Increasing Your Child’s Vocabulary

Increasing Your Child’s Vocabulary Mrs. Nina Ishmael, Assistant Principal Mrs. Ali Giordano, Literacy Coach PS/IS 206

Why is increasing your child’s vocabulary CRUCIAL to their academic success? • Vocabulary plays a very important role in a reader’s comprehension. A reader cannot understand a text without knowing what most of the words mean. • Knowing word attack strategies can help you learn what other words mean. For example, “grav” means heavy or weight as in the words, gravity, grave, aggravated. This will help when trying to figure out what words in a difficult reading passage mean, such as on a test. • Vocabulary also plays an important role in the writing process. Students who use varied and more precise vocabulary in their writing do a better job of engaging the reader. • You sound so much smarter! Having a rich vocabulary makes you think more deeply in conversations and discussions, and express yourself better.

Vocabulary Development Vocabulary refers to the words we must understand to communicate effectively. There are 4 categories of vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. • Listening vocabularyrefers to the words we need to know to understand what we hear. • Speaking vocabularyrefers to the words we use when we speak. • Reading vocabularyrefers to the words we need to know to understand what we read. • Writing vocabularyrefers to the words we use when we write.

Vocabulary and the Common Core Standards • Reading Standard 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. • Reading Standard 10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. • Speaking and Listening Standard 1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. • Language Standard 4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate. • Language Standard 5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings. • Language Standard 6: Acquire and use accurately a range of general and academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening, at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression. • All Writing Standards! Students need to write narrative, informational, and opinion pieces that are clear and have precise language.

What Teachers and Parents May Be Noticing • Children may be using the same words over and over again as they speak and in their writing. • Children may not understand some words in their reading. • Children may not be able to explain themselves clearly or find the right words to describe something. • Children may misuse common words.

Research Research says (Nagy et al. 1987) that “25-50% of yearly vocabulary growth is a result of learning from context while reading”. This means that independent reading is responsible for 25-50% of acquiring vocabulary. So, while there are many ways to teach vocabulary, children reading independently is just as valuable as vocabulary instruction. Research shows that just looking up words in a dictionary is not useful for teaching vocabulary!

Ways to Teach Vocabulary Words This six-step process (Marzano) can help teach vocabulary: 1. Explain-Children are asked what they think the word means. Then, you tell them the definition. You describe, explain, or give an example of what the word means. You can tell a story that has the word, find pictures that explain the word, or use a video for understanding information. 2. Restate- Children restate what the word means using their own words. You should correct any misunderstandings. Children should be encouraged to use their own ideas and words, not just memorize the meaning. They can tell a partner or write it in a notebook. 3. Show- Children can draw a picture or symbol to represent the word in any way. You can show them an example of children’s drawings, or draw their own picture as a model. They can find a picture on the internet, if necessary.

Ways to Teach Vocabulary Words • Discuss- Children discuss the word in conversations with others. You want Children to say the word aloud themselves and talk about it in conversations. They can describe and compare their pictures with each other, identify antonyms or synonyms of the word, and explain to each other any new information they have learned. • Reflect- Children think back to what they originally said or wrote, and revise the meaning of the word. Since they’ve discussed the word already with others, they may want to add to or change what they originally said the word means. • Games- Children apply the word in learning games and activities. Games add fun and excitement to the teaching and learning process, but also provide an opportunity to reinforce words in a nonthreatening way. Some popular games that can reinforce the meaning of vocabulary words are: Memory or Concentration, Scrabble, Jeopardy, Pictionary, Crossword Puzzles, Name That Category ($100,000 Pyramid), Charades, or Bingo (You give the definition and the kids mark the word).

Examples of Student Work K-2

Examples of Games

Ways to Analyze Vocabulary Words • You can analyze an unknown word by breaking it down using the strategy of Greek and Latin Roots. For example, the root hydr means water. From that greek root you can infer the meanings of hydrate, dehydrate, hydrantand hydraulicsknowing that they all relate to water and using the context of the sentence or paragraph. • You can find patterns in the prefixes and suffixes that will help you understand what the words mean. For example, the prefixes un-, in-/im-/il-/ir-, re-, dis-, and super- account for 97% of all printed words in English. In addition, the suffixes -ed, -ing, -ly, and -s/-es make up 97% of all words with suffixes in English. • You can think about how to put the word into a category, what the word is similar to, or connected to, or if you’ve heard that word before. For example, “Is it something that has to do with Math? Does it mean it’s a kind of machine?”

Parent Activity with Greek and Latin Roots Fifth Grade List for the Month of September: • lum, mega, tri, quad, aud, tech, struct, aero, geo, hydrandbibl For example: struct (to build, form) Structure, structuring, restructure, construct, destruct, etc. Students turn and talk to brainstrom words connected with another root. Finally students gather in teams to list out words, having the option of using the dictionary as a life-line in the final five minutes of the game. • tech- art or skill • quad- four • tri- three • aero- air

Additional Classroom Activities with Greek and Latin Roots • Create flashcards; students can play concentration with four roots and multiple vocabulary words that match each. • Sortingusing “Words Their Way” resources. Use of the games to reinforce definitions. • After independent reading, students choose a page of text and rereadfor words with Greek or Latin roots. • Students will close read a tough text and work backwards in groups to search for the words that have Greek and Latin roots. They can discuss the meaning of the word and root. • Weekly or Bi-Weekly assessment with Greek and Latin Roots assigned for that month.

What Else are We Doing at PS/IS 206? Teachers on each grade met in June to focus on a vocabulary action. Below are some of the activities, structures, and strategies that we developed: • Teachers read aloud books to the students. These books are usually at a higher level so that the teacher can support them with more difficult concepts and vocabulary. • Having students involved in conversationsis proven to be helpful in improving vocabulary. Teachers have been incorporating more class conversations about a topic into their day to have students practice using their vocabulary. They may discuss a topic that is being covered in class, an event in the news, or have debates on interesting issues. They also participate in conversations with a reading or writing partner, or book club, which involves conversations in a small group. • Students are being asked to describe or explain their work. For example, in Math, when a child is asked to complete “3+3”, they not only have to say “6”, but explain how they got their answer. For example, “I thought of 3 and then counted 3 more on my fingers” or “I used a number line.” • Classrooms have a word wall to display sight words and vocabulary words for each subject, so that Math vocabulary is in the Math area in the room, Science vocabulary is in the Science area in the room… • Teachers are encouraging students to use more sophisticated vocabulary, not to use the same old words, in their speaking and writing. For example, happy or big. They use paint chips from Lowe’s or Home Depot with 3-4 colors to write synonyms of a particular word. For example, a paint chip may have the words, happy, glad, delighted, and elated.

What Parents Can Do to Increase Vocabulary • Increase your child's exposure to, and interaction with, language.The more words a child hears, the more words he or she will learn and use. It's important to have as many conversations as possible with your child during the day. You can describe the colors and features of her clothes as you dress or you can name the foods in the supermarket as you take them off the shelf. If you "think aloud" or talk with your child about what you are doing and why, you will be inviting him or her into some wonderful language-building chats. • Try to use more specific/precise words and change the language of your daily routines and everyday activities. Children respond well to patterns and routines, which enable them to successfully predict what will happen next. By purposefully introducing new words, you can increase your child's speaking vocabulary. For example, in your kitchen, you can “whisk” eggs, use a “serving spoon”, and test temperature with a “thermometer”. Or, rather than say, "It's time to clean up" every day, try to introduce other rich words that help describe this routine, such as "organize," "collate," and "arrange." • Let children hear you using more sophisticated words. Young children love the sound of long and seemingly difficult words. Children will pay attention to the way adults use words to express their feelings and reactions. So, don't shy away from using words you think are over your child's head; instead, use them as part of your natural conversation and children will gradually pick up on their meanings.

What Parents Can Do to Increase Vocabulary • Bond with your child through language. In our busy world, several minutes of "real" conversation are incredibly valuable. A car ride chat that focuses on where you are going or things you see along the way, a bath that explores things that float or sink, or a bump or a bruise that brings on talk about feelings and healing are all terrific opportunities. • Use writing and drawings. Repeat what your child says as she shows you his or her artwork and then build on and extend it. For example, if your child has created a drawing and may have used some writing such as, "I like rain," you might say, "I like rain. Oh, yes. I see all of your raindrops here and a puddle. What is it about rain that you like? This puddle looks like it would be fun to splash in." • Read aloud to your child. Read books to your child as often as you can. Put as much expression as possible into your reading. When you come to a word that is sophisticated, talk about it. Take the word "scrumptious," for example. Say it slowly as part of the sentence and then add a comment like, “Scrumptious. Hmm, that means really, really good. Look at that apple pie. It sure looks scrumptious to me." You can also look for instances in which a challenging word is repeated in a story. Call your child's attention to it each time it appears and use the pictures to help build an understanding of the word's meaning. • Share your own stories. Talk to your child about your own day: what you did, different people you saw or spoke to, funny things that happened, anything interesting that you might have seen. Find ways to use interesting words in your daily conversations. This way, your child will hear them in a different context and outside of a book.

What Parents Can Do to Increase Vocabulary • Play fun games with your family! The “Take a Walk” game is an activity that brings family members together in an enjoyable, relaxing way. It takes at least two people. Take a walk around the neighborhood or a local shopping area. On one trip you might say, “Let’s name everything we see that begins with the letter B.” On another walk, it might be naming everything that begins with the letter G, or everything that is the color purple. A rhyming game is always fun, particularly for young children because they can say any “word,” even if it’s nonsense. Start with things the child knows, such as parts of his body, and say, “I’m thinking of something on your face that rhymes with (sounds like) rose.” From this point, once your child gets the idea, you can play it just by saying words, such as “what’s a word that rhymes with car?” (jar, star, far…) “How about a word that rhymes with junk?” (bunk, skunk, trunk- and even runk, zunkas nonsense words). Play, “I’m going on a picnic” and take turns thinking of things to bring that start with the letters of the alphabet. For example, you can say, “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing avocados.” Your child now needs to say, “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing (word that begins with b)” and so on. Play, “Charades” with the family. You can think of a category, such as a movie or tv show, and one team can act it out while the other team guesses what it is. You can give clues to what they have to guess. Play, “Odd one out” with the family. First, put a few words in a list with one being “odd” or doesn’t belong. For example: cat, dog, TV, elephant. Not only does the child have to say which word is the odd one out, but WHY it is the odd one out. Play Board Games with the family. You can discuss the rules, materials (such as dice, pile…), and the concept of the game. There is a lot of talk when playing a game!

Helpful Websites Related to Vocabulary • www.readingrockets.org/article/40406/ lists common Latin and Greek roots. • www.vocabulary.co.ilspecializes in games around words and idioms. • www.vocabulary.comoffers free word puzzles and activities. • www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary_games.htmlhas vocabulary games for students including analogies, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, idioms, suffixes and prefixes… • www.funbrain.comhas many games for kids, including a mad libs game for kids to create their own silly stories. • www.knowledgeadventure.com/games/word-scramble-2/is an online scrabble game with jumbled letters. • www.turtlediary.com/grade-2-games/ela-games/word-scrabble.htmlis an online scrabble game with jumbled letters for Kindergarten-Grade 8 • www.igottest.com/vocabulary_practice_level1.php?x=88&y=21 has vocabulary practice tests for parents to give kids. • www.visuwords.comis a free online graphical dictionary that can help kids see the complexity of language.

Helpful IPAD/IPhone Apps related to Vocabulary • What’s the Word (free by RedSpell) • Scrabble (free by Electronic Arts) • Jeopardy! ($1.99 by Sony Pictures Television) • Vocabulary Bubble (free by Donoma Games) • Same Meaning Magic (Synonyms) ($0.99 by NRCC Games) • Opposite Ocean (Antonyms) ($0.99 by NRCC Games) • EZ+Crosswords (free by Sunkissed Designs) • Word Search Puzzles (free by Ice Mochi) • Bookworm ($1.99 by PopCap) • Chicktionary (free by Soap) • Wurdle ($1.99 by Lucky Star Software) • WordSort ($1.99 by Grammaropolis) • Word SlapPs Vocabulary ($4.99 by Zorten Software) • Mad Libs (free by Penguin Group USA) • Hangman (free by Optime Software) • Word Warp(free by MobilityWare)

Increasing Your Child’s Vocabulary