Why Teach Vocabulary
Learnthatword says it well:
If your vocabulary is weak, you will understand less of the world around you and people will understand you less.
Words are symbols for ideas.
It takes confident command of the English language to communicate effectively. Wrong word usage or spelling mistakes will discredit your ideas.
It will also limit the respect you will earn for your knowledge.
What Words to Teach
The Common Core State Standards identify three tiers of words, suggesting teachers--across all content areas--focus on helping kids expand their command of Tier two words:
- Tier 1: Basic words (like clock, baby, happy, walk) we generally learn from conversation and don't require instruction.
- Tier 2: Words more likely to appear frequently in texts we read rather than in daily conversation (like formulate, specificity, unabashedly, relative); these words provide more precise, subtle representation of ideas
- Tier 3: Domain specific words encountered less frequently, usually pertaining more to a specific content area (like isotopy, lather, peninsula, refinery)
- are relatively high in frequency and are found in a wide variety of contexts
- offer students more sophisticated ways of expressing ideas/concepts they are familiar with
- are interesting and useful.
How to Teach Vocabulary
A mountain of research (see sources at bottom of this post) points to some key principles we teachers should consider as we strive to help students learn new words.
Dale (1965) identified the four stages of knowing a word:
- STAGE 1: "I never saw it before."
- STAGE 2: "I've heard of it, but I don't know what it means ."
- STAGE 3: "I recognize it in context--it has something to do with..."
- STAGE 4: "I know it."
- Limit the number of words taught to allow students adequate opportunities to learn and process the words deeply.
- Define words in everyday language that students can easily understand. Don't rely on dictionary definitions.
- Allow students to process full range of meaning of words: think of synonyms, antonyms, draw pictures or logographs, write sentences, talk about different contexts for using a word.
- Though students can't entirely rely on context clues, instruct them to use clues in the text to figure out unknown words.
- Saturate students in reading texts of all kinds, especially grade-level texts with rich vocabulary.
- Read aloud to students and give students opportunities in class to read silently and to talk about what they've read.
- Use graphic organizers to build word knowledge.
- Have students collect words.
- Give students opportunities to work and play with words and see relationships among words.
- Teach prefixes, suffixes, and roots and allow time for students to use their knowledge of them to decipher meanings of words.
Some of the links below are graphic organizers you can print or have students create with paper or notecards. Others are simple strategies for exposing kids to new words and helping them understand the full meaning and application of the word.
- Multiple Representations
- Frayar Diagram
- 4 Fold Vocabulary
- Word Analysis
- Word Map
- Meeting New Vocabulary
- Linear Arrays
- Word Scrolls
- VocabAhead
- VocabVideos
- Verbalearn
- Vocabulary.com
- MyVocabulary.com
- Intensive Vocab
- Got Brainy
- Vocab Sushi
Vocabulary Activities from Cobb County School District
Academic Word Lists
Sources:
Beers, K. (2003). When kids can't read: What teachers can do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford.
Jago, C. (2011). With rigor for all: Meeting common core standards for reading literature. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Appendix A (pages 32-35)
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