Building Vocabulary

1. Building Vocabulary Cindy Gwinn Staff Development

2. Fun With Words! The man who recently fell into an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.

3. Dictionary Definition for “Vocabulary” • A list or collection of words or of words and phrases usually alphabetically arranged and explained or defined • a. A sum or stock of words employed by a language, group, individual, or work or in a field of knowledge b. A list or collection of terms or codes available for use (as in an indexing system) • A supply of expressive techniques or devices (as of an art form) http://meriam-webster.com

4. Are Dictionary Definitions Always Effective? • Using a Dictionary is Not Enough: • Reading a definition does not tell us how a word is actually used • We need examples in context • Dictionary definitions can be incomplete • Being able to define a word is an end result of knowing the word very well

5. Reinforce Definitions With: • Gestures • Pictures • Objects • Examples and non-examples

6. What is vocabulary instruction? • Process that continues throughout life • Includes the development of receptive (listening and reading) and expressive (speaking and writing) vocabularies • Includes both direct and indirect methods of instruction

7. Research-based components of effective instruction: • High-quality oral language experiences that develop word consciousness, the knowledge of and interest in words • Explicit instruction of specific words • Modeling and instruction in independent word-learning strategies (ex: CPR & OPIN) • Time and support for wide reading Texas Reading Initiative (TRI), 2000

8. Fun With Words! What did the triangle say to the circle? You’re so pointless!

9. Why build vocabulary? • The meanings of individual words contribute to the meanings of sentences and therefore to understanding. • After the age of five, oral conversation is a much less effective way of developing vocabulary knowledge. • As students increase their reading skills, text becomes the vehicle for learning many new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

10. How do our students feel about vocabulary? • What is the author saying? • Discuss with your neighbor: “Paula put down her pirn, wrapped herself in a paduasoy, and entered puerperium.” • Story about birthing • Pirn – tool for weaving • Paduasoy – Japanese style silken robe • Puerperium – the time of beginning labor to birth • We have no access to meaning because we didn’t get the vocabulary!

11. Five Components of Reading • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Vocabulary • Comprehension • Fluency

12. MOTIVATION DECODING COMPREHENSION Word Recognition Strategies Academic Language Comprehension Strategies Fluency Automaticity Concepts of Print (Re)organizing Text Comprehension Monitoring Phonemic Awareness Sight Words Background Knowledge Phonics Syntax & Text Structure Framework for Reading Vocabulary • John Shefelbine/Developmental Studies Center [See p. 20 of the CA Reading/ELA Framework]

13. Fun With Words! He didn't tell his mother that he had eaten the glue. His lips were sealed.

14. Research about Vocabulary • Kindergarten students’ vocabulary size is a predictor of comprehension in middle school. (Scarborough, 1998) • A single book reading improved significantly children’s expressive vocabulary. (Senechal and Cornell, 1993) • Vocabulary instruction has a strong connection to comprehension. (McKeown, Beck, Omanson and Perfetti, 1983) • Children with weaker vocabularies are less likely to learn new words from incidental exposure than children with larger vocabularies. (Nicholson & Whyte, 1992; Penno et al., 2002; Robbins & Ehri, 1994)

15. Something to Think About Words Heard in an Hour • Poverty: 615 words • Middle Class: 1,251 words • Professional: 2,153 words Hart and Risley, 2003

16. How Do Children Learn Vocabulary? NRP (National Reading Panel) Recommendations: • Teach directly and indirectly • Repetitions • Rich Context • Incidental Learning • Computer Technology • http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ • Use multiple vocabulary instruction methods NPR, 2000

17. Model for Choosing Vocabulary From Text“3-Tier Model” Low-frequency words; Technical words Developed by Isabel Beck Tier 3 Words to Teach high frequency, high utility Tier 2 Tier 1 Known, common words

18. Words to Teach Directly • Words critical to understanding the text • Words that are likely to be encountered many times • Difficult words that need interpretation • metaphorical, abstract, nuanced Beck & McKeown, 2002

19. Fun With Words! I couldn't quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but I knew eventually it would come back to me.

20. How to Select Vocabulary Words • Pick 3-5 words for direct teaching • Select words that are: • unfamiliar to the students • big ideas of the author • words used to summarize the text • words that “travel well” (Tier Two words)

21. Direct Teaching Vocabulary-What Does It Look Like? Refer to your folder for a detailed lesson example: • “Example of a Vocabulary Direct Teach” • “Explicit Instruction of Specific Words”

22. Practicing Vocabulary Synonym Race • You have 30 seconds. • Think of as many alternative words as you can for… look

23. Practicing Vocabulary “Articulate” • Take a noun card. • Describe it to your partner without naming it. Use descriptive language to help your partner visualize. • Can your partner guess your word?

24. Repeated Read-Aloud • Use literature to maximize children’s vocabulary growth. • Pre-reading discussion focused on key vocabulary and concepts that may be unfamiliar • During first reading allow children to follow the story thread without frequent interruptions. • During repeated reading sessions, stop to discuss vocabulary and concepts • Read each story at least 3 times • Provide repeated exposures to new words in the classroom in different contexts

25. Fun With Words! Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'

26. Practicing Vocabulary Refer to your folder for more vocabulary practice ideas: • Vocabulary “War” Card Game • Vocabulary Circles • Vocabulary Swat Game • Vocabulary “I Have – Who Has?”

27. Summing Up Building Vocabulary • Vocabulary is important because • readers use their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print. • readers must know what most of the words mean before they can understand what they are reading. • Vocabulary can be developed • indirectly, when students engage daily in oral language, listen to adults read to them, and read extensively on their own. • directly, when students are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies. Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, 2001

28. Bibliography • Beck, Isabel. & McKeown, Margaret G. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press. • Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (2003, Spring). The early catastrophe: The 30 million word gap by age 3. Ameridcan Educator, 27 (1), 4-9. • Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (2002). Vocabulary. Retreived April 25, 2010 from http://www.merriam-webster.com • Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, 2001 • Shefelbine, John. Developmental Studies Center. CA Reading/ELA Framework. • Texas Reading Initiative. (2000). Promoting vocabulary development: Components of effective vocabulary instruction. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency. • www.kidsjokes.co.uk