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Introducing Strategy #3. Expand Vocabulary. Welcome To The Language Of Our Kids. Whatever Ya-right Wassup? Dawg My bad Straight up What it is That rocks. Why Teach Vocabulary?.
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Introducing Strategy #3 Expand Vocabulary Elkhart Community Schools
Welcome ToThe Language Of Our Kids Whatever Ya-right Wassup? Dawg My bad Straight up What it is That rocks Elkhart Community Schools
Why Teach Vocabulary? Learning, as a language based activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on vocabulary knowledge. Elkhart Community Schools
Why Teach Vocabulary? “Increasing vocabulary knowledge is a basic part of the process of education, both as a means and as an end. At the same time, advances in knowledge will create an even larger pool of concepts and words that a person must master to be literate and employable.” Nagy Elkhart Community Schools
It Pays Off… Every word learned equals one more dollar in your yearly salary—unless you are a teacher. Elkhart Community Schools
Reading Difficulties Begin Here.. • Actual Differences in Quantity of Words Heard • In a typical hour, the average child would hear: • Welfare family- 616 words • Working class family- 1,250 words • Professional family- 2,153 words Elkhart Community Schools
How Many Words Do Our Students Hear? 85% of ESC’s families fall into the first two categories: • welfare • working class Elkhart Community Schools
What DoesResearch Say? Homes rich in communication- Children before the age of four have heard 45 million words. Homes that lack rich communication- Children before the age of four have heard 13 million words. (Hart and Risley 1996) Elkhart Community Schools
Research. . . Beyond the first 10,000 words used by adults, the rest are rare words, and these play a critical role in reading. The eventual strength of our vocabulary is determined not by the common ten thousand words, but by how many rare words we understand. (Hart and Risley) Elkhart Community Schools
Finding ThoseRare Words Even though it is important to talk to kids, more of the “rare” words are found in print rather than oral language. What would you guess? • Adult talking to child: __ rare words for 1,000 • TV: __ rare words for 1,000 • Children’s book: ___ rare words for 1,000 • Adult books: __ rare words for 1,000 • Comic books: __ rare words for 1,000 (Hayes and Athens 1988) Elkhart Community Schools
Without The Rich Word Background, Elkhart CommunitySchool students have consistently performed lower on the vocabulary sections of standardized tests. Elkhart Community Schools
Every TeacherNeeds To Help “Students with poor vocabularies, including diverse learners, need strong and systematic educational support to become successful independent word learners.” (Baker, Simmons, Akmeenui, 1995) Elkhart Community Schools
Past Practice:Dictionary “Rote memorization of words and definitions is the least effective instructional method resulting in little long-term effect.” (Kameenui, Dixon, Carine 1987) Elkhart Community Schools
How Do We Increase Vocabulary Knowledge? 1. Read aloud to the students. 2. Give time for students to do silent sustained reading. 3. Encourage self-initiated writing. Elkhart Community Schools
A Goal: “By middle school, if students are to make grade-level progress (i.e. 3,000 to 5,000 new words per year), they should be reading more than 1.1 million words a year of outside reading (25-35 books) and about 1.7 million words in school texts.” (Honig, 1996) Elkhart Community Schools
How Do We Increase Vocabulary Knowledge? New words are: 1. Encountered repeatedly in context through reading and listening (Stahl and Fairbanks 1986) 2. Linked to students’ prior knowledge (Johnson 1981) 3. Connected with other words that are semantically related (Johnson et al. 1986) Elkhart Community Schools
Stretching Their World Students will incorporate the words that teachers use frequently in the classroom. The words become part of their expressive vocabulary. Elkhart Community Schools
Students Need Involvement “Considering the large number of words students encounter and the need to learn them, it is obvious that all of these words cannot be taught …. We need to encourage students to be aware of and interested in words so that students develop ownership of them.” J. David Cooper Elkhart Community Schools
Levels Of Word Knowledge • No Clue • Have Heard/Seen It • Think I Know It • Know It Well/Can Use It in a Sentence Elkhart Community Schools
WordstormingSteps 1.Students write down all words they can think of related to a given concept. 2.When list-making slows, increase words to the list by asking more guided questions. Elkhart Community Schools
WordstormingSteps 3.Ask students to group and categorize their words. One column might be left for miscellaneous. 4. Introduce any words that you think should be included. Students must decide what category in which to place the added word. Elkhart Community Schools
How Do We Develop Word Knowledge? Repeat words in varied contexts • Describe words • Support words with visuals • Connect words to students’ lives • Extend words with anecdotes • Make associations • Give definitions • Compare and contrast Elkhart Community Schools
How Do We Develop Word Knowledge? • Question • Chart characteristics • Rephrase sentences • Provide tactile experiences • Give examples of correct and incorrect usage • Make analogies Elkhart Community Schools
Make A Picture:Logographics • Construct a visual image that connects the target word with the meaning. • One connection could be auditority. “Carlin” means old woman. The word part “car” could generate a picture of an old woman driving a car. Or, the student could just draw a picture of an older woman. Elkhart Community Schools
What AboutContext Clues? • There is “rich” and “lean” context. • Current textbooks have rich context providing typographical clues and detailed explanations.Students can learn from this text structure. Elkhart Community Schools
Typographical Clues:As They Read… • Have students look at: • Bold-faced, italicized words • Footnotes • Parenthetical definitions • Illustrations • Charts, graphs • Glossary Elkhart Community Schools
Contextual Clues:As They Read Instruct students to look at how the word is used in the sentence, then examine surrounding sentences. Find: Synonyms Antonyms Concrete example Descriptions Definitions Elkhart Community Schools
Lean Context In real-life print, there may not be enough clues to infer the word’s meaning. Elkhart Community Schools
Word Parts • Looking for roots, prefixes and suffixes will add to students’ knowledge of words. • It is best done if the introduction of such words is done school-wide. • Multiple exposures will increase the understanding of the words. • Different content areas can explain their use of these words. Elkhart Community Schools
Repeated Exposures Words should be used in meaningful contexts 10-15 times Janet Allen Elkhart Community Schools
Word Walls Help “Word walls are absolutely essential in our classrooms.” Janet Allen Elkhart Community Schools
Word Walls Word walls could be organized alphabetically or thematically. “The word wall is built on the theory of mastery—repetition reinforces previously learned principles. Regular use throughout the school year allows you to recycle many words.” (Green) Elkhart Community Schools
Let’s Back Up… What if the student can’t pronounce the words; even ones fairly familiar? Elkhart Community Schools
How ToPronounce A Word 1. Look for chunks you know. 2. Underline the vowel sounds. 3. Use the syllable patterns to break apart the word. 4. Sound out the word. Blend the sounds back together. 5. Ask yourself if the word sounds right and makes sense. Elkhart Community Schools
Enrich OurStudents’ Vocabulary • When positive emotions are associated with a learning task, the knowledge is more likely to be retained. • Game formats for vocabulary help create that positive connection. Elkhart Community Schools
Playing With Words • Word Jars- Students write down new words they have seen or heard on slips. Place into jar. Each day pull out two words and discuss. • Commercial word games such as: Mad Gab, Catch a Phrase, Scrabble • Charades, skits using words • Pictures of words for multiple meanings: bat for sports or the mammal • Creating new words with roots Elkhart Community Schools
Remember This… “The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” Wittengsten Elkhart Community Schools
Expand Vocabulary Strategy #3 Elkhart Community Schools