Scaffolding Vocabulary for Meaningful ReadAlouds

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Scaffolding Vocabulary for Meaningful Read-Alouds

• Alesha Moreno Ramirez
• Fresno County Office of Education
• aramirez_at_fcoe.k12.ca.us

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Making Read Alouds Meaningful

• Students should
• understand the story
• make connections to the story
• be motivated by the story
• be able to respond to the story
• learn from the story

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Why do we scaffold?

• To allow students to access text in a meaningful
  way for maximum comprehension
• Reading rich literature aloud provides
  opportunities for learning with more complex text
  beyond the limitations of students independent
  reading levels

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Scaffolding for All Learners

• Including, but not limited to
• English Learners
• Students with special needs
• English-only students with low language skills

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Goals for Reading Aloud

• To engage the listener
• To develop comprehension
• To infuse vocabulary learning
• To model expressive, fluent reading

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Vocabulary in Read Alouds

• Exposure to rich vocabulary
• More complex text than at students independent
  reading level
• Many words may be unknown
• Pre-teach words that are essential to
  understanding the story

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Vocabulary and the Comprehension Connection

• Vocabulary and comprehension are inextricably
  linked.
• In short, readers cannot understand what they are
  reading or hearing when being read to without
  knowing what most of the words mean. -Put Reading
  First

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Supporting Comprehension Skills

• In addition to the vocabulary necessary for
  students to access story content, students need
  to be taught the academic vocabulary and sentence
  structures that support the target comprehension
  skill(s).

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Four Types of Vocabulary

• Listening vocabulary
• Reading vocabulary
• Speaking vocabulary
• Writing vocabulary
• How can vocabulary be affected by reading aloud
  to your students?

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Vocabulary Learning

• Most vocabulary is learned incidentally.
• Some vocabulary must be taught directly.

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Incidental Vocabulary Learning

• Words learned incidentally when students
• Engage in oral language
• Listen to adults read to them
• Read extensively on their own

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Direct Vocabulary Learning

• Words learned when students are involved in
  explicit, robust vocabulary instruction
• Select appropriate words to teach
• Select a few vs. many words to teach

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Choosing Words to Teach

• Unknown words critical to comprehension
• High-utility words students will encounter in the
  future
• Tier 2 words

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Tiers of Words

• Tier 1 Most basic words, do not require
  instruction
• Tier 2 High-frequency for mature language
  users, can improve language ability (instruct
  explicitly)
• Tier 3 Low-frequency words often
• limited to specific domains

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Featured Book

• Carlos and the Squash Plant /
• Carlos y la planta de calabaza
• A bilingual book (English/Spanish)
• by Jan Romero Stevens
• illustrated by Jeanne Arnold

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Instructional Strategies for Vocabulary Learning
with Read Alouds

• Direct instruction of select words
• Incidental learning during the reading
• Cooperative learning
• Structured practice
• Graphic organizers
• Writing and drawing
• Use of realia

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Before the Reading

• Use discussion to build background knowledge
• Incorporate cooperative learning and structured
  language practice
• Use realia
• Picture walk the cover and key illustrations
• Direct instruction of key words

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During the Reading

• Take advantage of teachable moments
• Maximize opportunities for incidental vocabulary
  learning by using step-asides, gestures, etc.
• Use questioning strategies
• Draw attention to story illustrations
• Encourage use of oral language

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After the Reading

• Review key story concepts and emphasize learned
  vocabulary
• Encourage student use of learned vocabulary
• Provide more opportunities for structured
  language practice
• Use graphic organizers
• Incorporate writing and drawing

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Credits

• Presentation adapted from the work of
• Dr. Anita Archer
• Dr. Isabel Beck
• Susana Dutro
• Dr. Linda Kucan
• Dr. Margaret McKeown

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Contact Information

• Alesha Moreno Ramirez
• K-6 Literacy Consultant
• Fresno County Office of Education
• Phone [phone] x3131
• Email aramirez_at_fcoe.k12.ca.us