Vocabulary Strategies for Grade 4-12

1. Vocabulary Strategies for Grade 4-12 January 16, 2013 Jenny Fanelli, CI&A

2. Our Outcomes Today we will: • Discernthe emphasis on vocabulary in the Common Core Learning Standards • Ruminateon the process of vocabulary acquisition • Scrutinize the process for effective direct vocabulary instruction • Assay strategies to support students’ independent word learning • Reconnoiter print and digital resources

3. Our Agenda • Starting our thinking… • A quick look… • CCLS • some background information • Digging in to Resources • Direct vocabulary instruction • Word learning strategies • Word Consciousness • Next steps…

4. Synectics My school year is like____ because_____.

5. Synectics Vocabulary instruction is like____ because_____.

6. Vocabulary and the CCLS Rationale for Vocabulary Development

7. Common Core Literacy Shifts

8. Common Core Literacy Shifts

9. The anchor standards Vocabulary Acquisition and Use • Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

10. The anchor standards Vocabulary Acquisition and Use • Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

11. The anchor standards Vocabulary Acquisition and Use • Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.

12. Vocabulary Learning, as a language based activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on vocabulary knowledge. Learners must have access to the meanings of words that teachers, or their surrogates (e.g., other adults, books, films, etc.), use to guide them into contemplating known concepts in novel ways (i.e., to learn something new). (Baker, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 1998)

13. Importance of Vocabulary Up to 74% of a student’s reading comprehension depends his understanding of the vocabulary.

15. words=knowledge • Words are linguistic descriptions (labels) of “packets” of knowledge. • The more words we have, the more information we have. • For example…

16. What Is This Packet’s Label? Dark Sleeping Bag Forest Tent Cold Bears at Dump Animals Chipmunks

17. What Is This Packet’s Label? norms Golden Rule Laws Language traditions Symbols On Money Flag

18. The “Right” Background for School Success • All people have background knowledge. • However, not all students come to you with “academic” background knowledge.

19. How is Academic Background Knowledge Developed? • Two factors: • A learner’s ability to process and store information. • The number and frequency of “academically oriented” experiences.

20. Academically Oriented Experiences Such As… • World experiences – travels, zoo, grocery store • The talk that accompanies these experiences • READING…in fact reading is the most efficient method to build vocabulary and background knowledge.

21. ACCESS TO ACADEMICALLY-ORIENTED EXPERIENCES FLUID (INNATE) INTELLIGENCE

22. Differences in vocabulary growth Student A Student B 8 words per day 3,000 words per year 2 words per day 750 words per year

23. Where does that lead? High school seniors at the top of their class know about four times as many words as their lower performing classmates.

24. The Big idea!! “Although it is true that the extent to which students will learn new content is dependent on such factors such as the skill of the teacher, the interest of the student, and the complexity of the content, the research supports one compelling fact: what students already know about content is one of strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to that content.” • Robert Marzano, Building Background Knowledge

25. do you “know” these words? • Can you sketch them? • Happiness • Obstinate • Sagacity • Egregious • Ratiocinate

26. Knowing a word is not all-or-nothing!

27. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Breadth Depth Word Knowledge

28. What does it meanto KNOW a word? • Assess your knowledge of the words you may encounter in our workshop. • Join with a partner and compare your lists. • Are there words that you can help each other to understand?

29. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Breadth • No knowledge: the word is not in your listening, reading, speaking or writing vocabularies • Catoptromancy, quidnunc, usufructuary, engastrimyth

30. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Breadth • General sense: you know something about the word, e.g. you may know that a word has a positive or negative connotation • punctilious, mendacious, mellifluous

31. What Does Hobbes Know? Not Know?

32. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Breadth • Narrow context-bound knowledge • discriminate, solution, compound, constitution, division

33. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Breadth • Have some knowledge of a word but may not use it in appropriate situations • Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest precedent.

34. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Breadth • Rich, decontextualized knowledge of a word’s meaning, its relationship to other words, and its extension to metaphorical uses (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)

35. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Depth • Generalization: define a word • Application: select or recognize appropriate situations • Breadth: polysemy (multiple meanings)

36. What does it meanto KNOW a word? Depth • Precision: apply correctly to different situations and recognize inappropriate use • Availability: use in thinking, speaking and writing

37. Myth Mix-Up • Choose one of the myths about vocabulary instruction and read the information for the most important points.

38. Myth Mix-Up • For the next few minutes, move around the room to share your most important points and to gather information about the other myths. • Try to get information about all 10 myths!

39. Two Minute Buzz • Talk with a partner about what you’re thinking. • What connections are you making?

40. So… • What does all this mean for our teaching?

41. Effective Vocabulary Instruction

44. Digging in to Resources:Books • Explore your book, Inside Words by Janet Allen • Identify the sections or items in the book that pique your interest and mark them with sticky notes or page flags. • Share with your partner what is intriguing to you and why.

45. Digging in to Resources:The Handouts • Take a few minutes to browse through your handouts to see some other activities that might be useful to you. • Mark them with a sticky note or page flag.

46. Digging in to Resources:Online Resources • With your table partners, use the organizer to explore some vocabulary related sites. • Divide and conquer!

47. Digging in to Resources • Now that you’ve had some time to explore, keep these resources handy!

50. Direct Instruction Explicitly teach the most important words: • Which words? • Technical vocabulary? • Disciplinary vocabulary? • Concept critical vocabulary? • Tier 2 words? • Tier 3 words? • How?