Transcript Differentiated Instruction

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 …
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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 Vocabulary
Instruction
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 Vocabulary
Instruction (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 doesn’t 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 Teach:
Three 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 student’s
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, Don’t 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
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