finally implicit and explicit instruction
together was far better.
Word Selection
1. Determine Unit of Study
Kindergarten Science Unit: WEATHER
Week 1: Clouds
• Unit Goals: Students will become familiar with how meteorologists
measure weather, how they use weather conditions to make
forecasts, and how to prepare for different kinds of weather.
• Week 1: CLOUDS Concepts: Students will understand how
meteorologists classify clouds and cloud cover and how
meteorologists use clouds to predict weather conditions.
2. Select vocabulary to teach
Informational Text
• New word for new concept
• New word repeated frequently
• Specialized meaning in subject
area
Fiction
• Sophisticated word for known
concept
• New word repeated once or
twice
• Used across contexts
Tiers of Words
Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown,
and Linda Kucan (2002, 2008) have
outlined a useful model for
conceptualizing categories of words
readers encounter in texts and for
understanding the instructional and
learning challenges that words in each
category present.
Tiers of Words
Tier One
Words of everyday speech usually learned
in the early grades albeit not at the same
rate by all children.
Examples: big, small, house, table, family
Tiers of Words
Tier Two

General academic words, which are far more likely
to appear in written texts than in speech.
 Subtle or precise ways to say relatively simple
things. (Saunter instead of walk)
 Examples of Tier Two Words:
relative, vary, formulate, specificity, accumulate
 calibrate, itemize, periphery
 misfortune, dignified, faltered, unabashedly

Tiers of Words
Tier Two


Are not unique to a particular discipline
and are not the clear responsibility of a
particular content area teacher.
Are frequently encountered in complex
written texts and are powerful because
of their wide applicability to many sorts
of reading.
Tiers of Words
Tier Three

Domain-specific words that are specific to a
field of study and key to understanding a
new concept within a text.
 Examples: lava, carburetor, legislature,
circumference, aorta
 More common in informational texts
 Often explicitly defined by the author,
repeatedly used, and heavily scaffolded.
Vocabulary – Identifying Tiers
In early times, no one knew how volcanoes formed or why they
spouted red-hot molten rock. In modern times, scientists began to
study volcanoes. They still don’t know all the answers but they
know much about how a volcano works.
Our planet is made up of many layers of rock. The top layers of solid
rock are called the crust. Deep beneath the crust is the mantle,
where it is so hot that some rock melts. The melted, or molten,
rock is called magma.
Volcanoes are formed when magma pushes its way up through the
crack in Earth’s crust. This is called a volcanic eruption. When
magma pours forth on the surface, it is called lava.
Simon, Seymour. Volcanoes. New York: Harper Collins, 2006. (2006)
Vocabulary – Identifying Tiers
In early times, no one knew how volcanoes formed or why they
spouted red-hot molten rock. In modern times, scientists began to
study volcanoes. They still don’t know all the answers but they
know much about how a volcano works.
Our planet is made up of many layers of rock. The top layers of solid
rock are called the crust. Deep beneath the crust is the mantle,
where it is so hot that some rock melts. The melted, or molten,
rock is called magma.
Volcanoes are formed when magma pushes its way up through the
crack in Earth’s crust. This is called a volcanic eruption. When
magma pours forth on the surface, it is called lava.
Simon, Seymour. Volcanoes. New York: Harper Collins, 2006. (2006)
Vocabulary – Identifying Tiers
In early times, no one knew how volcanoes formed or why they
spouted red-hot molten rock. In modern times, scientists began to
study volcanoes. They still don’t know all the answers but they
know much about how a volcano works.
Our planet is made up of many layers of rock. The top layers of solid
rock are called the crust. Deep beneath the crust is the mantle,
where it is so hot that some rock melts. The melted, or molten, rock
is called magma.
Volcanoes are formed when magma pushes its way up through the
crack in Earth’s crust. This is called a volcanic eruption. When
magma pours forth on the surface, it is called lava.
Grade 4-5 Text Complexity Band
Simon, Seymour. Volcanoes. New York: Harper Collins, 2006. (2006)
Why Not Teach All Unknown
Words in a Text?
• The text may have a great many words that are
unknown to students – too many for direct
instruction.
• Direct vocabulary instruction can take a lot of class
time; time that teachers might better spend having
students read.
• Students might be able to understand a text without
knowing the meaning of every word in the text.
•
• Students need opportunities to use wordlearning strategies to independently learn the
meanings of unknown words.
Word Selection for Explicit
Instruction
Decide on number of words to be taught directly at your grade level.
Suggestion: 150 vocabulary words per year or 1 word weekly for each
academic subject.
Therefore, plan for approximately 30 math terms, 30 reading terms,
30 writing terms, 30 science terms, and 30 social studies terms per
year. (10 per marking period in each subject)
Select words that:
• are unknown
• are critical to the meaning
• will likely be encountered in the future
From the beginning…..
Understand lists are not “cast in stone”,
but rather additions and deletions may
become necessary over time.
Vocabulary Selection
TASK: Work with your grade level
group to select words for the FIRST
marking period. Your goal is to have
a small number of words that you
will use for explicit vocabulary
instruction.
Marzano’s Six-Step Process for
Vocabulary Acquisition



Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or
example of the new term.
Step 2: Ask students to restate the description,
explanation, or example in their own words.
Step 3: Ask students to construct a picture,
symbol, or graphic representing the term.
Marzano continued



Step 4: Engage students periodically in activities
that help them add to their knowledge of the
terms in their notebooks.
Step 5: Periodically ask students to discuss the
terms with one another.
Step 6: Involve students periodically in games that
allow them to play with the terms.
From Building Academic Vocabulary by Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering
Vocabulary with Thinking Maps
Module 301A: Word Learning Strategies with Circle Maps (301
A)
I can develop Circle Maps for defining academic vocabulary
framed with word learning strategies.
Module 301B: Vocabulary Development Using Brace, Bridge,
and Double Bubble Maps (301 B)
I can develop vocabulary activities to deepen the basic
understanding of academic terms.
Module 301C: Vocabulary Word Games Using the Tree, Bubble,
Flow and Bridge Maps (301 C)
I can design word play activities to acquire mastery of academic
language.
Guided Highlighing
Great Instructional Tool for teaching
Vocabulary
Example of Guided Highlighted Reading
for Vocabulary
THE HISTORY OF JAZZ
Historically the journey that jazz has taken can be traced with reasonable accuracy. That it
ripened most fully in New Orleans seems beyond dispute although there are a few
deviationists who support other theories of its origin. Around 1895 the almost legendary
Buddy Bolden and Bunk Johnson were blowing their cornets in the street and in the
funeral parades which have always enlivened the flamboyant social life of that
uncommonly vital city. At the same time, it must be remembered, Scott Joplin was
producing ragtime on his piano at the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri; and in
Memphis, W.C. Handy was evolving his own spectacular conception of the blues.
In line 2 find and highlight
In line 2 find and highlight
norm (deviationists)
In line 5 find and highlight
In line 7 find and highlight
In line 7 find and highlight
the word that means disagreement. (dispute)
the word that means one who departs from the
the word that means flashy. (flamboyant)
the word that means developing. (evolving)
the word that means idea. (conception)
Your Turn…
Select from the list of words from
“History of Jazz”
Six words that meet the following criterion:
- 2 important for text comprehension
- 2 for word analysis (parts, scalability, map
using tree, unusual or unique form or rule)
- 2 academic vocabulary (Tier 2)
History of Jazz
Vocabulary