Transcript Teaching Vocabulary to support Reading

HOW MANY WORDS DO PEOPLE KNOW?
Best estimate is that there are 88700 word families used in books up to 12 grade
(US). Nagy and Anderson 1984
Lowest estimate of number of words a student knows- 17000
Research suggests we can directly teach 300-500 word per year (8-10 words per
week)
If we accept Nagy and Anderson’s estimate, and that children learn half of them,
this suggests that the average child learns about 3000 new words per year- we
cannot teach 3000 words directly.
Most of these words must come from context
WILL CONTEXTUAL LEARNING BE ENOUGH?
If we expect children to learn 3000 words per year- this is a monumental task
requiring the learning of about 8 words per day.
Nagy et al- argue that much of this learning can come from incidental learning of word
meanings:
 5th grade student read for an hour per day- at a rate of 150 words per min- 5 days a
week= 2,250,000 words
 If 2% to 5% of those words are unknown, (as in instructional level text; ) the child
will have encountered from 45000 to 112,500 unknown words
 Research shows children will learn between 5% and 10% of previously unknown
words from a single reading
 This would account for at least 2,250 new words learned from context each year.
MATTHEW EFFECTS
This suggests one of the most powerful influence on vocabulary growth is to
encourage students to read as widely as possible
Good readers are better able to derive word meanings from context than poorer
readers- myth!!!!
words are learned through chance encounters in the text. Words are
accumulated over time through exposure and gradual learning.
Studies have found that higher ability students were not any better than lower ability
students at incidental word learning
Therefore if that is so… the difference in vocab growth might be due to differences in
the amount that children read
MATTHEW EFFECTS
The rich get richer and the poor get
poorer
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Increase amount of reading
Teach word meanings- at least 300 words per year
direct teaching of word meanings
discussions about prefixes, suffixes and roots
wide reading- especially reading that challenges children’s abilities
read to children -even older children
DEFINITIONS
Using the dictionary to find definitions ?????
children cannot use conventional definitions to learn words
example: erode- ‘to eat out’
To ‘know’ a word- we know more than the word’s definition; we also know that word functions in different contexts. E.g
smoke- the verbHe smoked a cigarette
The psychologist smoked his pipe
the hippie smoked a marijuana cigarette
the 13 year old smoked his first cigarette
The fisherman smoked the fish
Multiple meanings
Full and flexible knowledge- involves an understanding of the core meaning of a word and how it changes in different
contexts.
TOPIC VOCAB DEFINITION MATCH
miner
Somebody who works in a mine digging for materials such as
gold
prospector
Somebody who explores in search of materials like gold
stockade
A tall fence of wooden posts in the ground to keep out enemies
trooper
Soldier or policeman who rides horses
rebellion
To oppose authority by fighting
riot
A time when a group of angry people become noisy,
uncontrolled and often act violently
licence
A printed document giving permission
gold fields
An area where gold is found
settlement
A place where people settle
injustice
Lack of fairness or justice
confrontation
Face up to in defiance
diggings
A mine or gold field
Developing definitions and
understanding meaning
injustice
A lack of fairness
rebellion
To oppose
authority by
fighting
Google images instead of web
ANTICIPATION/REACTION
GUIDE WHAT DID GOLD DO FOR AUSTRALIA?
BEFORE READING
WRITE A IF YOU AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT
WRITE B IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE STATEMENT
Response
before
lesson
Topic: Gold
The discovery of gold changed the whole
future of Australia.
The population of Australia stayed the
same during the gold rush.
People left Australia after the gold rush
Banks did not have any money to lend.
Because of the gold rush more houses
were built and cities became bigger.
Response
after
lesson
CUED LISTENING TO PREPARE FOR WRITING
Text – Life on the goldfields (Workbook 7- RIC Publication)
8 cue cards (the people, transport, food, clothing, health,
law and order, shelter, education)
Students listen for their information and draw diagrams
to help them remember
Students share their information and reformulate the
text together.
Teacher focus on developing effective simple sentence
structures- descriptive phrases, noun and verb groups
Cue card examples
How did the early diggers travel to the goldfields and why?
Food- What kind of food was common
and in what condition?
What was the health of the miners like and why?
Health- What was the health of the
miners like and why?
VISUAL CUES FOR REMEMBERING
PRE READING PREPARATION(ADJUSTMENTS)
Identify for the students- key concepts and
vocabulary of the text- an explicit text orientation
Word definitions-pre teach
Teach the text using graphic organisers
Provide synonyms and antonyms for difficult ideas
Decoding- pre teach how to decode unfamiliar multisyllabic words (phonological processingsyllabification) (dictionary.com)
Cut out the guess work- free up the mind
for remembering
ORIENTATIO
N TO TEXT
Visual literacy
What information
can you get
without even
reading?
Take them
through the text
step by step
Pre-teach key
vocabulary
STRATEGIES
TEACHING SYNONYMS
TEACHING ANTONYMS
REWRITING DEFINITIONS
PROVIDING EXAMPLES
PROVIDING NON- EXAMPLES
DISCUSSION THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NEW WORD AND RELATED WORDS
e.g debris defined as trash or waste – include a discussion of the differences between
debris and trash- or garbage,
HAVING STUDENTS CREATE SENTENCES CONTAINING THE TARGET WORD
DISCUSS THE MEANING OF THE SAME WORD IN DIFFERENT SENTENCES
CREATING A SCENARIO
SILLY QUESTIONS
DISCUSSION WEBS-
THE PROBABLE PASSAGES STRATEGY
(FROM FOR THE LOVE OF WORDS)
Title: The promise of gold
Vocabulary terms and phrases:
Bark huts, tent city, chopsticks, riot, goldmine, killed, police,
stolen
Make a prediction from the vocabulary
Setting
Characters
Problems
Events
Ending
The Goldfields and Aboriginal People
The Aboriginal people had been living in harmony with the land for many years
without causing a great deal of change to the natural environment. They made all
their tools out of stone, bone, shell and wood and therefore placed no value on
gold.
Victoria's
Victoria's
European
Population
Aboriginal
Population
1836
226
11,500
1857
400,000
1,700
1861
540,000
2,300
The impact of European settlement had a major effect on the native people of
this continent. The new settlers took their land, ate their food, depleted their
supplies, introduced illness and forced their ways on the Aboriginal people. The
land was sacred to the Aboriginal people. The diggers did not care; they dug it
up in their search for wealth and left the area in a mess. The native way of life
would never again be the same. The European people settled in Australia with a
total disregard for the people who already inhabited the area.
PRE TEACH TEXT VOCABULARY
harmony
environment
balance
the circumstances or conditions that surround
one; our surroundings
natural
present in or produced by nature
depleted
use up or empty out (to decrease the fullness of)
disregard
to treat without proper respect or attentiveness
PRE TEACH HOW TO WORK OUT THE
WORDS SYLLABIFICATION (DICTIONARY.COM)
har
mo
ny
en
vi
ron
poi
son
ous
de
plet
ed
dis
re
gard
in
hab
it
ment
VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
DOMINOES
(AN ADJUSTMENT)
harmony
environment
The Aboriginal people had been
living in harmony with the land for
many years without causing a
great deal of change to the
natural environment.
The Aboriginal people had been
living in harmony with the land for
many years without causing a
great deal of change to the natural
environment.
VOCABULARY CLOZE MATCH DOMINOES
harmony
The Aboriginal people had been
living in harmony with the land
for many years without causing
a great deal of change to the
natural__________.
environment
The Aboriginal people had been
living in __________ with the
land for many years without
causing a great deal of change
to the natural environment.
ANTONYMS
harmony
imbalance
depleted
increased
disregard
notice
VOCABULARY CLINE- VISUALS
Rebellion
Riot
Confrontation
Protest
Unrest
USE PICTURES AND BOOKS- DEVELOP VOCABULARY
Nouns
Dog, crow, lake, water, bush,
scrub, landscape, trees,
gums, blind eye, wings,
strange creature reflection,
Verbs
Shine, shiver, sighing, stare,
look, discussed, snuffle,
creep, hide,
Adjectives
Sad crow, brave dog, wise
dog
Crow wakes with a rush of grief
USE PICTURES AND BOOKS TO DEVELOP
VOCABULARY
What’s happening
in this picture?
What’s are the
characters
feeling?
Why do you think
that?
What does a ‘rush
of grief’ look like
to you- what do
you think the
author means?
Crow wakes with a rush of grief
USE PICTURES AND BOOKS TO DEVELOP VOCABULARY
* describe the characteristics, feelings, appearance of 2 characters in a textfind similarities and differences
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
* use a wide range of descriptive vocabulary to describe a literary character
PROVERBS AND SAYINGS
Proverbs and sayings are old and common phrases
which are often repeated based upon experience and
truth. Proverbs are used to remember complex ideas
quickly and easily. The above link contains some of
the most common proverbs and sayings, but it's not
an exhaustive list
http://www.readingresource.net/vocabularyactivities.ht
ml
INTERESTING WORDS CHART
Word
Page
Any help
given?
Your
explanatio
n
Dictionary
(if needed)
luxuriant 5
No
canopy
6
Yes
Like a
roof 
Covering
highest part
of the forest
species
8
Yes
Types of
trees 
Kinds of
animals and
plants that are
similar
pollinate
25
No
Eat?
Carry pollen
for
fertilisation
Plentiful,
strong growth
DEVELOPING TOPIC VOCABULARY
Teaching vocabulary & concepts- Preparation for learning:
Vocabulary picture match (floor storm) using books and pictures to match with
words- students need to justify choices
Long sticky tongue
camouflage
webbed
croak
bulging eyes
predator
lunge
Suction pads
croak
habitat
Under belly
limbs
cling
leap
prey
CATEGORISING AND SORTING WORDS
camouflage
habitat
webbed
underbelly
wet and moist
bulging eyes
swim
croak
cling
suction pads
leap
mosquito
Long sticky tongue
insect
limbs
prey
snout
predator
lunge
WORDS WORTH CHART
Vocabulary activities can help children when they are reading and
when they are writing! Enlarge the Words Worth chart in your
handout and laminate. Display in a prominent area of the
classroom. When children come across new interseting words in
print, place in the "dollar" column. Work backwards and help
them generate words that mean about the same, but might be
not as interesting as the "dollar" word. (The ”10 cents" and ”50
cents" words help children make connections between the
synonyms and help them remember the meaning of the "dollar"
words). This is also a helpful vocabulary activity when children
are writing, place one of their words in the ”10 cents" column
and add more interesting words to the ”50 cents" and "dollar"
column.
WORM WORDS
Worn Words Enlarge this template and use with "Words Worth Chart" (above). Once
the Words Worth Chart is full, take off the "penny" and "dime" words and place
them in the trash! Once words are in the trash, students are encouraged to use
the "dollar" words when they are speaking and writing
ANTONYM CONCENTRATION
Laminate and cut out the antonym cards
in the handout. Have students work in
small groups to find word matches.
Three different antonym levels are
provided on the template.
"COLORFUL WORDS" WALL
VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES: CLASSROOMS THAT SUPPORT WORD
LEARNING
"Colorful Words" Wall Teaching vocabulary is important. We
have space for furniture and equipment; we have space for
books, backpacks, and writing utensils. If words are important,
then finding places to organize and display words should take
prominence in the structure of your classroom.
Linear Arrays
Linear arrays are a strategy to extend vocabulary by asking students to extend their
understanding of words. Using opposites on each end, students add words that are in
between.
Beautiful
Ugly
Frayer Diagram
Definition
Characteristics
Examples
Non-Examples
4 FOLD VOCABUALRY
Word
Definition
Oven
kitchen appliance
used for baking or
roasting
Picture
Sentence
We baked
cookies in the
oven.
WORD LISTS – e.g My School
Canteen bananas / cashier / cash register / cupcakes / fork / hot dog / lunch box
/ menu / milk / napkin / orange juice / pizza / salad / sandwich / soup / spoon /
student / rubbish bin/ tray /
Classroom alphabet / blackboard / whiteboard/ book / book bag / calendar / chair
/ chalk / clock / computer / desk / map / pencil / pencil sharpener / ruler / scissors
/ stapler / student / teacher / rubbish bin
Hallway bannister / bell / boys' toilets / bulletin board / clock / drinking fountain /
stairs / exit sign / fire alarm / fire extinguisher / girls' toilet / lock / lockers / stairs /
student / teacher / wheelchair
Library book return / books and magazines / card catalog / cassette tape / chair /
clock / computer / desk / film projector / head phones / librarian / table / tape
player / T.V. / VCR
Playground ball / basketball hoop / bell / bench / door / fence / flag / grass /
sandpit/ school bus / seesaw / slide / student / swings / tree / cricket
Multiple Representations
1. Teacher tells
students what the
word means.
4. Student draws or
shows his/her own
picture or symbol for
the word.
2. Teacher draws a 3. Student uses own
picture or symbol for words to tell what
the word.
the word means.
5. Student makes
connections to the
6. Student shares
word in writing or the word with others.
orally.
IDIOMS
Many students, especially English Language Learners find our
language difficult because of its infinite number of idiomatic
expressions. Idioms are expressions that do not mean what
they literally say. When children aren't exposed to these
expressions (or when adults use them and don't explain what
they mean) it can create a barrier to vocabulary and
comprehension. One way to enrich your students’
background is to expose them to as many expressions as
possible. The handout today contains some of the most
common idiomatic expressions, but it's not an exhaustive list
PREFIX/SUFFIX CHECKERS
Purchase a checkers board and place velcro on the black
squares on the game board. Print, laminate, and cut
out the fprefix/suffix squares on the template in your
handout and place corresponding velcro pieces on the
back. Place the words with prefixes and suffixes in
random order on the game board. Each time a player
moves a checker they must say the prefix or suffix,
read the word, and explain what it means. (The
template "Common Prefixes/Suffixes" from above can
help children as they are playing this game)