Semester One
Semester Two
Design
On the surface, this system seems easy. Every junior learns to define forty-five words per three week cycle (overlapping).
Discipline and Consistency: With 503 hours to choose from since a student received the words in class, there are no excuses to not find the time. With the vocabulary tests and new list reveal happening on a Thursday, practicing vocabulary in class the following Thursday, yet more class-focused practice on the Thursday after that, and with no surprise the test on the fourth Thursday, there is no excuse of "I didn't have the time." Many juniors enjoy putting things off until later. Most students are not capable of learning 45 words in a single cram session. Juniors need to be able to attack large tasks early, and guarantee the result on the fourth Thursday.
Memory Only: There are no word banks, multiple choice options, or lines to connect or draw. The tests are a set of blanks asking for a definition. The practice tests provided above are the exact same forms that will be handed out for points on test day. Anybody can learn a few things in a cram session, spit them out, and forget them forever. Juniors need to be able to hold more in their memory, and forty-five seems to push that memory the right amount.
Vocabulary Game: Once the class is ready, the big vocabulary game will be introduced and during practice Thursdays, groups will battle against each other for glory and extra credit. Not only do you have to know the answers, but now a speed element is added with time pressure and with a team strategy and communication element. Students will do poorly at first, but the winning teams are those who learn and adapt the fastest.
Finals
After a test, the words stay active. Every word is on the final and every student is expected to remember all that they learn as the year goes on. The whole system is designed so that a student will be able to know large amounts of words and be able to produce them from memory in one sitting. Juniors will have 180 items to define on a single all-inclusive vocabulary final. The entire semester's vocabulary efforts are designed to support and build up to handle the semester vocabulary final.
Standards
CCCS.ELA.RI.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text.
CCCS.ELA.W.11-12.1.d Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA.W.11-12.2.d Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.
CCCS.ELA.W.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCCS.ELA.SL.11-12.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
CCSS.ELA.L.11-12.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
CCSS.ELA.L.11-12.4.b Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g., conceive, conception, conceivable). Apply knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots and affixes to draw inferences concerning the meaning of scientific and mathematical terminology.
CCSS.ELA.L.11-12.4.c Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., college-level dictionaries, rhyming dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning, its part of speech, its etymology, or its standard usage.
CCSS.ELA.L.11-12.6 Acquire and use accurately general 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 considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Common Core is Stupid
CCSS.ELA.RL.8.4 and CCSS.ELA.RI.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. (Are you kidding me? Allusions disappears after 8th grade and that is unacceptable. I continue to teach vocabulary that makes some allusions understandable.)
CCSS.ELA.SL.11-12.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (This is the closest the Common Core gets to an expectations of comprehension fluency. Fluency expects all interactions to be quality. Audio to verbal, audio to written, verbal to verbal, verbal to written, written to verbal, written to written. Common Core also never requires any requirement of interaction speed, particularly an interaction speed that meets the needs of a high level conversation, or that meets the mental processing needs to write an essay in a timely fashion. Rigor, Difficulty, Speed, and Style all need attention. The CAASPP has no verbal component and will always be incompletely measuring its own standards until it does.)
Everhart.ELA.L.11-12.Infinity Ludwig Wittgenstein said, "The limits of my language are the limits of my world." Ideas you cannot communicate don't help much. Removing the limits on your world increases freedom. Language is fun. Learning is fun. Make the kids love language. (Common Core is passionless and loveless)