Six Step Vocabulary Instruction - Marzano

Betancourt, Hollis & RainwatersNovember 3, 2009Immokalee High

Timed Pair ShareThe teacher announces a topic, states how long each student will share and provides think time.

In pairs, Partner A shares; partner B listens.

Partner B responds with a positive gambit

Partners switch roles

GambitsCopycat response

◦“Thanks for sharing!”◦“You are interesting to listen to! “

Complete the sentence gambits◦“One thing I learned listening to you was…

◦“I enjoyed listening to you because…”

◦“Your most interesting idea was…”

One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in

them, to have the right ones form themselves into the

proper pattern at the right moment.

-Hart Crane

Essential QuestionsHow do I effectively teach vocabulary?

How do I choose vocabulary to teach?

Essential Vocabulary

CPRAcademic notebooksSurvival of the FittestSemantic Feature Analysis

Word Sort

RationaleResearch conducted in the past ten years indicates that vocabulary knowledge is the single most important factor contributing to comprehension.

MythWide reading will suffice as the primary vehicle for learning vocabulary

FactoidsExplicit teaching of vocabulary is essential

Vocabulary demands balloons to 85,000 words at the secondary level

Conversational speech consists of only 5,000 – 7,000 words

Six Steps to Vocabulary Instruction

1. Teacher provided explicit/direct instruction

2. Students restate in own words

3. Students create nonlinguistic representation of term

Steps Continued

4. Students engage in activities5. Students discuss terms6. Students are involved in

games

Step 1 Explicit InstructionA dwarf planet is a celestial body that

(a) is in orbit around the Sun,(b) has sufficient mass for its self-

gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape,

(c) has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and

(d) is not a satellite.

What’s the difference?

Definition Description

Formal language

Everyday language

Definition/DescriptionWord Definition Descriptio

n

Covert Kept from sight; secret; hidden

Describes something that is done in a hidden or secret way

Illusion Appearance or feeling that mislead because it is not real

Something that looks like one thing but is really something else or is not there at all

Step 2 Restate in Own Terms

Academic Notebook (SSR)My Description Representation New Insight

Step 3 DRAWING

Draw the actual term, that is diameter, triangle, circle, etc.

Draw the familiar symbol for the term, that is DNA, Justice, etc.

Draw an actual illustration of the action the term depicts such as food chain.

Draw graphics for terms easily represented that way, that is, centralization, decentralization, etc.

Dramatize the term using cartoon bubbles that represent the meaning.

Term, phraseCategory: (standard, unit, alphabetical…)

Picture/graphic

Description:

Related terms, phrases

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Step 4 ActivitiesComparing termsClassifying termsGenerating metaphorsGenerating analogiesRevising definitions and picturesUsing understanding of roots and

affixes to increase knowledge

Step 5 - Think Pair Share

Step 6 Games

Work in GroupsCPR – (Janet Allen)

Survival of the Fittest – (Janet Allen)

Word Sort – (McREL)

Semantic Feature Analysis – (McREL)

What is it?How and when do I use it?

GAMES

Occasionally, schedule games that encourage students to play with the terms.

Plan for games at least once a week.

Guide students in the review and use of important terms that you have presented.

Modify the games listed on the following slides to be used in the major subject areas and for use with your students.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Definition Smefinition

This game (modeled after Scattergories), requires little or no knowledge of the relevant terms and phrases. In fact, part of the fun of the game is not knowing the definitions. It can be played in any content area (language arts, social studies, science, math), and it is best suited to upper elementary through high school students.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Definition Smefinition

Break the class into teams of three, four, or five. The game can be played within each group, or it can be played with a whole class.

Give one team a bowl full of folded paper scraps on which vocabulary terms are written and a dictionary.

One member chooses a term and reads it aloud. Write the term on the board and begin the game.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Definition Smefinition

The team with the dictionary looks up the real definition of the term.

The other teams work collaboratively to develop a definition of the term.

The teacher collects all definitions and reads them aloud.

Each team, except the team with the dictionary, guesses which definition is correct.

Points are awarded for the correct definition.Students are directed to write the word and

the correct definition in their vocabulary notebooks.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Stream of Consciousness

Possible definition: The water that comes out of any faucet the Dalai Lama is under.

Real definition: A form of writing in which a character’s thoughts occur and continue in random form without logic.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Angle of Depression

Possible definition: How far the couch sinks down when you sit down.

Real definition: The angle at which you look down to see something that is below you.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Recessive Trait

Possible definition: All of the bad things you are capable of doing but do not actually do.

Real definition: A trait that can be inherited by a child only if both parents carry the right gene.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Review ActivitiesFree Association

◦Call out a term (the target word)◦Ask students to respond with any

word they believe is related to the target word. (Small or whole group

◦Ask the last student who offers a word to explain how the word is related to the target word.

Which One Doesn’t Belong

Modify the game to be used in any of the four subject areas (language arts, social studies, science, mathematics).

Tailor the game to the vocabulary abilities of students.

Direct students to look a groups of terms or phrases and identify the term that does not belong.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Which One Doesn’t Belong I

A story about a man battling Bipolar Disorder

A story about a man who committed a crime and is torn between turning himself in and keeping the secret to avoid punishment

A story about a woman’s abusive relationship with her husband

A story about a woman’s path to recovery from alcoholism

Answer: The third option is an example of external conflict while the other three options are examples of internal conflicts.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Which One Doesn’t Belong II

The school is attended by many different races, but each race tends to spend personal time with people of their own race.

A restaurant has one bathroom for people of one race and another for people of a second race.

A country allows residents of one race to vote in election but not residents of another race.

A store is owned by a person who only hires people of one race.

Answer: The first option is an example of de jure segregation and the other three are all examples of de facto segregation.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Which One Doesn’t Belong V

The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

a2 + b2= c2

c= square root: a2 + b2

a2 + b2 + c2= 0

Answer: Only the last option is not the Pythagorean theorem.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Which One Doesn’t Belong III

HeliumNitrogenOxygenCarbon Dioxide

Answer: Helium is the only gas that cannot be found in the makeup of the atmosphere.

©Marzano Research Laboratory

Word SelectionEssential Vocabulary

Questions?

Resourceshttp://www2.visalia.k12.ca.us/literacy/newsletter/April%20newsletter.pdfwww.esd123.org/images/.../

WashStateAcadVocabProj41509.ppt Building Background Knowledge for Academic

Achievement by Robert Marzanohttp://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/strategies.html