Mr. Greg Bonsignore VOISE Academy High School Reading Specialist

1. Literacy PD--5/26/10“Integrated, Comprehensive, Explicit: Vocabulary Instruction at VOISE Academy” Mr. Greg Bonsignore VOISE Academy High School Reading Specialist

2. ACTIVATOR Complete the “Treasure Hunt”--Get up, move around, and have your colleagues initial for what is present in their instructional practice. Initial in no more than two boxes for one person. Don’t rush to complete this, but instead take a few moments to discuss what the teacher’s experience has been with whatever they have done. -12 minutes

3. Today’s Objectives: • To review the purpose and meaning of having an integrated, comprehensive, and explicit approach to vocabulary instruction. • To recognize and differentiate between the 3 tiers of vocabulary. • To practice choosing academic and specialized vocabulary for the purpose of lesson planning.

4. General Purpose for today’s PD—Why this, why now? • To meet your needs as expressed in the coaching survey comments (focus on vocabulary, working within Apex). • To give you tools to assist you in summer planning.

5. What do we know about good vocabulary instruction?—Review, Aug. 2009 • An integrated approach to vocabulary is necessary, meaning it is considered in all subject areas. • A comprehensive approach is needed in schools, consisting of a common philosophy and shared practices, based on a solid understanding of the professional knowledge base.

6. What do we know about good vocabulary instruction?—Review, Aug. 2009 • It includes intentional word learning, through explicit instruction, though research does not show that any one type is uniformly effective.

7. 3 Tiers of Words Tier 1 (general) words: • Commonplace • Not difficult conceptually • Can be acquired through incidental word learning—as one reads, is read to, or through discussion • Context clues sometimes reveal meaning

8. 3 Tiers of Words Tier 2 (specialized) words: • Will have different meanings, depending on what subject area they appear in (e.g., element, charge, area, value, survey, convention, etc.) • Are high frequency • Can often be defined with simpler terms • Include most academic terms ***

9. 3 Tiers of Words Tier 3 (technical) words: • Are content specific (e.g., polynomial, mitosis, allusion, monarchy, etc.) • Often make up textbook glossaries • Can be taught through direct instruction, or through simple definition

10. Sample text A--Applying knowledge of 3 Tiers From Apex Honors Biology, 11.2.1: Why Do Butterfly Populations Change? With 3 tiers highlighted

11. Sample text B--Applying knowledge of 3 Tiers Let’s try a passage together. [Think-aloud] From Apex Honors Biology, 11.2.2: Earth's Resources Now you try one!

12. Of the highlighted words, which do you teach? Fisher & Frey’s “Decision-Making Model” gives us some direction: Representation • Is the word representative of a family of words that students should know? • Is the concept represented by the word critical to understanding the text? • Is the word a label for an idea that students need to know? • Does the word represent an idea that is essential for understanding another concept?

13. Of the highlighted words, which do you teach? Fisher & Frey’s “Decision-Making Model” gives us some direction: Repeatability • Is the word used again in this text? If so, does the word occur often enough to be redundant? • Will the word be used again during the school year?

14. Of the highlighted words, which do you teach? Fisher & Frey’s “Decision-Making Model” gives us some direction: Transportability • Will the word be used in group discussions? • Will the word be used in writing tasks? • Will the word be used in other content or subject areas? Contextual Analysis • Will context clues not help students determine the correct or intended meaning of the word?

15. Of the highlighted words, which do you teach? Fisher & Frey’s “Decision-Making Model” gives us some direction: Structural Analysis • Will prefixes, suffixes, or roots not help students to determine the correct or intended meaning of the word? Cognitive Load • Will students be able to successfully integrate the amount of words chosen for study? If you can answer most of the above in the affirmative, then the word is a good candidate for study.

16. A Handy Vocabulary Resource: AWL (academic word list) highlighter—see my “links”, or type in-- http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/awlhighlighter.htm

17. The overall process for vocabulary lesson planning • Step 1: Identify the passage • Step 2: Highlight for 3 tiers • Step 2a: Optional—Use AWL (academic word list) highlighter • Step 3: Choose 2-3 words to put through “Decision-Making Model” • Step 4: If they pass the D.M.M., determine strategy/practice format

18. Three Box Synectic—name 3 common everyday objects: Summarizer

19. References Blachowicz, C., & Fisher, P.J. (2006). Teaching vocabulary in all classrooms (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Word wise and content rich, grades 7-12: Five essential steps to teaching academic vocabulary. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Harmon, J.M., Wood, K.D., & Hedrick, W.B. (2006). Instructional strategies for teaching content vocabulary, grades 4-12. Westerville, OH: National Middle School Association.