Episode 8

Episode 8: Vocabulary Development Across the Day with Dr. Tanya Wright

In this episode, we (Mark Raffler and Sarah Shoemaker) connect with Michigan State University professor and author Dr. Tanya Wright.  Dr. Wright is a former kindergarten teacher whose research and teaching focus on curriculum and instruction in language and literacy during the early childhood and elementary years. Her research examines instructional practices that promote oral language, vocabulary, and knowledge development for young children.  This podcast is a conversation regarding her work in the area of vocabulary and references her 2021 publication - A Teacher’s Guide to Vocabulary Development Across the Day: Grades K-3.  In essence, this dialogue is about vocabulary instruction opening doors to learning for all students.

Here is a quick brief of our conversation:

Sarah starts the dialogue with Dr. Wright by asking “What does it mean to ‘truly know a word’?”  Dr. Wright talks about ways in which we use words we know - to read, write, speak, listen, and learn.  She explains some of the depth of word learning.

Mark asks “What can we do to make word-learning stick?”  Dr. Wright delves into how we learn new words with repeated exposure in meaningful contexts including ways to be effective and efficient with word learning.

Then, we talk about “There are so many vocabulary words in our curriculum resources, how do we choose?”  

Mark asks the elusive "How do we assess vocabulary learning adequately?" question.  Dr. Wright shares what truly captures vocabulary word learning and also shares some vocabulary resources for educators.

Dr. Wright summarizes our conversation by noting that a key idea to remember is that vocabulary instruction should be embedded across the day and over time.

We wrap up this episode by asking listeners to share your thoughts on podcast topics - your voice matters!  Please visit bit.ly/LLCNtopics to tell us what you want to future podcasts to focus on in relation to literacy.

All resources in this LLCN Brief (and future podcasts) can be found at:  bit.ly/LLCNresources2122  Subscribe to the Literacy Leadership and Coaches Network podcasts here: anchor.fm/llcnbrief or your favorite podcast platform

Please note the audio used as an introduction and in transitions in this podcast is under the Creative Common License and attribution is given as follows:

Medicine by WinnieTheMoog

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6256-medicine

Click here to visit our YouTube page for a transcript to this episode.