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Language Development. Increasing vocabulary through reading, writing, speaking, and Listening. What does the research tell us?. Vocabulary knowledge is a strong predictor of verbal ability (Sternberg, 1987) Vocabulary difficulty strongly impacts text difficulty (Klare, 1984)
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Language Development Increasing vocabulary through reading, writing, speaking, and Listening
What does the research tell us? • Vocabulary knowledge is a strong predictor of verbal ability (Sternberg, 1987) • Vocabulary difficulty strongly impacts text difficulty (Klare, 1984) • Students from impoverished backgrounds may have limited vocabulary when entering school; this seriously limits the chances of attaining an adequate vocabulary for learning (Hart & Risley, 1995)
From Babbling to Books! Watch the video and discuss the following: Students from impoverished backgrounds may have limited vocabulary when entering school. What are the implications for early instruction? What factors contribute to a rich language environment? Which cues provide an opportunity for educators to help children develop communication skills and vocabulary?
Language Development Levels of Knowledge
Vocabulary Instruction To increase vocabulary acquisition, many researchers recommend: Multiple exposures of words in context Associating images to words Some direct instruction (especially for general academic and domain specific terms) (e.g. Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock, 2001; Beck and McKeown, )
Components of quality instruction • Wide Reading • Teaching Individual Terms • Word Learning Strategies • Word Consciousness
Wide Reading • Incidental learning • Repeated exposure to words • Increase quality and quantity of reading • Variety in reading models and genres
Teaching Individual Words Direct, explicit instruction
Teaching Individual Words • Text vocabulary vs. oral vocabulary • Complex text contains complex vocabulary • Elaborate and Enrich • Direct Instruction and “Teachable Moments” • Focus explicit instruction on Tier Two Words • Balance
Vocabulary Tiers • Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan (2002, 2008) have outlined a useful model for conceptualizing categories of words readers encounter in texts and for understanding the instructional and learning challenges that words in each category present. • They describe three levels, or tiers, of words in terms of the words’ commonality (more to less frequently occurring) and applicability (broader to narrower).
For more information, refer to the CCSS for ELA Appendix A Useful Resource Academic Word List
Choosing Which Words to Teach By: Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, Linda Kucan Read the Chapter: Choosing Which Words to Teach and complete the exercise below. Choosing Which Words to Teach Exercise
Contextual Analysis Sternberg (1987)
Divide students into groups of three. • Distribute practice sentences related to the content area and include a blank for which students must select the appropriate term • Each student completes the sentence individually. • Small groups convene and students must convince other members that his or her word is the best choice to complete each sentence. • Each choice must be justified with a reasonable explanation, based on the content and concepts encountered in the text. • If the group does not reach consensus, they may discuss with the class. OPIN An instructional strategy for extending meaning. Source: Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J.L., & Mraz, M. (2011)
Language Enrichment Activity Change it up!
Discuss additional phrases that could be modified to enrich students’ understanding of language.
College Talk View the video and discuss the following questions: How does Ms. Kim make vocabulary a natural part of the classroom? How does the students' response to this strategy change over time?
Word Consciousness Word play, modeling, integration
Levels of Word Knowledge 40 Encounters to truly “OWN” the word Based on Dale (1965)
Word Consciousness • Awareness and interest • Cognitive and Affective Stance • Metacognition and Motivation • Informal and Formal Instruction
Modeling • Teacher modeling in reading, writing, and discussion • Attitude toward learning new words • Exposure and Experience
E4 Choosing Which Words to Teach Academic Word List Look at Lesson 1 for the term “Listen”. How does this framework for teaching a word help students develop a deeper understanding of language? Choose a term from one of the sources on the left. Use the E4 framework to help students understand this term by addressing synonyms, multiple meanings, figurative language, idioms, common phrases, and morphological considerations.
Word of the day Increase a student’s “worD world”
Word of the Day • Teacher selected student selected • Definitional + contextual information • Explain why it is meaningful to learning • Allow students ask questions and have discussions • Record word “sightings”
Word Play • Morphological and syntactic awareness • Homophones and Homographs • Figurative language, idioms, puns
Word Families View the video and discuss the following questions: What scaffolds does Ms. Wessling put into place to get her students using new vocabulary? How could you use paint chips in your classroom? Create one or two examples using paint chips. Share with your PLC members.
Fun with Words • Summit, ______, spinning toy • Hole, ______, fruit stone • Nation, _____, rural area From Lederer’s Get Thee to a Punnery
Word Play Books • Pun and Games (1996) by Richard Lederer • Get Thee to a Punnery (1988) by Richard Lederer • Animalia (1986) by Graeme Base • The Alphabet from Z to A (With Much Confusion Along the Way) by Judith Viorst • Doube Trouble in Walla Walla • The King Who Rained by Fred Gwynne • The Phantom Tolebooth by Norton Juster • Holes by Louis Sachar
integration • Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking connections • Incorporate vocabulary instruction across the domains • Borrow and Elaborate an author’s word choice • “A great potato of a woman” • “A long string bean of a man”
Balanced Instruction • Oral Language • Word-Level Knowledge • Conceptual Knowledge • Text-Level Knowledge • Developmental Context • Vocabulary & grammar • Phonemic Awareness and Decoding • Comprehension & idea generation • Genre and text structure • Motivation, purpose and attention
Resources Reading Rockets http://textproject.org/ Edutopia Blog
references • Anderson, R.E. & Nagy, W.E. (1992). The vocabulary conundrum. American Educator, (16)14-18, 44-47. • Beck, Isabel L. McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Choosing Words to Teach. In Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction (15-30). New York, NY: Guilford Press. • Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press. • Graves, M. & Watts Taffe, S.M. (2002). The place of word consciousness in a research based vocabulary program. In Farstrup, A.E. & Samuels, S.J.(Eds.) What Research has to say about reading instruction. Newark: IRA • Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experiences of young American children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks. • Klare, G.R. (1984). Readability. In P.D. Pearson, R. Barr, M.L. Kamil, & P. Mosenthal (Eds.), Handbook of reading research(pp. 681-794). • McKeown, M.G (1985). The acquisition of word meaning from context by children of high and low ability. Reading Research Quarterly (20) 482-496. • Pressley, M. (2006). Reading Instruction that works: the case for balanced teaching. • Sternberg (1987) Most vocabulary is learned from context. In M.G. McKeown & M.E. Curtis (Eds.) The nature of vocabulary acquisition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. • Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J.L., & Mraz, M. (2011) Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum. Boston: Pearson