Spice up your Vocabulary Instruction

with Erica Weeks & TerriAnn Murrayof 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 InstructionSelecting Words to Teach

The three-tier systemSequence of Word Acquisition

Rich & Robust InstructionUsing Vocabulary in LiteratureIntroducing Specific WordsDeveloping in-Depth Word KnowledgeExtending Word use Beyond the Classroom

Specific Word InstructionIntroducing Specific Words

Student-Friendly ExplanationsTeacher-Created ContextsActive Engagement with Words

Word SelectionFinding “just right”, “goldilocks”, “wonder words” OR Tier 2 Words

Bringing Words to Life

Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002

Word SelectionTier 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 wordWrite the word on board or overheadRead 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 word2.Give the sentence containing the word from the story.3.State definition4.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.

Morpheme Related:

direct directly indirect ? ?

Word Chains

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

•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.

Prefixes

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

ReferencesBeck, 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 ResourcesReading Rockets http://www.readingrockets.org/

Solution Tree http://go.solution-tree.com/literacy/Reproducibles_40RIS.html

Florida Center for Reading Research http://fcrr.org/