Valuable Vocabulary

1. Valuable Vocabulary Why Expanding Students’ Vocabulary is Important By Ashley DeGregorio and Nick D’Amuro

2. Teaching Vocabulary • In order to prepare students for reading success later in their elementary years it is important to start them at a young age working on literacy skills. • Recommended literacy skills are: alphabet knowledge, concepts about print, phonological awareness, and expressive vocabulary.

3. How do you build vocabulary in the primary grades? • Books are the greatest resource to use when teaching vocabulary because they expose students to numerous new words. • Therefore, it is suggested by researchers to use Storytime as an opportunity to build vocabulary. • Check out these links for lists of children’s books that are great for vocabulary development! • http://www.brightonlibrary.info/toddlers_books_vocab • http://www.pragmaticmom.com/2011/09/favorite-picture-books-to-build-vocabulary/

4. Storytime • Ways to use storytime as a method for building vocabulary include: • Have students act out the new words from the story • Have students relate the words they encounter to their own life • Select a text that includes a new vocabulary word that is repeated multiple times throughout the story. Have students determine the different ways that word can be used or the different contexts it can be used in. • YouTube clip of ELL Teacher in Korea using Storytime to engage learners in vocabulary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNn0jw_pUfA

5. What Vocabulary Instruction Should Do • Vocabulary instruction should allow students the opportunity to draw connections between the words and their lives. • It should also give students the chance to “practice, apply, and discuss their word knowledge in meaningful settings” (Nichols, 2004). • The main goal of vocabulary instruction: “is for the students to expand, refine, and add to their existing conceptual knowledge and enhance their reading abilities” (Nichols, 2004).

6. How do you “know” a word? • Students’ backgrounds have a huge impact in vocabulary development as students bring their experiences to make meaning out of words. • Knowing a word isn’t just knowing how to pronounce it or recite its dictionary definition. Knowing a word includes being able to discuss that word, elaborate on its multiple meanings, and being able to use it in a variety of contexts.

7. Ways to Teach Vocabulary: Strategies • The following are a few strategies that can be used in any content or subject area: • Tossed Terms • Vocabulary Cards • Word Sorts • Fly Swatter • Around the World with vocab words

8. Tossed Terms • The tossed terms strategy has teachers put important vocabulary words on the six sides of a box. • Students are put into small groups of 3 or 4 and are asked to “toss” the box to each other. • Whichever word the student lands on (that is facing them, on top, their left thumb is on, whatever the teacher chooses) they have to define the word and use the word in a sentence. • This strategy is best used as a review game with peers. • This strategy can also be used with content area vocabulary, where instead of just defining the word, the student has to do another activity. Ex: In an English classroom the words on the box are theme, character, plot, conflict, setting, and resolution. So when a student lands on theme, instead of just merely defining theme, the student has to identify the theme of the story they just read in class. • Example template: • http://www.lessonsense.com/shapes/templatediceshapeswords.pdf

9. Vocabulary Cards • Vocabulary cards are typically created on index cards. The card gets divided up into 4 boxes. These cards ask students to write the word in one box, the definition in another (but not necessarily the dictionary definition). Instead, it asks for the student to come up with a working definition that they can remember. • Then, the students draw a picture of the word in the third box and in the fourth box they write what the word is NOT or its opposite (antonym). • These cards are great for having students build connections and explore the vocabulary word from multiple directions. • Vocabulary cards are not limited to the categories of definition, illustration, and antonym but a teacher could create a variety of different templates. • Click the link below to see a cool online vocabulary card generator: http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/cc/voc_cardinter/voc_in/vocwork_1word.asp

10. Word Sorts • The Word Sorts strategy is beneficial to students because it helps them establish connections between content area vocabulary words. • Students are given a word box with 10-20 terms and either the teacher gives them the categories they need to split the words up into (called a closed sort) or they are left to sort the words into categories that they choose themselves (called an open sort). • Students can work alone or in pairs. • Word sorts can be expanded to have students write an explanation for their choices to check their understanding and thought process. • Click the following link to see what a math word sort might look like: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=2635824

11. Fly Swatter • Divide students into two teams • Students are given a large selection of vocab words on the front board • The teacher reads off the definition and each student has the chance to swat the correct answer • The first student to swat the correct answer gets a point for their team • This give students a great chance to learn vocabulary but still have fun. • This website can help teachers keep track of their vocab words http://museumbox.e2bn.org/

12. Around the World • This game is similar to fly swat and get students to think on their feet • Students remain in their seat and the teacher goes in order around the room asking vocabulary words and definitions • Students stay in the game by giving the correct answer, and get knocked out by the wrong answer • Here is a useful website https://jeopardylabs.com/ • This puts words in a jeopardy format so the teacher can quickly select them from the smart board

13. Links to More Strategies • Check out the following websites for more ideas of strategies that can be used in the classroom to enhance vocabulary: • http://www.21stcenturyschoolteacher.com/cool-websites.html • http://learningtasks.weebly.com/vocabulary-strategies.html • Using a mixture of these different strategies, teachers can provide students daily vocabulary instruction that will be engaging for them.

14. References • Irwin, J. R., Moore, D. L., Tornatore, L. A., & Fowler, A. E. (2012). Expanding on Early Literacy. Children & Libraries: The Journal Of The Association For Library Service To Children, 10(2), 20-28 • Nichols, W., & Rupley, W. H. (2004). Matching Instructional Design with Vocabulary Instruction. Reading Horizons, 45(1), 55-71. • Fisher, D., & Brozo, W. G. (2011). 50 instructional routines to develop content literacy. (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc • Teshuba, J. (2012). Expanding Their Vocabulary: Public Libraries Embrace New Language-Learning Programs. The Illinois Library Association Reporter. 30 (1). 18-20. Retrieved from: http://proxy.geneseo.edu:2054/docview/923633652 • Falkenhagen, A. (2007). Expanding Child's Vocabulary. McClatchy-Tribune Business News. 1. Retrieved from: http://proxy.geneseo.edu:2054/docview/462583114/fulltext?accountid=11072