Boosting Core VocabularyWith Differentiated Instruction

Jacqueline Johnson, MS/CCC-SLPSpeech-Language PathologistSW/WC Service Cooperative

June 2011Sioux Falls Symposium

What is Vocabulary? Oral: Listening & Speaking Print: Reading & Writing

Receptive: Words we recognize when we hear them

Productive: Words we use when we speak & write

Lehr, et al (2004)

How Many Words Should Students Learn?

1st Grader: 2,500 to 26,000 College: 19,000 to 200,000 Students add 2,000 to 3,500 words

annually to their reading vocabularies School texts in grade 3-9 contain

approximately 88,500 word families

Beck & McKeown, 1991; Anderson & Nagy, 1992

Incidental Learning Most word learning occurs through

experiences with oral language & wide reading

Word Poverty: gap in word knowledge between advantaged & disadvantaged children

3 year olds in higher SES had vocabularies 5x larger than lower SES children Moats, 2001; Hart & Risley, 1995

Why not teach all unknown words in a text?

Not enough time Too many words! Students may be able to understand a

text without knowing the meaning of every word

Students need opportunities to use word-learning strategies to independently learn the meaning of unknown wordsArmbruster, Lehr & Osborn, 2001

Why is Vocabulary Important?

Persistent Findings: Strong relationship between students’ vocabulary knowledge and overall academic success

Matthew Effects (Stanovich, 1986) Struggling readers have bad

experiences set in motion by cycle of frustration & failure

Hart &Risley, 2003; Snow, et al, 2000

Why Differentiate My Teaching in the Classroom?

Limited vocabulary is the hallmark of language and learning disorders

Students with learning disabilities, communication disabilities & typical students benefit from extended conversations & a rich vocabulary environment

45% of children can label objects following only 2 exposures; children with phonological delays were highly unlikely to do so

Montgomery, 2007; Carey, 1978; Hoover & Storkel, 2005

What is Word Knowledge? Taking “Ownership” Incremental –multiple exposures in

differing contexts Multidimensional – multiple meanings

and differing functions Interrelated – knowledge connects to

other words

Nagy & Scott, 2000

What Vocabulary Instruction is Effective?

No ONE instructional method is effective for optimal vocabulary learning

Yearly modification Repetition Multiple Exposure High Frequency Words

National Reading Panel, 2000; Beck & McKeown, 1991

Evidence Based Practices Collaboration among professionals Engaging students with a wide range of

books Enjoying word games and word play Teach word-learning strategies Be explicit Be redundant

Montgomery, 2007

Effects of Storybook Reading

Incidental exposure allows children to learn meanings of unknown words

More words are learned from a book being read multiple times

Children must be talked with and read with

Small group learning Robust oral discussion stimulates

vocabulary growthNeuman & Dickinson, 2001; Montgomery, 2007

Which Words Should be Taught?

Comprehension Words› Ex. Rebel

Useful Words› Ex. Homesick

Academic Words› Ex. In contrast to

Generative Words› Ex. Reunited

Blachowicz et al, 2005

Vocabulary Selection: Another View

Importance: Function & Content Usefulness & Frequency: Three Tiers

› Tier One: likely-to-be-known words› Tier Two: known by mature readers› Tier Three: rare words

Beck et al (2002) recommend concentrating on Tier 2 words› Tier One are known & Tier Three should be

taught at point of contact

Strategy: STAR Model Teaching new words directly Select Teach Activate/Analyze/Apply Revisit

Blachowicz, 2005

Strategy: Vocabulary Knowledge Rating

K = I know it. H = I have a hunch. S = I’ve seen it before. N = I’ve never seen it before. This word knowledge “check in” allows

teachers to figure out what to target in instruction, or who to pair in an activity

Beck et al, 2002; Buehl, 2007

Strategy: Connect Two Linking 5 words from the left column to

5 words in a right column Similarities & Differences Writing a sentence with the pair Reading passages to see if that is how

the author paired the words

Buehl, 2007

Strategy: Vocabulary Self-Selection

Word Awareness is the emphasis Student logs words into Word

Banks/Vocabulary Journals Individualized and interesting to the

student Student includes context of the word

(where it was obtained, what it means in that given context)

Buehl, 2007

Strategy: Incidental Learning

Daily Routines – exposing children to new (and often intriguing) words throughout the school day

Oral language often lacks the varied word use found in written language

Teacher Read-Alouds – value is in teacher-student talk

Hayes & Ahrens, 1988; Dickinson & Tabors, 2001; Dickinson & Smith, 1994

Strategy: Text Talk Designed to increase comprehension &

vocabulary by incorporating word learning in context of reading new books

Talking about a word, providing examples for students to respond

Beck & McKeown, 2001

Strategy: Wide Reading Once independently reading: amount

of time spent reading is best predictor of vocabulary size

Reading needs to be for various purposes & at various levels of difficulty

Teachers need to set aside time to talk with each student about what they read, which will improve effectiveness of independent reading timeNational Reading Panel, 2000; Anderson, 1996; Herman, et al, 1987

Strategy: Teaching Unknown Words

Synonyms: Before reading, teacher written sentences containing target words & quick definitions using synonyms

Synonyms: Point-of-Contact Teaching Multiple Meanings – Semantic Maps

› Graphic organizers around a word that represents an important concept

Graves et al, 2004; Johnson & Person, 1984

SEMANTIC M

APS Related words are clustered around the target word using criteria selected by the teacher or students. Criteria may include similarities/differences, shared linguistic components or connotation or denotation

Strategy: New & Complex Concepts

Identify critical attributes› Compare & Contrast

Essential features Examples

An essential feature of a globe is that is is spherical, not flat.

An example of a globe is a globe of the earth.

A map is not an example because it is flat Frayer, Frederick & Klausmeier, 1969

FOUR SQUARE CONCEPT MAP

Citizenship  Essential Features Example

Yes Carrying out actions that show awareness of how personal actions affect others in the community.

Following rules and laws.

Taking care of the environment.

No Being popular.

Getting other people to think just like you do

Not letting other people express their ideas.

Speeding or litteringExamples and Essential Features are listed.

Eeds & Cockrum, 1985

Independent Word Learning Instruction on word-learning fosters

generalization and independence Procedures taught explicitly to aid

them in determining the meanings of unknown words› How to use dictionaries› How to use context clues› Morphological analysis

National Reading Panel, 2000

Strategy: Vocabulary Visits Virtual field trips

› Vivid visuals and books are used to develop concepts & vocabulary

Thematic Text Sets – have a repeated conceptually related vocabulary

Locate/Create an engaging visual chart size› Utilizes the senses: seen, heard, smelled,

tasted & feltBlachowicz & Obrochta, 2005

Strategy: Dictionary Use Looking up words & writing definitions

seldom produces in-depth word knowledge

Selecting a most likely definitions for the word given the original sentence

Scott & Nagy, 1997; Armbruster et al, 2001

Strategy: Context Clues Include definitions, examples,

restatements, charts, pictures, & type features

Use of information “unlocks” the meaning of unfamiliar words in text

Baumann, et al, 2003

Using Context Clues: An Example of 3rd Grade Classroom Instruction (Armbruster et al., 2001)

Student (reading the text): When the cat pounced on the dog, the dog jumped up, yelping, and knocked over a lamp, which crashed to the floor. The animals ran past Tonia, tripping her. She fell to the floor and began sobbing. Tonia’s brother Felix yelled at the animals to stop. As the noise and confusion mounted, Mother hollered upstairs, “What’s all that commotion?”

Teacher: The context of the paragraph helps us determine what commotion means. There’s yelping and crashing, sobbing and yelling. And then the last sentence says, “as the noise and confusion mounted.” The author’s use of the words noise and confusion gives us a very strong clue as to what commotion means. In fact, the author is really giving us a definition there, because commotion means something that’s noisy and confusing – a disturbance. Mother was right; there was definitely a commotion!

Strategy: Morphology Morphology=Using Word-Part Clues 60% of new words encountered have

easily identifiable morphological structure› Morpheme: brave, -ly, -s› Roots› Prefixes & Suffixes

Effective Word-Part Instruction: meanings + strategy

Carlisle, 2004; Nagy et al, 1989

Strategy: Prefixes Teaching one prefix at a time Students construct original words

› 1. Explain the prefix› 2. Have student construct word family list› 3. Have student develop original words

and definitions› 4. Have student create own new word and

illustrate them (develop an “Our Own Words” dictionary

Irwin & Baker, 1989

Strategy: Developing Word Consciousness

Word Consciousness: awareness of & interest in words, meanings & power

Some words “feel good” to say and “sound good” to hear

Increases curiosity Increases interest in other languages Word Play/Figurative language Identify words new to English (i.e.,

blog) Blachowicz & Fisher, 2004; Anderson & Nagy, 1992

Strategy: Compound Words Structural Analysis: have students

generate as many compound words as they can› Categorize:

Meaning is a combination of 2 parts (sidewalk, birthday)

Meanings is related to the meaning of the 2 morphemes (cowboy, shipyard)

Blachowicz et al, 2005

What About Instruction by Computers?

Little research exists to provide direction for computer-related instruction

Greatest potential lies in capabilities not found in print materials:› Game-like formats› Hyperlinks› Online dictionaries/reference materials› AnimationsNational Reading Panel, 2000; Wood, 2001

(cont) Technology Instruction

Electronic Texts + mediation Video Anchoring

› Prior knowledge video› Highlight new vocabulary words› Instructional sentence comprehension› Cloze tasks› Engagement of student increases

motivation & comprehensionXin & Reith, 2001

Instruction for English Language Learners

10,000 to 15,000 Spanish-English cognates

Building awareness strategy: using oral Spanish vocabulary

ELL students need and benefit from rich instruction in sophisticated words

Thematic Instruction: develop conceptual networks

Nash, 1997; Nagy et al., 1993; Collins, 2005

Practical Principles Explicitly teach words & concepts Teach both common & rare words Encourage categorical understanding Foster knowledge depth to reinforce retrieval Use a variety of word-learning strategies Provide multiple exposures to new words Motivate students by engaging them in word

selection Be conscious of what level of knowing is

important for each studentRuth & Troia, 2005

How do I adapt my teaching to meet student needs?

Use a Multiple Intelligences Survey Consider which is/are difficult:

› Learning by listening› Expressing her/herself verbally› Reading written material› Writing legibly› Expressing her/himself in writing› Spelling› http://www.readingrockets.org/article/370

Bulloch, 2004