Vocabulary

Vocabulary terms-

Receptive- Students are introduced to the word while reading or listening and are beginning to process the word and create schema of what the word means to them.

Productive- When students understand the word and are beginning to use the word correctly while speaking and writing.

Repeated Experience- Meaning to give your students a definition, a visual of the word, and state the word, repeatedly (Buechler, Anna).

Vocabulary categories-

1- Synonyms- Words that have similar meanings

2- Antonyms- Words that have different/opposite meanings

3- Homonyms

· Homographs- Words that are spelled the same but are said differently

· Homophones- Words that sound the same but are spelled differently

4- Euphemisms- A phrase that we substitute for the original in hopes to note offend ex- she’s in a better place.

5- Onomatopoeia- Words that make sounds ex- buzz, bang

6- Root words- base words

7- Affixes- Components that make up a word

· Prefix- Before the word

· Suffix- After the word (Buechler, Anna)

Marzano’s 6 steps-

1- The teacher provides a description, explanation or example of the new term

2- Students restate the explanation of the new term in their own words

3- Students create a nonlinguistic representation of the term

4- Students periodically engage in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the vocabulary term

5- Periodically, students are asked to discuss terms with one another

6- Periodically, students are involved in games that allow them to play with the terms ( Marzano, R. J)

Strategies-

1- Vocabulary Anchors-

This strategy is designed to help students construct meaningful connections of critical attributes of near synonyms linked with personal experience. This strategy was developed by Dr. Winters. This strategy is used best when students need to extend their prior experience with a concept that is related but not the exact same. Instructors draw a sailboat with an anchoring line and large anchor at the bottom. Place a similar word that the students already know on the anchor. Then place a target word in the body of the sailboat. To the left of the anchor rope make a bulleted list of similarities and to the right of the anchor rope make a bulleted list of dissimilarities. Have a student come up with a personal experience from memory that they associate with the target word or the already familiar word. Then have students review vocabulary anchor words on regular basis. While implementing this strategy be clear in “chunking” the phrases as you read expressively. The idea for your students is to begin thinking in larger chunks of meaning rather than thinking and reading word by word.

2- Morpheme Triple Play-

The Morpheme Triple Play is a visual organizer for helping students to build understanding of unfamiliar words by associating words with already known words. This strategy was also developed by Dr. Winters. Use this strategy to help students identify and understand the individual parts of words and their importance, for example, looking at roots, suffixes and prefixes. The selection of a target word for triple play is crucial. It must be a word which contains a prefix, suffix and a high utility Latin or Greek root. It’s best if the word is found within a text that students have already read or are about to read. Write the word large so the whole class can see, instruct the students to take notes by drawing something similar in their notebook. The Instructor will then draw an inverted triangle around the word. At the bottom of the triangle work with the root word. Put three words up on the board that the students know already are based on the root. Then challenge the students to find the meaning connection that binds that group of words together as a meaning family. Assist the children as necessary. Inside the vertex of the bottom angle, write the abstracted meaning of the morpheme- vis… “to see”. Then challenge the students to talk with a partner or table mate and come up with another “vis” word. Discuss and have them add their personal word to the drawing. Continue to repeat the process for the prefix using the left corner of the triangle. Then repeat the process for the suffix using the right corner of the triangle. Even though this is the serious strategy to engage students in learning vocabulary, this strategy should be a playful way for students to explore words and their components.

3- Content Area Language Experience Lesson-

This approach is based upon meaningful text that students themselves create as they dictate their reactions concerning a real-life experience. In this adaptation, the LEA strategy has been adopted for using content area books and articles to help older students that are not yet capable of reading grade level “textbooks”. This strategy should be used when required content area text are beyond the instructional reading level of students, yet students need to learn information in specified areas, and need to continue developing their own reading capabilities. Identify the core, the teacher identifies core information to be learned by all students around and give a standard or curriculum objective. The teacher then identifies particular reading texts that will be used by students reading at grade level to extend and deepen the core information, the teacher will introduce, model and demonstrate. The teacher then finds a parallel text that addresses the core information. Instructors should not be afraid to ask for assistance from a library media specialist. On a given day, the teacher typically engages the whole class with a demonstration or activation that builds from prior days’ lessons. The teacher provides a follow-up source of reinforcement, such as guided discussions, a video, experiment to extend understanding. The teacher asks every student to record something he or she contributed to the discussion and something he or she heard in the discussion. The teacher then conducts differentiated reading time. Level 1 differentiated content language lessons: those students wishing to engage in content area language lesson join the teacher in a corner of the room, they will be reading aloud from an alternative text source that a media specialist has helped her find that addresses parallel information to the on-grade level reading text. The teacher uses a say or ask something procedure with the group as well. However, this time the teacher guides the group in shaping a summary statement after each page and she then writes the statement publicly so all students can see it. Level 2 primary content reading: the teacher sets aside the last 20 minutes of the class period for content area reading. She uses differentiated reading assignment. Those students wishing would engage in paired reading, use the on-grade reading text to read to the end of a page before turning to their partner to say or ask something about what was just read. The paired students agree on a summary statement of some key points on the page and record the statement in notebooks. The teacher then conducts a directed reading thinking activity: picture walk- work your way through the days reading, one page at a time. Show students the illustrations, ask students to name or label items they see in each illustration. Set the purpose as finding out how close the author came to the prediction. Then read for the purpose: read the page aloud while the students follow along. Be sure to point out vocabulary terms that may be confusing and explain unknown terms. Confirm, Clarify and Respond: At the end of each page, make a brief comment about the match between predictions and or any surprises. Use the say or ask something to help students process the information. Ask what part of the text they think a person “younger than you” would most likely need help understanding. Content language dictation: Guide the group to create a statement highlighting some of the key points on the page. Read the dictation sentence aloud and then invite all students to read it out loud together (choral reading). Students record the guided diction sentence in their own notebooks.

Individual Follow up Possibilities:

Have a student or paraprofessional type out a few days’ worth of dictation for students to read on their own make an audiotape of the dictation. Cut apart the dictation into sentences strips and have students put them back together in logical order, or substitute for one word, or delete or add a word (Winters).

4- Concept Cube

This strategy is a great way for students to play with individual word parts. An instructor gives children the outline of a cube that they will eventually fold into a cube. The children will write on each side of the deconstructed cube, students are instructed to write down one of the following: vocabulary word, antonym, synonym, category it belongs to, essential characteristics or example. Students then cut, fold and tape the cube. Students will then fold their paper into a cube. The students will then find a partner and take turns rolling the dice. The student must then explain the relationship of the word that lands on top to the original vocabulary word. This strategy should only be used for intermediate elementary students or until students have learned these terms. However, it is possible to adapt this strategy for younger students. Instead of using these exact terms, instructors can change the terms to terms that they have been discussed in class.

5- Word Wizard

This strategy is an effective way for students to learn vocabulary words and learn to process information. In this activity, each student is responsible for learning three new vocabulary words and teaching those words to their group. The teacher will first divide students into groups. Each student in the group is responsible for learning three new words in the chapter. Each “word wizard” is instructed to write the definition of the word in their own words as well as draw an illustration of the word. After each “word wizard” has completed their task, it’s their job to come back to their group and teach their peers what they have learned. Each group member should copy the new words that they have learned from each member in their notebooks. This strategy can be adapted to meet any grade level (Teaching Strategies: 5 Ideas for Instructing Vocabulary).

1- Vocabulary Notebook

This strategy becomes a great tool for students to utilize when they need help with a vocabulary word. Students will keep these notebooks and have them close whenever they need them. The first step is that the teacher will create notebooks for each student by just stapling 7-10 sheets of paper together. The teacher will hand out one notebook to every student. The title page each child can decorate in their own way but they should all have their name on them. The inside page of the cover will become a table of contents page that students and teacher can choose to use but don’t need to. This strategy can be used for any age level however when doing this strategy with younger students each page should only be dedicated to one or two vocabulary terms. With older students’ each page should be dedicated to four to six vocabulary terms. So after, all the notebooks are handed out and the students’ names are on them then they can divide their first page into sections if necessary. The teacher should have a large visual of the word for the whole class to see. The teacher should then give the students a definition orally, but have the students write down their own definition of the word, in their own words. The students should then draw their own illustration of the word and under the definition the students should write terms that they already know, that are related to the vocabulary term. Students that have these notebooks, can utilize them during class, or at home to help with vocabulary if they forget or need to look back at those vocabulary words ( Marzano, R. J).