Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

1. Think Aloud 2. Read Aloud 3. Sticky Connections 4. Technology and Reading 5. Coding passages 6. Guided Reading Procedure 7. Summarizing 8. Chain Notes/ Silent Conversation 9. Paired Reading 10. Menus 11. Jigsaw 12. News Paper/Front Page/Press Release 13. SCAN and RUN 14. SQ3R 15. Reading Stations

What percentage of words in a passage do you think you need to know in order to understand the passage? Make a guess!

She explored the nergad. It was a big nergad: at the very kcab was an old senti tourc, but no-one in the souhe played senti and the cenef around the tourc had holes in it and the ten had mostly rotted away; there was an old sore nergad, filled with stunted, flyblown sore- shubes; there was a keryocr that was all scrok; there was a yrfair ring, made of squidgy brown dstodalos which smelled dreadful if you accidentally trod on them. There was also a lwel. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible made a point of telling Loracine how dangerous the lwel was, on the first day Loracine’s family moved in, and warned her to be sure she kept away from it. So Loracine set off to explore for it, so that she knew where it was, to keep away from it properly. Where does this story take place (i.e. what’s the setting)? What are some of the main features of the setting? Why is the setting potentially dangerous?

To be independently successful readers, students must be able to read and understand 95% of the text. To be successful “dependent” readers (i.e. need teacher’s assistance) students must be able to read and understand at least 85% of the text.

Rank Strategy % Gain

1 Extending Thinking Skills

(compare/contrast

classification, etc)

45

2 Summarizing

(Tell your partner, cheat sheets,

etc.)

34

3 Vocabulary in Context 33

4 Advance Organizers

(Concept maps, webs, cues,

questioning etc.)

28

5 Non-Verbal Representations

(Visuals, Manipulatives,

Charades)

25

Students must, on average, be exposed to a new word 6-9 times before they begin learning and recalling the word

“Understanding builds as one encounters a word multiple times and sees it in different situations.”

(Tankserley, 2005) (Nagy, 1988)

There is a strong relationship between vocabulary and: Intelligence Ability to comprehend new information Income

Vocabulary Gap: Child from a family at or below poverty has a vocabulary

of 5,000 words Child from a middle income family = 9,000 words Upper income child = 15,000 – 20,000 words

Reading the words is not enough. Students have about a 5%-15% chance of learning a word

just from reading, and high density text is about 7%.

(Marzano 2009)

“Reading ten minutes per day can result in learning 1000 new words per year.”

“Many struggling readers have moderately large listening vocabularies, because listening is their main way of taking in formation, but relatively undeveloped reading and writing vocabularies.”

(Tankersley, 2005)

“Teaching words well means giving students multiple opportunities to learn how words are conceptually related to one another in the material they are studying.”

“Content area vocabulary must be taught well enough to remove potential barriers to students’ understanding of texts as well as to promote a long term acquisition of the language of a content area.”

(Vacca & Vacca, 2002)

Student A Student B Student C

Entered 50% Percentile 50% Percentile 50% Percentile

Vocabulary Instruction

None Superficial Explicit, multiple, in context

Increase None 62% 83%

(Marzano 2009)

Consider the math benchmark questions below… “Which of the graphs shows a variable rate of

decrease in the function?” “Which graph represents the solution set for the

inequality…” “Write an equivalent inequality with the variable on

the opposite side.” What context clues are available to help the students

understand the vocabulary?

V (Visual)

A (Always in context)

M (Multiple exposures)

P (Prior Knowledge,

Previewing)

Pre-Reading Strategies: •I could Teach That •Sticky Words •Bookmarks •Rate-A-Word •Word Expert During Reading Strategies: •One of these words is not like the others •Umbrella Words •Frayer Models •Word Maps/Thinking Maps •Personalize It •Foldable Graphic Organizers •Act It Out •Word Detective/Cloze Method •Word Art/Wordle •Handy Vocabulary •Synectics

We should not teach all the words in a passage before reading. Rather, we should build on prior knowledge to enhance comprehension. Students need to work with words on an average of 6-9 times to own them. A pre-reading exercise is one pass.

(Marzano 2009)

Words I know well enough to

teach

Words I think I

know/have seen

before

Words I have no

knowledge of

Sort the word cards from the Law of Gravity article into the following three categories.

After reading the article, revisit your three piles. Are there any that you now feel ready to teach?

Pre-Reading Strategy

Words I know well enough to teach

Words I think I’ve seen/heard before

Words I have no knowledge of

Place the words below in the appropriate categories: Acceleration, Velocity, Gravity, Scientific Law, Vector, Magnitude, Force, Orbit

Pre-Reading Strategy

Skim the first two paragraphs for unfamiliar words

Jot each word on a sticky note

Compare your words. Did anyone else identify some of the same words?

What do others in the class know about the words?

As a class or in small groups, categorize the words if possible

After reading the article do you have a better understanding of SOME of the words? If not, what could you/we do to improve your understanding of the words?

Pre-Reading Strategy

Create bookmarks with words and meanings of words you anticipate may cause confusion.

As students read, have students refer to the bookmarks for scaffolding.

Students may also draw illustrations that relate to the words.

MAKE A MODEL

1. Identify an upcoming unit that is vocabulary rich.

2. Make a list of the words that are usually difficult for students to understand/remember.

3. Make an example bookmark that contains the words you’ve identified .

4. Share/discuss your bookmark.

Pre-Reading Strategy

* * * * Ambivalent

* Ostentatious

** Belligerent

*** Procession

* Ubiquitous

**** Disingenuous

Either have students skim passages for unfamiliar words or provide them with a list of words you want them to learn. Have students use a scale to rate the words by placing stars next to them. *= No clue **=I’ve seen it/heard it but am not sure of the meaning. ***=I think I know what it means. ****= I can use it and explain it.

Pre-Reading Strategy

andragogy

campanology

dendrochronology

epidemiology

geomorphogeny

gromatics

Try it with the words below: *= No clue **=I’ve seen it/heard it but am not sure of the meaning. ***=I think I know what it means. ****= I can use it and explain it.

http://phrontistery.info/sciences.html

Pre-Reading Strategy

1. Generate word list by previewing reading with students

2. Students select a word that interests them

3. They become the expert in that word

4. Students become knowledgeable in all aspects of the word: roots, pronunciation, synonyms, antonyms, etc. (Use your available technology)

5. Students create artistic visual of word

6. When that word arises in the lesson, that student is the “go-to” expert on the word

Pre-Reading Strategy

While engaged in reading, pause at the end of a section, chapter, or paragraph, present a list of words, and ask students to identify which word does not belong in the list.

EXAMPLE: Militia Colonist Soldier Army Patriot Navy Seals Defense Does there always have to be a “right” answer?

During Reading Strategy

This strategy can be used in any content area and doesn’t even require that students are reading at the time it is used.

EXAMPLE:

Octagon

Polygon

Circle

Trapezoid

Triangle

Identifying a word that doesn’t belong and defending your answer involves higher order thinking.

Which word includes the others?

Appeals courts *Foraminifera

Traffic court *Rhizopoda

Juvenile justice * Ciliaphora

Civil suits *Protista

Judicial branch *Apicomplexa

Judges *Actinopoda

Rectangle

Square

Quadrilateral

Rhombus

During Reading Strategy

During Reading Strategy

A change in size, shape, or state of matter

New materials are NOT formed Same matter present before and after change

Ice melting Breaking a glass

Cutting hair

Burning wood Mixing baking soda with vinegar

Physical Change

Polygon

A simple, closed plane figure

made up of three or more

line segments.

• Closed

• Simple (curve does not intersect itself)

• Plane figure (2 dimensional)

• Made up of three or more line segments

• No dangling parts

Examples

• Rectangle

• Triangle

• Pentagon

• Hexagon

• Trapezoid

Nonexamples

• Circle

• Cone

• Arrow (Ray)

• Cube

• Letter A

Frayer Model

(Teaching Reading In Mathematics, 2nd Edition, p. 69)

During Reading Strategy

FRAYER FOLDABLE

Bubble Map Double Bubble Map

During Reading Strategy

Inflation

Prices up

More money printed

Interest rates high

Hard on fixed

incomes

Fiction

Genre

Fables

Fairy Tales

Short Stories

Novels

Poetry

Simple Poems

Proverbs

Riddles

Limericks

Nonfiction

Biographies

Letter/Articles

Instructions/Procedures

Charts

Retells

Drama

Plays

Skits

Think about your own content area and make an example double bubble map.

Vocabulary Word

My Teacher’s Description My Description

In your own words, briefly

describe the most important

details in the content or text.

It is like when I say or write

the important stuff in my

own words.

How I’ll Remember

This Word

Additional Experiences/Connections

Multi-tab Vocabulary Book

Kangaroo Vocabulary Book

¾ Book with word, definition, example, picture, used in a sentence

Shutter Fold-Compare and Contrast

Four tab book – Personalize it

1. Divide into 1’s and 2’s

2. 1’s are directors; 2’s are actors

3. Draw words

4. Rehearse the words

5. Act the words out

6. Have the class guess the word.

It might seem silly, but it’s been show to improve retention and understanding – and it’s fun!

Select or create a piece of text that includes key vocabulary for the concept. Omit those vocabulary words, leaving context clues in place.

In pairs, students predict what the words are. Several words may fit in the blanks.

Discuss the word selections and the thought processes that resulted in those selections.

If you have internet access, give it a try: http://www.wordle.net/

Trace your hand as a graphic organizer

Palm = picture

Fingers = definition, Is, Isn’t, Examples

“Rule of Thumb”

Draw the framework

Call out random common nouns

Place the vocabulary word in the box last

In groups, students develop comparisons

Focus on most critical vocabulary, ie, cells, photosynthesis, communism

File Cabinet School Bus

Lunch Room Classroom

andragogy

science of teaching adults

campanology the art of bell ringing

dendrochronology study of tree rings

epidemiology study of diseases; epidemics

geomorphogeny study of the origins of land forms

gromatics science of surveying