English SOL Institute Secondary Vocabulary & Nonfiction Reading Workshop

English SOL Institute Secondary Vocabulary & Nonfiction Reading Workshop Sarah Crain, Literacy Coach Hilary Loftus, Reading Specialist Stafford County Public Schools

Objectives Participants will be able to: • Select and analyze vocabulary using a variety of strategies • Examine common elements of non-fiction found in text books and primary source documents • Compose a one sentence summary for a paired reading

Vocabulary • Provide students with opportunities to study vocabulary in authentic texts (newspapers, labels, advertisements, etc.) and words from reading material • Studying vocabulary from authentic texts strengthens nonfiction reading skills

Vocabulary Students Teachers Scan the text to anticipate words students will select Consider: High impact/frequency words Content specific vocabulary Any word over three syllables • Scan text for new, interesting, unfamiliar words • With a partner, try to determine meaning • Be able to explain how you arrived at that meaning

Vocabulary “We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

Vocabulary • Divide and conquer: Greek and Latin roots! • According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English language has over 250,000 distinct words!

Vocabulary • Over 60 percent of all words in the English dictionary are based on Greek or Latin roots. • 90 percent of English words with more than two syllables come from Latin and Greek.

Vocabulary A word can consist of three parts: • Root: contains the basic meaning of the word • Prefix: comes before the word; provides direction, negates, or intensifies • Suffix: comes after the word; usually modifies grammatical function

Vocabulary Example: segregation • Root: greg – meaning “gather” or “flock” • Prefix: se – meaning “apart” • Suffix: ion – meaning “act or process; condition” “The act or process of gathering something apart; separating”

Vocabulary • Model context clues. Give plenty of practice opportunities. • Use acronym SAID • Synonym • Antonym • Inference • Definition

Vocabulary • Synonyms, antonyms, and definitions are going to be found in the text near the vocabulary word. Example: “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

Vocabulary • Inference requires background knowledge plus the text Example: “We have come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now.”

Vocabulary • Inference requires background knowledge plus the text Example: “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolatevalley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.”

Vocabulary • Connect vocabulary instruction to the text through text-dependent questions. • Example: “Based on the text, what are possible meanings of this word.”

VDOE Resources

Nonfiction Reading Use content text books to create: • nonfiction paired passages • reading comprehension questions • vocabulary questions • usage/mechanics questions • constructed response questions • research connections • paired passages

Nonfiction Reading K-12 English SOL Institute October 2013

Pairing Passages • Students should be able to think critically about and make connections across texts from a variety of genres.

Pairing Passages At your seat: • Read both text selections • Organize and record your thinking in the T chart diagram • Use a sentence frame to respond to your assigned question

Theme The authors of both the “I Have a Dream” speech and the poem, “The Cold Within,” develop a theme throughout their pieces. Using the T-chart below, please list evidence from the text to support your understanding of each theme.

T Chart Example I Have a Dream The Cold Within

T Chart Example I Have a Dream The Cold Within Bleak and bitter cold dying fire tattered clothes Couldn’t bring himself to Keep what he had earned Face bespoke revenge Saw one not of his church Did nought except for gain Proof of human sin Died from the cold within The whirlwinds of revolt, the tranquilizing drug of gradualism Blow off steam fierce urgency Now be content lift our nation Rude awakening fatal Warm threshold Invigorating Neither rest nor tranquility Gaining our rightful place

Sentence Frame The theme of the speech tells us __________________________________ while the poem ________________________________________. Although they are similar in that they both _____________________________________, the speech ___________________________________, whereas the poem ______________________________________________.

Sentence Frame The theme of the speech tells us that racial injustice can no longer be tolerated and that the “whirlwinds of revolt” are getting so hot that, unless urgently addressed, things will soon be too hot to handle, while the poem illustrates the shame of prejudice and the shame and ultimate death of the soul of a person who refuses to see the humanity in his fellow man . Although they are similar in that they both address the inhumanity of prejudice, the speech uses the symbolism of an impending explosion, whereas the poem uses the imagery of a dying fire.

Contact Information • Sarah Crain • Stafford County Public Schools • crainse@staffordschools.net • Hilary Loftus • Stafford County Public Schools • loftushl@staffordschools.net

Disclaimer Reference within this presentation to any specific commercial or non-commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Virginia Department of Education.

English SOL Institute Secondary Vocabulary & Nonfiction Reading Workshop