Vocabulary Instruction

1
Vocabulary Instruction

• Martin Sortun Elementary
• Staff Development
• December 8, 2004
• Created by Karen Stevens

2
Rationale for Vocabulary Instruction

• Research shows,
• that vocabulary knowledge is strongly related
  to reading proficiency in particular and school
  achievement in general.
• Beck, 2003

3
Rationale

• Reading Instruction that focuses on the growth
  of childrens vocabulary results in enhancing
  their abilities to infer meanings and to better
  comprehend what they read.
• Rupley, 1999

4
There are profound differences in vocabulary
knowledge among learners from different ability
or SES groups.

• Consider that
• 1st grade high SES have 2X words as low SES
• Seniors at top of class knew 4X as many words as
  classmates
• High third-graders had vocabularies about equal
  to lowest performing 12th graders.

5

• Most chilling, however is that once established,
  such differences appear difficult to ameliorate.
• Biemiller, 1999 Hart Risley1995

6

• Often, however, definitions do not help a reader
  understand or infer the contribution of an
  unknown words meanings to the text. To
  comprehend, a reader needs some idea of not only
  a words meanings, but also the ways in which the
  meaning contributes to the cohesiveness of the
  ideas or information.
• Rupley, 1999

7
Robust Vocabulary Instruction

• We need a robust approach to vocabulary that
  involves directly explaining the meanings of
  words along with thought-provoking, playful, and
  interactive follow-up.
• Beck, 2003

8
Robust Vocabulary Instruction

• Choose Appropriate Words
• Base Instruction on Language Activities
• Build a Conceptual Base
• Variety of Strategies to Store Word Knowledge

9
1. Choosing Words

• Three Levels
• Tier 1 Basic Words
• Clock, baby, happy
• Tier 3 Low Frequency Words Limited to Specific
  Domains
• Isotope, lathe, peninsula
• Tier 2 High Frequency Words for Mature Language
  Learners
• Coincidence, absurd, industrious

10
2. Base Instruction on Language Activities

• Provide opportunities to use new words in their
  speaking, listening, reading, and writing
  activities

11
3. Build a Conceptual Base

• Use analogies, language features, and other
  relationships to known words to activate
  students background knowledge of concepts
  related to new words.

12
4. Variety of Strategies to Store Word Knowledge

• Mental images, visual aides, kinesthetic
  associations, smells, tastes, etc.
• Strategies that promote students comparing and
  contrasting of new words to known words

13
Strategy Articles

• Choose an article from the table that interests
  you. Read and highlight important activities.
  Be prepared to share out at your tables.