ACADEMIC VOCABULARY BUILDERS: SCAFFOLDING FOR SUCCESS IN WRITING

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ACADEMIC VOCABULARY BUILDERS SCAFFOLDING FOR
SUCCESS IN WRITING

• Presented By Ashley Ray

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Key Questions

• What can I do to get my students to actually use
  more sophisticated academic vocabulary in their
  writing?
• How can I help my students be successful in their
  open-ended responses while also teaching them to
  think and write independently?

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RESEARCH LINKS

• Why do we need to teach vocab?

• Vocabulary acquisition is crucial to academic
  development. Not only do students need a rich
  body of word knowledge to succeed in basic skill
  areas, they also need a specialized vocabulary to
  learn content area material (Baker et al, 1995b).

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RESEARCH LINKS

• Who needs this support most?

• Students with poor vocabularies, including
  diverse learners, need strong and systematic
  educational support to become successful
  independent word learners (Baker et al., 1995a).

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RESEARCH LINKS

• Why cant I just use my old vocab lessons?

• We know that training in definitions or synonyms
  only has not improved students understanding of
  texts that contain those words (Kameenui et al.,
  1982).

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ACADEMIC VOCAB BUILDER

• The A.V. Builder works best if it is used in two
  stages first as a homework/ classwork assignment
  so that kids become familiar with the words, and
  second as part of a quiz or writing assignment.
  (See example.)

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BENEFITS OF USING THE A.V.

• Provides a clear use for learned vocabulary.
• OER questions become far less intimidating
  because students have a framework of words within
  which to think about question.
• Dramatically improves the quality of student
  expression.
• Students actually do vocabulary homework because
  they believe it is like cheating on their quiz.

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A.V. BUILDER Prep

• Start by writing your OER essay question.
• Then consider what kinds of words an excellent
  writer might use in his/her response. Be sure to
  think about multiple reasonable answers, as the
  question is open-ended.

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A.V. BUILDER Prep (2)

• Using the responses you came up with, choose 3-5
  words that are conceptually related to the text.
  Its a good idea to incorporate these words into
  discussions of the text.
• Choose 3-5 words that are standard academic
  vocabulary appropriate for a well-phrased essay.
  (See handout and next slide.)

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A.V. BUILDER Prep (3)Choosing Words

• INSTEAD OF This shows that
• This indicates that
• This suggests that
• This reveals that
• This proves that
• This illustrates that
• INSTEAD OF Important
• Relevant (This scene is the most relevant to our
  discussion because. . .)
• Significant (The most significant aspect of the
  scene is Caesars insistence on his own
  fearlessness.)
• Key (One key question for an author is, How do I
  show what characters feel?)
• Crucial
• Essential

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A.V. BUILDER Prep (4)Choosing Words

• For an expanded version of the A.V. word list,
  complete with parts of speech and etymologies,
  visit
• www.englishcompanion.com/pdfDocs/acvocabulary2.pdf
  

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MODIFICATIONS

• Content Area Use the same concept of targeted
  vocabulary use in writing to have students
  explain a concept (science, social studies) or
  describe a process (math).
• Elementary Simply adapt the level of the
  question. You may want to draw academic
  vocabulary from the list of words that appear on
  TAKS.
• GT Have students generate new word lists for
  questions. They may also use synonyms for the
  academic vocabulary and justify their selection.

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YOU TRY IT

• After reading the super-short selection Night,
  answer the following question using the A.V. word
  bank on your handout
• Question
• Although Night is extremely short, the
  writer still manages to develop the fathers
  character. How would you characterize this
  father? Use evidence from the text to support
  your answer.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Allen, Janet. 1999. Words, Words, Words Teaching
  Vocabulary in Grades 4-12. Portland Stenhouse.
• Baker, S. K., D. C. Simmons, and E. J. Kameenui.
  1995a. Vocabulary Acquisition Curricular and
  Instructional Implications for Diverse Learners.
  Technical Report No. 13. University of Oregon
  National Center to Improve the Tools for
  Educators.
• Baker, S. K., D. C. Simmons, and E. J. Kameenui.
  1995b. Vocabulary Acquisition Synthesis of the
  Research. Technical Report No. 13. University of
  Oregon National Center to Improve the Tools for
  Educators.
• Kameenui, E.j. et al. 1982.