Transcript Spice up your Vocabulary Instruction

Spice up your
Vocabulary
Instruction
with Erica Weeks & TerriAnn Murray
of MW Educational Consulting
The Vocabulary Gap
(CORE, 2008)
• About 2 words per day OR 10 words per week can be
taught directly and effectively to students. This equates to
360 words per year.
• The vocabulary gap begins when students enter
Kindergarten. Some students enter already behind their
peers in number of learned words.
• The bottom 25% of students begin Kindergarten with
1,000 fewer root-word meanings than average students
Biemiller (2005)
What happens if we do not intervene?
• Without intervention these students only
acquire about 1.6 new words per day as
compared to average students learning 2.4
new words per day.
• If no intervention is put into place and more
words are not taught to these students, they
will…
By the end of second grade have a 2,000 word
difference/deficit between that of their peers.
• Average Student - 6,020 words
• Bottom 25% - 4,168 words
Did that scare you?
It should have…
…but there is something YOU can do…
Increase the
effectiveness of
your vocabulary
instruction
Vocabulary is a weak area
for many students, but
much “vocabulary
instruction” ends up being
handwriting practice.
(Reading Rockets)
Components of Effective
Vocabulary Instruction
•Rich Oral Language Experiences
•Specific Word Instruction
•Wide Reading
•Word Learning Strategies
•Word Consciousness
Specific Word Instruction
Selecting Words to Teach
The three-tier system
Sequence of Word Acquisition
Rich & Robust Instruction
Using Vocabulary in Literature
Introducing Specific Words
Developing in-Depth Word Knowledge
Extending Word use Beyond the Classroom
Specific Word Instruction
Introducing Specific Words
Student-Friendly Explanations
Teacher-Created Contexts
Active Engagement with Words
Word Selection
Finding “just right”, “goldilocks”,
“wonder words” OR Tier 2 Words
Bringing Words to
Life
Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002
Word Selection
Tier 1: Everyday Words - these are easy words and
generally are already known by most students.
Tier 2: Extended Words – the most useful words –
these are words for which students have a
concept and simpler vocabulary to define the word.
Tier 3: Expert Words – they are necessary for
the story but may not come up often in
conversation and other stories.
Word Selection – tier 2
words
• Words critical or central to understanding the text at hand.
• Words that are not too easy, not too hard…they are just right! Goldilocks
Words!
• Words with general utility, likely to be encountered many times.
Basic Word: Nice – Teach Wonder Word = satisfying
Basic Word: Walk – Teach Wonder Word =
Now that you know how
to choose the best
words, let’s learn how to
teach them…
Specific Word Instruction
Four Step Routine
STEP ONE
Introduce the word
Write the word on board or overhead
Read the word and have students repeat the word
STEP TWO
Present a student-friendly definition.
Tell the students the definition or have them read it with you.
Specific Word Instruction
Four Step Routine
STEP THREE
Illustrate the word with examples
•Concrete examples
•Visual representations
•Verbal examples
STEP FOUR
Check students understanding.
•There are 3 options for checking understanding
Check students understanding
Ask deep processing questions
“When Maria was told that the soccer game had been
canceled, she said, I am relieved.”
“Why might Maria be relieved?”
Check students understanding
Have students discern between
examples and non-examples
“If you were nervous singing in front of others would you
feel relieved when the concert was over? Why?”
“If you loved singing to audiences would you feel
relieved when the concert was over? Why?”
Just another great idea!
The Wonder Word Journal
•Instruct students to say and write the
Wonder Word.
•Lead discussion:
•Provide a definition of the word as used in the written context.
•Instruct students to use the word in sentences that tell about their own
experiences.
•Students: write a definition, draw a picture, create a vocabulary circle, or
word chain to help them remember their new words!
Yet another great idea!
Word Chains
When we teach words in groups as
relatives, it is easier for students to
remember the words, retrieve the words,
and use the words.
These words are related in a meaning
network:
•Connect, link, hook, latch
Word Chains
Meaning Related:
doctor
physician
hospital
medication
?
Wide Reading
• Teacher Read-Aloud
•Independent Reading
Why Read-Aloud?
• Perfect opportunity to teach more
tier two words AND content area
vocabulary.
•Students can see YOU reading
fluently and using a rich vocabulary.
Before the read-aloud
Select 3-5 words to teach.
Procedure for teaching each word:
1. Give the word
2. Give the sentence containing the word from the
story.
3. State definition
4. Have students use the word in a sentence and
give a sentence starter if possible
During the read-aloud
When you come to one of the
words….
Quickly state the definition of the word and move on.
Do not stop to instruct, simply draw attention to the
word and remind students of it’s definition. If we stop
too many times during read the read-aloud,
comprehension may be lost.
Read-Aloud in Action!
Independent Reading
• Teaching students to read
frequently, on their own, fosters
growth in vocabulary,
comprehension and of course…
the love of reading.
Word-Learning Strategies
•Dictionary use
•Root Words and Word Families
•Compound Words
•Prefixes
•Suffixes
Dictionary use
Use dictionaries and reference aids to locate and define vocabulary
words.
Use dictionaries and reference aids to assist in pronunciation.
Be sure dictionary use is consistent between students and teacher.
Try to use a dictionary that provides student friendly definitions.
“Instruction related to dictionary should be simple and direct and involve
children in analyzing dictionary definitions in the course of vocabulary
instruction.”
-Stahl, 2005
Morphemic Analysis
•Morphemes-word-part clues; the meaningful parts of
words
•Root Words- a single word that cannot be broken into
smaller words or parts.
•Word Family- a group of words related in meaning. For
example collect, collecting, collection, & collector.
•Prefix- a word part added to the beginning of a root
word that changes in meaning.
•Suffix- a word part added to the end of the root word
that changes its meaning.
Word Chains
Morpheme Related:
direct
directly
indirect
?
?
Using Word-Part Clues to Derive Word Meaning
Step
Action
Example Word: disagreement
1
Look for the Root Word. What
does it mean?
agree = to have the same opinion
2
Look for a Prefix. What does it
mean?
dis = not or opposite
3
Look for a Suffix. What does it
mean?
ment = state or quality of something
4
Put the Meanings of the Word
Parts Together. What is the
meaning of the whole word?
dis + agree + ment = state or quality of not
having the same opinion
CORE 2008
Prefixes
•Twenty prefixes account for 97% of the prefixed words in
school reading material.
•Four prefixes (un-, re-, in-, & dis-) account for 58% of all
prefixed words.
•Prefixes are used in a large number of words.
•Prefixes trend to be consistently spelled.
•Prefixes are easy to identify because they occur at the
beginning of words.
•Prefixes usually have a clear meaning.
Vocabulary instruction is not
just one of several important
aspects of reading: it is a gift of
words, a gift that one gives
generously to others.
-Stahl 2005
References
Beck, I., Kucan, L., McKeown, M. (2002). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary
Instruction. New York, New York: The Guilford Press.
Beck, I., Kucan, L., McKeown, M. (2008). Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked
Questions & Extended Examples. New York, New York: The Guilford Press.
Honig, B., Diamond, L., Gutlohn, L. (2008). Teaching Reading Sourcebook 2nd Edition.
Novato, California: Arena Press.
McEwan-Adkins, Elaine. (2010). 40 Reading Intervention Strategies for K-6 Students:
Research-Based Support for RTI. Bloomington, Indiana: Solution Tree Press.
Other Resources
Reading Rockets http://www.readingrockets.org/
Solution Tree http://go.solution-tree.com/literacy/Reproducibles_40RIS.html
Florida Center for Reading Research http://fcrr.org/