Opening ExerciseRead - Pair – Share

Read what research has to say about vocabulary instruction.

Mark three findings that resonate with you.Share/discuss these findings with a partner

Plan for this hourFamiliarize self with research

What we’re doingWhy we’re doing itSelecting vocab.

Watch video (25 minutes)Practical approaches

Walking through steps 1,2,3Playing with steps 4,5,6

For more information: Marzano’s Building Academic Vocabulary

What findings support what we’ll be looking at today?The first reason that vocabulary instruction often

fails to produce measurable gain in reading comprehension is that much of the instruction does not produce a sufficient depth of word knowledge. (Nagy, 1988, as cited in Honig et al, 2000)

A reader has about a 5 percent chance of learning a new word fully from encountering it only once in print. Therefore, when specific words are key to understanding a concept, intentional, explicit instruction in word meanings is efficient and productive. (Nagy, Anderson and Herman, 1987)

More research“[L]earners can very quickly get a sense of a

word’s meaning…But full understanding…occurs only over time and multiple encounters.”

(Beck et al, 2002).

From “Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices.” US Department of Education*.Recommendations for providing explicit

vocabulary instructionDedicate a portion of regular classroom lessons to

explicit vocabulary instruction.Provide repeated exposure to new words in

multiple contexts, and allow sufficient practice sessions in vocabulary instruction.

Give sufficient opportunities to use new vocabulary in a variety of contexts through activities such as discussion, writing, and extended reading.

Provide students with strategies to make them independent vocabulary learners.

What do you think …What does it mean to really know a word?

Word knowledge is Complex Multi-dimensional Incremental Interrelated

What does it take to really know a word?Explicit instructionRepeated exposures sufficient opportunities to use new vocabulary in a

variety of contexts through activities such as discussion, writing, and extended reading.

Which words to teach? Ideally…Process used by committee to generate district-wide (or

school-wide) list of terms is divided into five phases.Decide on number of words to be taught at each grade

level and, by extension, across a grade-level interval (K-2, 3-5, 6-8,or 9-12) or a multi-grade span (e.g. K-6 or K-12).

For each academic content area in program, create a rank-ordered list of words important to grade-level interval or multi-grade span by selecting words from list.

Add words that reflect local standards and curriculum materials.

Based on length of these lists, determine how many terms should be taught in each academic area.

Generate final list of terms for each academic area by making additions, deletions, or other alterations.

Which words to select?Building Academic Vocabulary Teacher’s

Manual lists 7,923 terms in 11 subject areas extracted from national standards documents, organized into four grade-level intervals: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

Which vocabulary do I teach?

Useful and interesting words

• Target words for instruction that are

– Necessary for understanding the textAND

– Essential to understanding topicnot just

Developing your own selection criteria (in a pinch)

Interesting Hawaiian Words you might like to know

Words necessary and essential to teachers who might like to work in Hawaii

Aloha Humuhumunukunukuapua’a Hokunaho’oikaika Ulalena Huli Haole Kama aina Mahalo Hana Pau kokua Keiki Da kine Shishi

MahaloHanaPauKeikiKokuaHaoleDa Kine

25 minutes

Our wordsMahaloHanaPauKeikiKokuaHaoleDa Kine

Step One: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new termTeacher provides and explanation or example

What do students know or think they know about the term?

What do students know about parts of the word? (roots, prefixes, suffixes)

Offer explanation or example in common, everyday language

NOT a dictionary definition

Step Two: Ask students to restate the description, explanation or example in their own wordsStudents put in into their own language – this

allows students hook the new learning with what they already know

Write a description – put in own language so you can remember and understand it

This engages students and helps them retain the meaning and help them use it later

Check for understandingIf student has only a partial understanding,

clarify the concept

Step Three: Ask students to construct a picture, symbol or graphic representing the termIdea is to have them transfer the learning to

a different modality and translate their understanding of the word into images

Rate how well they know the word

First three stepsGives them a chance to reflect on it and see

where their learning is.Process does not take a lot of time if it’s done

on a consistent basisGives kids enough time to absorb the terms

Next three stepsDeepen understanding

Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student

Achievement (Marzano)Identifying similarities and differences 45Summarizing and note taking 34Reinforcing effort and providing recognition 29Homework and practice 28Nonlinguistic representations 27Cooperative learning 27Setting objectives and providing feedback 23Generating and testing hypotheses 23Questions, cues, and advance organizers 22

% RateCategory

Step 4: Engage students periodically in activities that add to their knowledge of the termTeacher engages students in activities that

allow them to add to their knowledge of the word

Move the student from superficial to deeper understanding of the term.

If we exposed to it multiple times, the understanding sharpens.

Teacher has to plan activities that allow students to go back and re-experience the words –

Engaging activities that help students process their learningClassify words into categoriesMake analogiesCreating metaphorsFree association

For our purposesClassify the words

Put them into at least two different categories based on what you know

Be prepared to explain why you did what you did

Step 5: Ask students to discuss terms with one anotherGive groups of students questions about wordsStudents talk to others, explain what they know, compare

what they know with what others knowThis allows for multiple exposures and the social aspect

of learningPair up with students with similar background

experiences (ESL)Their responses can help you identify who needs further

instruction or review

Step 6: Involve students in games that allow them to play with terms.Students are asked to play

Games – students are experiencing words over and over again

They are also associating fun and enjoyment with the word

VobackularyI hold up a word behind a student’s backPeople in the class try to give you clues as to

what the word is so you can figure it out.

Cube gameAsk thoughtful questions about the

vocabulary

What do you need to implement six-step processTime! If time is invested on front end, you don’t

have a lot of review at the endThe process is designed to meet needs of

students as you go along, not a lot of reviewAll six steps together allows you to introduce

words in a non-threatening ways and allows students to process words multiple times in a multitude of ways and have fun with the words

The Book…Building Academic Vocabulary by Robert

Marzano

Questions? Comments?Concerns?

Mahalo!