Reading and Writing Methods

Seminar 2/17/10

Fluency Review

Vocabulary Development

Fluency Any questions about fluency?

What stood out to you from our reading?

How would you help a student who was struggling with fluency?

Vocabulary“Step right up, step right up — fancy, best-

quality words right here,” announced one man in a booming voice… .

“Maybe if I buy some I can learn how to use them,” said Milo eagerly as he began to pick through the words in the stall. Finally he chose three which looked particularly good to him — “quagmire,” “flabbergast,” and “upholstery.” He had no idea what they meant, but they looked very grand and elegant.

—The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norman Juster

Vocabulary

Try this activity-Word, Words, Words

Which words did you know immediately? Which ones do you use in speech or writing? Which words did you recognize but had to think about

before defining? Would you feel confident enough to use them in

conversation or in a paper that your colleagues would read?

Were there any words that you just didn’t know?From Professional Development Tutorial: Increasing Vocabulary by Francie Alexander

Vocabulary

Levels of Word Knowledge Unknown: the meaning is completely unfamiliar.

Acquainted: basic meaning is recognized after some thought.

Established: Meaning is easily, rapidly and automatically recognized.(Beck, McKeown, and Omanson, 1987)

From Professional Development Tutorial: Increasing Vocabulary by Francie Alexander

Vocabulary

Why is it so important to develop a student's vocabulary?

Vocabulary

Why is teaching vocabulary so important? Comprehension improves when you know what the words

mean. Since comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading, you cannot overestimate the importance of vocabulary development.

Words are the currency of communication. A robust vocabulary improves all areas of communication — listening, speaking, reading and writing.

How many times have you asked your students or your own children to “use your words"? When children and adolescents improve their vocabulary, their academic and social confidence and competence improve, too.

From Understanding Vocabulary by Francie Alexander

Vocabulary Word Selection

Is the word necessary to understand the reading?

Is the word crucial for the concept?

(CLD Infosheet) Difficult words representing

complex concepts (Francie Alexander)

Vocabulary- Types of Words

Type A Words: These words are like Type A personalities. They work hard in order to convey the meaning of the text being read. There are two sources for these words: Academic Language and the Content Areas.

Type B Words: These words are the Basics. There are hundreds of high-frequency words.

Type C Words: The Connectors act as signal words. There may be some overlap with the basic words. Students need to understand the signals for cause and effect relationships, sequence and other important indicators of how text is organized.

Type D Words: D is for Difficult — words with multiple meanings are challenging for all students and may be especially so for English-Language Learners.

From Understanding Vocabulary by Francie Alexander

Vocabulary

Think specifically about your own vocabulary development. How might you work on expanding your own vocabulary in a variety of topic-areas?

Vocabulary

What are effective strategies to assist your students in building their vocabularies across the curriculum?

Vocabulary

Give students strategies to use before, during, and after reading

Model and then gradually release responsibility so students can use these tools on their own

Give between 2 to 5 words at a time

Vocabulary Strategies Connect to prior knowledge

Students must have some frame of reference or prior knowledge to understand the word

Provide experience for those who are lacking (video, field trip, pictures, etc.)

Vocabulary Strategies Guess and Adjust

Vocabulary Strategies Word Webs

Vocabulary Strategies Browse and Find

Vocabulary Strategies

What could explain this paradox? The homunculus is made up of brain cells that represent our fingers, arms, and so on, loosely tracing a distorted human figurine along the cerebral cortex. In younger people the map stays sharp thanks to cells that dampen neural activity between areas representing different body parts. During aging, however, these cells presumably start to slack off; like an ink drawing that someone spills water on, the contours of the body map start to bleed. Luckily, studies show that a fuzzy old homunculus can be brought back into focus by stimulating the fingertips with a special ap paratus, allowing at least some recovery of sensory precision.

-Mental Maps Reveal the Brain's Plug-and-Play Plasticity from Scientific American

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=evolving-mental-maps

Vocabulary Strategies Vocabulary Wall

Vocabulary Strategies Word Building

Vocabulary Strategies Illustrate and Associate

Vocabulary Strategies Strategies for Independent Work

Illustrated dictionary Lists of antonyms or synonyms Use the word in writing and

speaking Explain the word to a partner Use the dictionary Find out the history of the word From Reading Strategies that Work

Questions?