Vocabulary+Instruction+09

toc

=Vocabulary Instruction=

What does meaning vocabulary instruction look like?
Vocabulary instruction that occurs prior to reading is one way to support comprehension. One method to use is Moore and Moore's Possible Sentences. For this activity, you give students a short list of words from a text they are going to read. The students work together in small groups and develop sentences that show how the words could be used. During and after students read the story, they can look back at their sentences and revise them, helping support their reading before, during and after reading (Allen 17). --Lindsey

How can we increase student interest in vocabulary instruction?
The research shows that grounding vocabulary learned in personal experience, offering personal choice in initial word selections, and providing exposure to the same words over and over again using many strategies and engaging in intensive practice with them (Cowan and Albers 37) --Lindsey Help the students to develop a "word consciousness" during vocab instruction. If students are aware of their knowledge of vocab, it will establish confidence in the student and they will be more motivated to learn new words. (Cowan and Albers 35)

“Word games are fun, and students are motivated to learn when playing them” (Fisher and Blachowicz p. 11). The authors write that word games can be used with students to help them develop “the ability to manipulate and be metacognitive about words.” Some word board games that could be used include Apples to Apples, Taboo, Scrabble, and Catch Phrase. ~Amy

What are some clues readers can use to understand unknown words?
1. Definition or explanation clues: This clue is when the author defines the unfamiliar word later in the same sentence. 2. Restatement or synonym clues: These are clues that restate unfamiliar words in the text in more simple terms or synonyms. 3. Contrast or antonym clues: This offers an opposite meaning for a word. This clue requires students to understand the signal word. The contrast or antonym may appear in the same sentence or a following sentence. 4. Gist clues: These clues are the most subtle clues an author offers. With this clue, the meaning of a word must be determined from the gist of the package. This requires students to put together the different aspects of the story to gain meaning from it. (Beers, 186-7) --Lindsey

What are some suggestions for effective vocabulary instruction?
-Assign word study, not word memorization: Giving students long lists of words to memorize for a test does in way help them to move these words into their active vocabulary. Activities that engage students in using and discovering the meanings of new words help assure that these words will become integrated into their oral and written language. -Teach students how to use the context as a clue: Reading requires making inferences about a text, and in the same way, to understand new words, students can make inferences about the meanings of the word based on the words surrounding it. Context clues can be tricky, so explicit instruction in this area would be beneficial. -Teach word parts: Using activities like vocabulary trees (see below), teach the students specific roots and affixes. From these foundations, they can begin to understand new words based on their prior knowledge of the words' roots. By working with teachers in other grades, teaching word parts can be organized so that the instruction builds on itself as a child progresses through the grades (as it should be). (Beers 179-190) --Anna -Using definition maps to identify when an unknown definition is being used for a word (Fisher and Blachowicz 8) Another useful tool would be a semantic feature analysis chart. (Fisher and Blachowicz 9)

In “Mediating the Matthew Effect in Reading: Fostering Word Consciousness” Cowan and Albers write that “moving words from students’ receptive vocabularies to their expressive vocabularies –that is, from the listening and reading to the speaking and writing vocabularies—positions them to be stronger and more articulate communicators” (p. 36). They argue that vocabulary instruction should focus on the “active or expressive side of literacy” which includes writing, speaking, and visual representation in order for students to understand words more deeply. ~Amy

Janet Allen writes that “definitional knowledge is insufficient to support comprehension” (“Too Little of Too Much” p. 18). For effective vocabulary instruction Allen says that students must use higher order thinking skills to show that they truly have a deeper understanding of the vocabulary, for example to “justify the relationships between and among words” via word questioning prompts such as “What possible connection could there be between ________ and ________?” ~Amy

What are some good vocabulary activities for teachers to use that will encourage recognition, memorization, and usage among students?
-Vocabulary trees: This activity helps students with root words in which students write down a root word that the teacher provides and its definition in the trunk of the tree, and then write as many words as they find that contain that root. Then, they write each word in a branch and define them and can copy sentences that use those words and where they heard, saw, or found the sentence. To encourage students to actually learn the words, teachers can require them to use a certain number of their words in their writing assignments. (Beers pg 190)--Amanda A.

-Word collection: Have students find words in a class text that appeal to them, irritate them, don't understand, invoke a memory or image or question, or that they think are funny/funny looking and then have them write them down on a bookmark. After a few days, the teacher can have the class share what words they've collected and while they share, the teacher puts down each word on a large sheet of butcher paper. Then, the class will talk about the words and what they know about them, try and ascertain the meanings of those words, and if there are any words that escape everyone's understanding (teacher included), then one of the students looks it up for the class. Then, the class as a whole chooses a few of those words (3-4) that they want to use for a while (couple of weeks). (Beers pg 191)--Amanda A.