Promoting Vocabulary

Growth

Saturday, November 1, 2013

Patricia Cottrell-Marks, MAReading Specialist

Build academic optimism so kids hear andbelieve every day that they can

succeed. Education Week, October 16, 2013.

Vocabulary Instruction

Students need to encounter a word about 12 times before they know it. (Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., and Kucan, L. (2013) and Akhavan, N. (2007)

What does this say to us about instruction?

Rote memorization is the least effective instructional method for vocabulary (Kameenui, Dixon and Carine,1987l; Baker, Simmons, and Kameenui, 1995).

The Importance of Vocabulary Vocabulary knowledge is closely related to reading comprehension and

academic achievement (Chall, Jacobs & Baldwin, 1990; Graves, 2000).

Vocabulary assessed in first grade predicted over 30% of reading comprehension variance in 11th grade (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1977).

Children who enter school with limited vocabulary fall further behind each year that they are in school (Chall et al., 1990)

Fourth grade slump strongly associated with increasing text demands and under-developed vocabulary (Chall, Jacobs & Baldwin, 1990)

Vocabulary knowledge is a critical factor in the school success of English-language learners (Carlo, August, & Snow, 2005; Folse,2004; Nation, 2001).

How Does Vocabulary Affect Reading Comprehension and Written Expression?

Reading Comprehension If you misunderstand a word, it can throw off the whole

concept. Ex: Look at the big black bat.

Written Comprehension If you don’t know a specific word, your writing is very

nondescript. Word retrieval is difficult for many students.

Ex: I like the big thing that does it. Ex: The thing is that I like that stuff. Richards (2013)

The development of children’s vocabulary and syntax are related to either hearing books read aloud and from independent reading (Hill, 2009).

Differences:Oral and Written Language

Oral Language naturalisitic contextual repetitious vocabulary and sentence structure informal story oriented pragmatic cues intonations body language shared physical surroundings learned with little explicit instruction (Peregoy

and Boyle, 1997). infants become naturally wired for the sounds

of oral language through daily interactions with parents or caregivers (Chomsky, 1969).

Written Language imposed decontextualized word and sentence structure carry implicit

meaning formal text structures

pragmatic and other cues are absent (Stetkevich and Fuhrman, 2013)

Written language was invented as a way to represent spoken language using abstract symbols that must be taught.

For most children written language must be learned with a lot of explicit instruction and requires lots of practice (Peregoy and Boyle, 1997).

Characteristics of Oral and Written Language

ORAL LANGUAGE

Oral Language is a natural phenomenon.

(You) Sit over there….

Oral language is contextual and relies on gestures.

It is often a sentence fragment.

Oral language meanings can be expressed throughfacial expressions and intonations.

The articulation of nouns may not be essential.

WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Written language is invented (Greene, 2002).

Ex: Tom sat on the chair.

In written language the subject (Tom) and object (chair) are identified.

Written language meanings must include explicit language and grammatical use of object in sentences.

Ex: Tom – subject Chair – object

Involves choices to do with semantics, syntax and phonology (Hill, 2009).

Uses more complex embedded syntax structures.

Vocabulary AcquisitionNew Word Learning Proficient readers learn 8 words per day, adding up to

3,000 words per year

How To Narrow the Vocabulary Gap Massive exposure to vocabulary--up to 100 words per

week Vocabulary instruction needs to be embedded in every

lesson across the curriculum and throughout the school

“Flood of words” – where students have many and varied opportunities to learn new words

(Scott, et al., 1997) Contextual reading

Four Component Vocabulary Approach

Rich and Varied Language Experiences Print rich environment; classroom library filled with expository and narrative text; wide

reading

Instruction in Individual Words Read-Alouds; students actively involved using and thinking about words Introduce new rich vocabulary with teacher-led discussions for 15 min./day Instruction should include definitional and contextual information with multiple

exposures and opportunities to use them

Instruction in Strategies for Independent Word Learning Semantic Maps (map of synonyms for central concept), dictionary use, contextual

analysis, cognate awareness for ELL students Morphemic Analysis – prefixes, roots and suffixes

Fostering Word Consciousness Developed through word play, and through

research on word origins or histories

(Graves, 2006)

What Words To TeachTier One Consists of most basic words: baby, clock, walking These words rarely need instruction, except for English-

language learners and students with limited vocabulary

*Tier Two (Magic 8 Word List—Word Wall) Important for academic oral or reading comprehension. Contain multiple meanings. Target words within “zone of proximal development” About 7,000 word families in English

Tier Three Explain as need arises matter molecule Meaning is unlikely known; specific to particular content area

(Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2013)

Criteria: Tier II Level WordsImportance and Utility Characteristic of mature users Appear frequently across various domains Increased descriptive vocabulary More abstract and complex

Instructional Potential Children need to learn 2,000 to 3,000 new words each year from 3rd grade onward--about 6-8 words per day. (Tresansky, 2012)

Wide usage To build connections with other words and concepts Best candidates for explicit instruction “Goldilocks

Words”

Conceptual Understanding Words to demonstrate understand demonstrate general concepts To provide precision and specificity describing concepts

Strategies for Word Building

Latin and Greek Roots Morphological Analysis Academic Vocabulary Read- Alouds - Children’s Books Inferring Word Meanings Drama To Learn Word Meanings Using Graphic Organizers

Why teach Latin and Greek Roots?

Over 60% of words students encounter in school texts derive from Latin and Greek roots (Nagy, Anderson, Schommer, Scott & Stallman,1989).

Knowledge of these roots like pronunciation, meaning, and spelling, especially for young readers (Rasinski & Padak, 2001; Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnston,2000).

Many English language learners speak first languages semantically embedded in the Latin lexicon (e.g., Spanish) and studying these can accelerate vocabulary growth (Blachowicz, Fisher,Ogley & Watts-Taffe,2006).

Tier Two Words- many words Greek and Latin root

Study of “roots” provides ability to learn many words independently (Nagy, & Scott, 2000).

Morphological Analysis:

Process of breaking complex words into meaning elements called morphemes (bases, prefixes, and suffixes) (Bowers, Kirby, 2009).

Latin words: in + cred + ible (not) (believe) (can be done) “cannot be believed”

Morphology: Study of Latin, Greek, Anglo-Saxon Roots & Affixes

in, y, s,ed, ible, tive, ness

ture, ed, s, ing cy, s, ed, ing, tion

ly, ness, s, ing, ed, tion

rupture bankrupt

ruptured bankruptcy abrupt

ruptures bankruptcies abruptly

incorruptible rupturing abruptness

incorrupt-ibility

rupt“to break or burst”

erupt interruptinterruptsinterrupting

corrupt erupts interrupted

corrupts erupted interruption

corrupted erupting interruptions

corruptible eruption Uninterrupted

Corruptive-ness eruptions uninterruptedly

Second Language Learners &Struggling Readers

Teaching Approach: Scaffold language instruction and concepts.

Provide direct and explicit language instruction.

Students practice these skills in pairs or small groups.

Provide a safe and supportive learning environment.

Word Tree: To help students recognize how words can grow from base words and root words.fract (Latin) to break; violate punct (Latin) point and dot

fractious (adj) – 1. tending to make trouble;2. cranky

puncture – to pierce with pointed object

in frac tion (n) breaking law/rule

fracture 1. (n.) breaking of object/material;2. (v) to break or cause to break

com punc tion (n) remorse

punc tual (adj) being on time

Benefits of Children’s Books

Research

Introduce a history or science lesson

Broadening Vocabulary

Rare Words

Modeling Strategies: Inferring Word Meanings

Research: Benefits of Read-Alouds

Incidental Vocabulary Instruction Young children can learn new vocabulary “incidentally” from having illustrated

storybooks read to them.

Teacher Explanations Giving additional explanation of unknown words can more than double vocabulary

gains.

Permanency Of New Vocabulary New learning of vocabulary is relatively permanent.

Research Findings Reading aloud an appealing 8-10 minute story, read three times, with a brief

explanation of word meanings, can produce 40% gains in vocabulary for typical children (Elley, 1989).

Reading to children helps build recognition knowledge of new words and ability to use new words in their retellings (Elley, 1988; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998).

Picture Books: Broadening Vocabularies

Steps: Select read-aloud books just above student’s reading abilities Read first 100 words. Notice the type of language the author uses. What would a child miss if he didn’t understand the vocabulary in

this story?

Grand Old Tree by Mary Newell DePalma The words introduce concepts and ideas—

sank, nestled, scurried, bore, sowed, basked, and swayed Consider: Does the child understand what squirrels do? Do they understand the life cycle of plants? Akhavan (2007)

Children’s Books --“Rare” Words

Lyrical Language Cynthia Rylant’s Long Night Moon or Where the Wild Things Are

‘gnashing teeth’ and ‘terrible roars’ and Max ‘sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks’.

Find 3 words per read aloud to focus on (Akhavan, 2007).

A child’s oral language vocabulary is enhanced through the shared reading of picture books in either English or their primary language and has been shown to strengthen the vocabulary acquisition of English-language learners (Roberts 2008).

Inferring Word MeaningsGetting students to take steps to figure out words

Goals: Gain fluency, enjoy reading, and read more words overall

Steps: 1. Consider the word. oscillate2. Think about what has happened in the story to this

point.

3. Look at pictures for clues to word meanings.

4. Teacher leads discussion about the word and possible meanings.

5. List “wonderings” on chart.

oscillate – to move back and forth;being indecisive

Inferring Word Meanings – “Wonderings”

Word What We Think Word Means What Else Do We

Know About

the Word

adventurous famous or exciting word looks like venture

independence

license

Vocabulary Activities

PREREADING ACTIVITIES

Vocabulary Dramatization – Introduce new vocabulary with students dramatizing meaning using active, descriptive and emotion words.

fidget paddled waddled fluffed

Vocabulary Role Play – After vocabulary dramatization, students create and perform skits using target vocabulary.

Same Premise/Different Circumstance – Choose common situation from text that is familiar to students. Students role play what they would in the situation.

Dewey, M. L. (1994), Flynn, R. N., & Carr, G. A., (1994), Heinig, R. B. (1993), Jett-Simpson, M. (1989), and McMaster, J. C. (1988).

Vocabulary ActivitiesDURING READING ACTIVITIES

Goals: To actively involve students to make predictions, use background knowledge, and develop inferential comprehension.

“PPT” Pantomime – One student narrates and other students

silently dramatize action in the story. Prediction – At various parts of the story, stop and have

students role play what they think will happen next. Students role play characters and answer questions about their actions and what they plan to do next.

Teacher Role Play – Assume role of a character who faces a major decision. Students try to either persuade or dissuade the character to make this particular decision.

Dewey, M. L. (1994), Flynn, R. N., & Carr, G. A., (1994), Heinig, R. B. (1993), Jett-Simpson, M. (1989), and McMaster, J. C. (1988).

Vocabulary ActivitiesPOST READING ACTIVITIES Vocabulary Charades – Using vocabulary from the story,

students must guess what word is being acted out by the teacher or another student.

Story Drama – Students act out either whole text or significant events. This can be spontaneous or planned, scripted or unscripted.

Guess My Character – Students pantomime or role play a character from the story. Others try to identify this character.

Character Interview – Students role play characters from the story. These characters are questioned by other students in the class.

Mock Trial – Using courtroom format, determine guilt or innocence of a character.

Dewey, M. L. (1994), Flynn, R. N., & Carr, G. A., (1994), Heinig, R. B. (1993), Jett-Simpson, M. (1989), and McMaster, J. C. (1988).

Activities to Promote Vocabulary

Word-Rich Classroom – puzzles, riddles & rhymes, word calendars

Wordplay Fab Fifteen (15 min.) - Mini lessons to teach Tier II

vocabulary words. Connect, Teach, Practice, Wrap-Up Synonym Shakedown (chart displayed) Definition Template Categorizing and Sorting: 8 words put into categories Semantic Maps – Relate word knowledge to

comprehension (see poster) Morphology: Study Greek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots

and affixes. (Alice Ansara) Jim Trelease, “Reading aloud helps build receptive

vocabulary.” Root It Out! Select a root word a week

Definition Template: hierarchical, categorical, and semantic information

related to word’s definition

A _________________ is a ___________ that_____________ and is used for________________.

-Word-Category-Description-Function

A lake is a body of water that is surrounded by land and is used to fish for fishing. (MacKinnon, 1993; Stetkevich and Fuhrman, 2013)

Graphic Organizers

Venn diagrams Semantic maps Line gradations Definition template Vocabulary tree Story Review/Retelling Prewriting

Vocabulary Tree: Synonyms, Antonyms, Examples, Category, and Definition

Multiple Meaning Words

RESOURCESCOBUILD: This dictionary is designed to be read like ordinary English. It was originally developed for English-Language Learners. Collins COBUILD New Student’s Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Glasgow, UK: Harper Collins, 2002)

Longman: The definitions are written using only the 2000 most common English words. Longman Dictionary of American English, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Education, 2005)

Fry Instant Words List (Fry, Kress,& Fountoukidis,2004)

Living Word Vocabulary (Dale & O’Rourke, 1976)

English-Language Learners The General Service List of English Words (West, 1953)

RESOURCES www.etymonline.com Great online etymology dictionary www.funwords.com Explores the English language www.word-detective.com Newspaper column that answers

questions about words www.wordorigins.org History of word origins website www.u-46.org/roadmap List of academic words www.puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/ www.eslflow.com/vocabularylessonplans.html Educators Reference Desk http://www.eduref.org/ Education World©: The Educator’s Best Friend http://www.educationworld.com Guide to Grammar and Writing: Building a Better Vocabulary http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/vocabulary.htm Learning Vocabulary Can Be Fun! http://www.vocabulary.co.il/

RESOURCES

Literacy Matters: Teachers http://www.literacymatters.org/content/readandwrite/vocab.htm ReadWriteThink www.readwritethink.org Reading Quest—Strategies for Social Studies http://www.literacymatters.org/content/readandwrite/vocab.htm Star Tower www.mape.org.uk/startower/menu.html Teachnology: The Online Teacher Resource—Vocabulary www.teachnology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/language_arts/vocab/ The Teacher’s Desk www.teachersdesk.org/ Vocabulary University® www.vocabulary.com Wacky World of Words! http://web.archive.org/web/20041010230510/www3.telus.net/

teachwell/mystpage.htm Web English Teacher: Vocabulary www.webenglishteacher.com/vocab.html

RESOURCES

GAMES Apples to Apples Taboo Scattergories Pictionary Outburst Baldersash Password Guesstures

TIER II Words High Frequency/Academic Vocabulary accelerate, achieve, adjacent, alternative, analyze,

approach, approximate, arbitrary, assert, assess, assign, assume, authorize, automatic, chapter, compensate, complex, complicate, comply, component, comprehend, conceive, concentrate, concept, conclude, consequence, consist, constant, construct, consult, context, contrast, contribute, convert, create, criterion, crucial, data, define, definite demonstrate, denote, derive, design, devise, devote, dimension, distinct, distort, element, emphasize, empirical, ensure, entity, environment, equate, equivalent, establish, evaluate, evident, expand, expose, external, feasible, fluctuate, focus, formulate, function, generate, guarantee, hypothesis, identify, ignore, illustrate, impact, implicit, imply, indicate, individual

RESOURCES Akhavan, N. (2007). Accelerated Vocabulary Instruction. New York:

Scholastic. Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., and Kucan, L. (2013). New York:

Guilford. Blachowicz, C., Fisher, P., and Ogle, D. (2006). Vocabulary:

Questions from the classroom. Reading Research Quarterly 41(4), pp. 524-535.

Elley, W. B. (1989). Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories. Reading Research Quarterly XXIV(2), pp. 175-186. Lubliner, S. (2007). Preparing Teachers to Accelerate Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition. CSU Reading Conference.

Trelease, J. (1993). Read all about it. New York: Penguin.

“The best S.A.T. prep course is to read to your children when they're little,“ Jim Trelease.