Introducing words: a few instructional strategies

1. Introducing words:a few instructional strategies Why? What? How? Jen Madison jmadison@esu6.org 12.15.09

2. Characteristics of Effective Vocabulary Instruction • Use a “tournament bracket” to study the characteristics and decide which characteristics you find especially important and relevant: • Line up (or deal) the characteristics in random pairs. • For each pair, decide which should advance between the two cards based on the degree of importance and relevance toward your professional practice. • Once the winner and runner up are decided, choose one consolation card from any of the others.

3. Facets ofPurposeful Vocabulary Instruction • Provide rich and varied language experiences • discussion, focused attention on words, being read to, wide and frequent reading • Teach word-learning strategies • Using context, using morphology (word parts), using a dictionary • Foster word consciousness • Awareness, interest in words and their meanings, understanding of communicative power of language • Teach individual words (Graves, 2006)

4. Why should I teach some words explicitly? Explain why teaching individual words explicitly is important.

5. Did You Know…? • Read several of the “Did You Know…” cards on the table. • Keep up to three that seem most important and relevant to your teaching. • Interaction Sequence • Think – Pair – Share • Purposeful Selection, Random Selection, Volunteer Selection

6. Explicit vocabulary instruction “can deepen students’ knowledge of word meanings” to help them “understand what they are hearing or reading” and well as “help them use words accurately in speaking and writing.” (National Institute for Literacy, 2003, p. 36)

7. What criteria should I consider when choosing words? Understand conceptual difficulty as one criteria for selecting words to teach explicitly.

8. Word Knowledge prior knowledge necessary understanding Frequency & Distribution rate of occurrence in English text Importance reading comprehension (particular selection, general comprehension) content-specific achievement Utility outside of particular school context instructional potential generativity morphology (word parts) semantic-relatedness (categories of meaning) Conceptual difficulty Criteria for Word Selection

9. Questions Worth Asking • Is this word unknown? • Is this word critical to understanding (the particular text, the particular subject matter)? • Is this a word students are likely to encounter again (in sophisticated language use, in this particular subject, in other domains)? • Is this word conceptually difficult (abstract, new concept, multiple meanings)? • Does this word have high instructional potential (morphology, connections to other words, word learning)?

10. How might I introduce different kinds of terms most effectively? Know (and ultimately use) different types of instruction to explicitly teach different types of words.

11. TIME! For the strongest possible results… • Include both definitional and contextual information. • Involve students in active and deep processing of the words. • Provide students with multiple exposures to the word. • Review, rehearse, and remind students about the word in various contexts over time. • Involve students in discussions of the word’s meaning. • Spend a significant amount of time on the word. (Graves, 2006)

12. “Often, it will be necessary to teach words in ways that do not consume large amounts of time and do not produce the strongest possible results…

13. …In these cases, think of your initial instruction on a word as just that—initial instruction, an initial experience that starts students on the long road to learning a full and rich meaning for the word.” (Graves, 2006, p. 70)

14. Quick Introduction • Learning new words for known concepts in text • During read-aloud • Before students read text • Read-aloud • Provide known synonym/descriptive phrase or picture with the word (without disrupting the narration) • Prior to student reading • Display or quick note with target word and known synonym/descriptive phrase • Preview descriptions provided in textbooks (supplement as necessary)

15. Reception Check Full Bars…Decent Reception…Dropped Call?

16. Introducing Specific Words • Student Friendly Explanations • Characterize word and typical use • Explain meaning in everyday language • Teacher-Created Contexts • Develop instructional contexts that provide strong clues to meaning • Active Engagement with Words • Short, playful, lively opportunities for students to interact with words and meanings right away (Beck et al. 2002 in Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006)

17. Student Friendly Explanations • Consider resist • Dictionary: “to withstand the force or the effect of” • Student-friendly: “when a person struggles or fights not to give in to something” • Write a student-friendly explanation for one word you teach.

18. Teacher-Created Contexts • Consider convey • Literary Context: “Of the Right Whale, the best outline pictures are in Scoresby; but they are drawn on too small a scale to convey a desirable impression” (Melville, Moby Dick). • Teacher Created: The speaker was successful in conveying his main ideas to the audience. They all understood what he said, and most agreed with him… • Write a few sentences using your word in context to clarify meaning.

19. Active Engagement with WordsCheck for Understanding, Review • Consider interior • Questions • Jake thought it would be fun to explore the interior of Alaska. Why might you want to spend time in the interior of Nebraska? • Example or Non-example? • Which tells about the interior of Oregon? • On their vacation, the family visited a lake in central Oregon. • On their vacation, the family visited the beaches and coast of Oregon? • Finish the idea • After a trip to the coast, we headed to the interior of the country because _____. • Have you ever…? • Can you describe a place you know about that is located in the interior of Nebraska? • Choices • If what I say could be in the interior of a big island, say “interior”… • A mountain • An ocean beach

20. Reception Check Full Bars…Decent Reception…Dropped Call?

21. Introducing Specific Words • Student Friendly Explanations • Characterize word and typical use • Explain meaning in everyday language • Teacher-Created Contexts • Develop instructional contexts that provide strong clues to meaning • Active Engagement with Words • Short, playful, lively opportunities for students to interact with words and meanings right away (Beck et al. 2002 in Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006)

22. Vocabulary Instructional Routine • Learning new words representing known concepts • Introduce the word • Present a student-friendly explanation • Illustrate the word with examples • Check understanding • Review a group of words (Anita Archer, http://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/archer-videos.html)

23. Context-Relationship • Learning new words representing known concepts • Create a brief paragraph that gives the meaning of the word. • Follow the paragraph with a multiple-choice item that checks students’ understanding of the word.   • Show the paragraph, read it aloud, and read the multiple-choice options. •  Pause to give students a moment to answer the item, provide the correct answer, and discuss the word and any questions they have.

24. Indolence Fortunately, none of my English 9 students could be described as indolent. Whereas an indolent student would try to sleep during class, slouch in her seat, procrastinate, and generally avoid exerting any effort, my students are diligent, hard-working, eager, and achievement-driven. I would be worried if someone described an English 9 R student as indolent, because it is worse than just occasional tiredness or laziness. Indolence implies a tendency to be lazy much of the time.

25. Indolent means • often lazy • sometimes lazy • often hardworking • sometimes hardworking

26. Reception Check Full Bars…Decent Reception…Dropped Call?

27. Building Academic Vocabulary: The Six-Step Method Marzano, R. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Marzano, R. (2005). Building academic vocabulary: Teacher’s manual. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

28. Building Academic VocabularyA Six-Step Process • Learning new words representing known or unknown concepts Introduce word Students generalize meaning Students create nonlinguistic representation Massed Practice initial word learning Engage students in word activities Discuss words Engage student “play” with words Distributive Practice all previous words (Marzano, 2004)

29. Please answer: • Should teachers focus their direct instruction of vocabulary on sesquipedalian terms? • Rate your understanding of the word sesquipedalian.

30. sesquipedalian • etymology (analysis of word origins & parts) • sesqui (Latin, half as much again) • ped (foot) • -ian (one that is, one who) • Examples: • antidisestablishmentarianism • pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis • floccinaucinihilipilification

31. sesquipedalian “Nancy and Sluggo” Everything that coruscates with effulgence is not ipso facto aurous . --All that glitters is not gold. <http://www.wordsources.info/words-mod-sesquipedalian-1-16.html>

32. Please: • Rate your understanding of the word sesquipedalian. • Should teachers focus their direct instruction of vocabulary on sesquipedalian terms?

33. Experience & Observe • Strategy observer • What steps/processes did you observe? • Participant observer • What words, behaviors, evidence of student learning did you notice? • Participants • What did you learn? What worked for you? How did you feel as a learner using this strategy?

34. Massed Practice Building Academic Vocabulary Steps 1 - 3 • Introduce word • Student friendly descriptions, examples, explanations, images, etc. • Must connect to students’ prior knowledge • Students generalize meaning • Students create nonlinguistic representation • Caution! • Monitor understanding carefully • May require more than one session

35. Research on Imagery as Elaboration Students who used imagery to learn vocabulary, on average, performed… # of studies (Pickering, 2007, ASCD presentation)

36. Reception Check Full Bars…Decent Reception…Dropped Call?

37. Craft Knowledge Record • Add to your list!

38. How might I encourage lasting and deep understanding of important vocabulary? Understand the importance of distributed practice Identify relevant strategies for classroom implementation

39. Building Academic VocabularyA Six-Step Process • Learning new words representing known or unknown concepts Introduce word Students generalize meaning Students create nonlinguistic representation Massed Practice initial word learning Engage students in word activities Discuss words Engage student “play” with words Distributive Practice all previous words (Marzano, 2004)

40. Frequent Student Self-Assessment • Students self-rate level of word knowledge. • Encourages student reflection, discussion

41. Classifying • Provide students with vocabulary cards • Have students place cards into categories • label the categories • see how other groups classified their cards or regroup cards using a different criteria

42. Vocabulary – Alive Writing • Provide a list of terms for students to use in a single related piece of writing. • For Example: • Use 15 of the 20 terms listed above in a meaningful paragraph, story, poem or letter to convince me of your understanding. Put a check mark next to the terms you choose and underline them in the writing.

43. Vocabulary Continuum • Encourage student discussion and elaborative processing of meaning among synonyms or related words.

44. Vocabulary Continuum • mistake • error • blunder • hate • dislike • loathe • abhor • adore • cherish • blunder • Encourage student discussion!

45. Student Discussion • Which of the words is more intense? • Which word works best in a specific context? • Which word do you understand best? Or least? • Which synonym best represent this word?

46. Yes – No - Why • Encourage discussion and elaborative rehearsal • Provide interesting prompt using target word that requires students to take a position. • Students answer yes or no and explain briefly in writing or discussion (2 sentences maximum, but must be complete). • Should teachers focus their explicit instruction of vocabulary on sesquipedalian terms? • Yes, I agree with this assertion because ____. • No, I do not agree with this assertion because ____.

47. Choral Response Strategies • Students respond in unison to teacher prompts • Reinforce accurate pronunciation • Increase student responses • Increase engagement of all students • Provide elaborative practice

48. Questions & Choral Response • Making Choices • Provide contexts for students to decide whether the target word is appropriate or which word of those given is best. • To differentiate: • visual cues • literal/recall stems • abstract or higher order stems (and ask students to justify) (Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002, p. 57)

49. Making Choices loquacious or reserved? • many students after an exciting event • an introvert • most new students • someone who “likes the sound of her own voice” T-P-S: Think of a time when you (or someone you know) might have been described as loquacious. (Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002)

50. Making Choices • glimpse scrutinize • Which can you do more quickly? • inspector spectator • What would you probably call every person watching a football game? • largo ritardando • Which tells me to slow down gradually? (Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002, p. 80-81)