Vocabulary Instruction: Theory Meets PracticeFocus Area: What is ELA Content Area Vocabulary, and How Is It Selected?

H-810C: Literacy and Content Learning in Middle and Secondary Schools

Workshop presented by:Rebecca Brown

Caroline HendryxValerie SpencerDaniel Sussman

Harvard Graduate School of EducationMarch 25, 2010

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Table of Contents

I. Introduction & Workshop Rationale Page 3

II. Workshop Handout Page 4-5

III. Central Principles, Issues, and Questions Page 6

IV. Related Course Concepts Page 7

V. Instructional Strategies and Practices Pages 8-11

VI. Bibliography & Further Resources Pages 12-13

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Introduction: Purpose and Agenda of the Workshop

What is ELA Content Area Vocabulary, and How Is It Selected?

To begin with, a definition of what it means to teach vocabulary in content areas is useful. We define it as maximizing the learning that occurs as students construct their understanding of the content through reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities by expanding their knowledge of word meanings, focusing on words and concepts that are central to the content area or specific subject matter.

With this in mind, our workshop will explore what kind of vocabulary English language arts instructors are (or should be) responsible for teaching. Our purpose is to examine overlooked points of entry to vocabulary instruction and the consideration of ELA as a content area.

To this end, the agenda for our workshop is as follows:o 6:00-6:05: Introductiono 6:05-6:15: Activity in Small Groupso 6:15-6:25: Small Group Presentations and Discussiono 6:25-6:30: Conclusion and Reflection

Rationale

We designed our workshop activity to accomplish two main things. First, it gives the participants some experience in the everyday practicalities of content area vocabulary instruction by engaging them in an activity that is both common and critical: picking the vocabulary words from a given text on which to focus instruction. In doing this, we also hoped to engage the participants in a meta-inquiry about the essential nature of content area vocabulary instruction and the role of the content area teacher. One of the themes of this course has been learning to respond to the reluctance of content area teachers to embrace literacy instruction. We decided that the ELA teacher perspective provided particularly fertile ground for a role-playing activity that addresses our central question: What is vocabulary instruction for? Or, broadened: What is content literacy for? In other words, how do I, as a content area teacher, balance the goals of overall academic and life literacy, specific content area understanding goals, and the readability demands of specific texts?

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Workshop Handout

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Workshop Handout (Cont’d)

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Principles, Issues, and Questions for Vocabulary Instruction

1. Vocabulary instruction is an enormous task as it requires that teachers:

a. provide rich and varied language experiences,

b. teach individual words,

c. teach word-learning strategies, and

d. foster word consciousness.

2. The best vocabulary instruction:

a. includes both definitional and contextual information,

b. activates students’ prior knowledge, and

c. is lengthy and robust, meaning it includes active learning and frequent

encounters with vocabulary words.

3. That being said, there are more words than can possibly be taught, and any

instruction is better than no instruction at all. (Graves, 2006, p. 3-7)

4. There is a vocabulary gap based on socioeconomic status, and this gap grows

exponentially wider as students reach upper grade levels. (Beck, p. 1)

5. In limited classroom time, what are the most essential words for students to learn

in an ELA class?

6. Do different content areas have different vocabulary needs? Is the process of

vocabulary selection different for different content areas?

7. If literacy is a pan-disciplinary necessity, is there also pan-disciplinary

vocabulary?

8. If reading comprehension is taught in all content areas, what is the vocabulary

that is specifically needed in Language Arts?

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Related Course Concepts

Many, perhaps even the majority, of this course’s major principles are directly applicable

to vocabulary instruction in content area classrooms. The most fundamental such

principle is the very idea of content area literacy. The necessity and utility of

vocabulary instruction in content area classrooms cannot be fully grasped without

embracing content literacy. Content literacy means that the goals of instruction in content

areas must be not simply knowledge of the content but understanding of the ways of

thinking, reading, and writing that underlie content area knowledge. These learning goals

must, then, be true understanding goals.

This leads to a second major principle of the course, Teaching for Understanding, and

the further idea that understanding can be thought of as comprehension. A content area

teacher’s vocabulary instruction should be directed towards

understanding/comprehension goals within their content area, with the ultimate goal of

developing content area literacy. This instruction can be organized, according to another

major course principle, a cognitivist learning model in which learning is seen as inquiry

and inquiry as reading or writing, which can then be divided into pre, guided, and

post learning/reading/writing activities. Though it is often thought of as a pre-reading

activity, vocabulary instruction has a significant role to play in each of these areas.

Whenever it occurs, it must be guided by the teacher’s knowledge of the reader (stages

of reading development, among other principles) and their knowledge of the text

(readability).

Lastly, this vocabulary instruction is not simply the direct teaching and learning of word

knowledge; it is the teaching and learning of independent strategies for acquiring word

knowledge and dealing with texts for which a lack of word knowledge might hinder

comprehension.

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Instructional Strategies and Practices

Part I: Teachers must provide rich and varied language experiences in the following areas: listening, reading, writing, discussion, and interactive oral reading. They can do this by using any of the following strategies:

o Incorporate “Tier 2” words into regular use. These are high frequency words likely to be useful across content areas (Beck et al., 2002, p. 16)

o Model curiosity in language and personal interest in learning new words, encouraging students to ask the meaning of unfamiliar words. (p. 122)

o Word Wizard Chart: students earn points for noticing and reporting target words outside the classroom or for using them, earning certificates periodically (p. 118)

o Implement independent reading programs in class such as D.A.R.E. or S.S.R. (Graves, 2006, p. 42)

o Develop a classroom library to include dictionaries, thesauruses, age-appropriate novels, etc.; improving library access (p. 41)

o Facilitate read-alouds and book talks, as well as requiring home independent reading as part of the curriculum (p. 42)

o By assigning fairly sophisticated topics, teachers encourage use of Tier 3 words, which are content-specific vocabulary (Beck p. 22)

o Personal Vocabulary Journals: students keep records of important words that come up in class or at home (Harmon et al., 2006, p. 139)

o Discussion, using the Teaching for Understanding model (Graves, 2006, p. 42-43) which involves starting with generative topics that activate students’ prior knowledge and offer multiple entry points

o Dialogic Reading: an interactive oral reading technique used with preschoolers and picture-books to foster vocabulary development (p. 47-49)

o Direct and Systematic Instruction: an interactive oral reading technique for students in grades K-2, solely focused on vocabulary development through an emphasis on direct instruction. (p. 49-52)

o Text Talk: an interactive book reading procedure for students in grades K-2 focusing on more sophisticated vocabulary through an emphasis on comprehension and open-ended questioning (p. 52-54)

o Anchored Instruction: a vocabulary teaching technique for use with read-alouds in Kindergarten and 1st grade that focuses on multiple aspects of vocabulary words including context, meaning, decoding, and spelling (p. 54-56)

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Part II: Teachers must directly teach individual words. Specific strategies for doing so vary widely and the strategies the teacher will use are largely dependent on the type of word, its context, and how the student will be using the word.

Regardless of the particular strategy preferred by the teacher, rich vocabulary instruction generally includes definitional and contextual information and activates prior knowledge, encouraging students to compare and contrast word meanings whenever possible. Some context-specific strategies are described below:

o Encouraging students to see, hear, and rehearse new words is a good general strategy.

o When learning new words for known concepts: Context-Dictionary-Discussion Procedure (Graves, 2006, p. 72) Definition-Plus-Rich-Context Procedure (p. 73) Context-Relationship Procedure (p. 74)

o When learning new words for new concepts: Frayer Method (p. 76-77) Focused Discussion (p. 77-78)

o When learning new meanings for known words: Introducing New Meanings (Graves p. 78-79) Typical to Technical Meaning Approach (Harmon, p. 67)

o When clarifying and enriching the meaning of known words: Possible Sentences (Graves p. 79-80) Semantic Mapping (p. 80) Venn Diagrams (p. 82-84)

Part III: Teachers must teach word learning strategies so that students have the tools to expand their vocabulary and improve overall comprehension in the future. The most effective approach to doing this is through the balanced strategies approach, in which teachers directly explain a new strategy and then allow students the opportunity to practice (Graves, 2006, p. 94) Specific strategies to introduce include:

o Contextual analysis, in which students use context to determine word meaning (Manzo, p. 171)

o Contextual redefinition, in which teachers provide context for an unfamiliar word, allow students to guess at the word’s meaning, and then verify it with the dictionary (Harmon et al. p.62)

o Teaching morphology of vocabulary – in the context of rich, explicit vocabulary instruction, students learn to pick out word in their reading with which they are

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unfamiliar. They then learn to analyze the word for recognizable morphemes, hypothesize a meaning for the word based on those parts, and check that hypothesis against context (Dieffer and Lesaux in Graves 2009, p. 90)

o Clue Webs, in which students use prior knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, origins, etc. to guess at word meaning (Graves, 2006, p. 95-97)

o Subjective approach to vocabulary, which builds on what students already know by urging them to find personal experiences or other associations to anchor ethereal definitions (Manzo p. 166)

o Prefix Removal and Replacement (Graves, 2006, p. 108)o Vocabulary, Language, and Prediction Approach: students use structural analysis

and morphology to predict how the word will be used in a reading (Harmon p. 108)

o Where in the World Did That Word Come From?: students predict the linguistic origin and approximate age of words by examining word parts (p. 120)

o Verbal and Visual Word Association: students write and draw the personal associations they create with a particular vocabulary word as a memory tool (Harmon p. 97)

o List-Group-Label and Write: students brainstorm a list of associations with a certain topic, and then group the words into smaller categories.  As a post-reading extension, students put new vocabulary words into the categories created pre-reading. (p. 18)

o Pre-Reading Plan: As a group, students create a list of associations and ideas they have about a particular word.  After, they utilize metacognition in determining why they came up with the associations they did. (p. 20)

o Graphic Organizers: Students use shapes and markings to better understand spatial and hierarchal relationships between words and concepts. (p. 37)

Part IV: Teachers must foster word consciousness, through which students become more aware of unfamiliar words when they encounter them and learn to relish nuances in language.

Teachers can model, recognize, and encourage adept diction through games and exercises such as:

o Word of the Day, Hunter Role, Sensory Webs (Graves, 2006, 121-122)o Secret Language Police, Community of Language, Vocabulary Self-Collection

(Manzo, 2005, p. 173-175)

Teachers can also promote word play through the following strategies:o Incorporate examination of idioms, clichés, puns, homophones, and homographs

regularly as they appear in every day class discussions (Graves, 2006, p. 123-125)

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o Onomastics: the study of names, especially in the classroom interesting name derivations, words named after people, and amusing names (p. 125)

o Including word play books in the curriculum: such as alphabet books, books of word games, books about the history of words, books on slang, books on puns, and books with a plot dealing with language (i.e. The Phantom Tollbooth, Frindle) (p. 125-126)

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Bibliography and Further Resources

Annotated resources are highly recommended.

Books and Articles

Allen, J.S. (1999).  Words, Words, Words: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4-12.  York, Maine: Stenhouse publishers.

Beck, I.L., et. al. (2002). Bringing Words to Life. New York: The Guilford Press.Blachowicz, Camille et Al.  (2005).  Vocabulary: Questions from the Classroom. Reading Research Quarterly, 41(4).

Flanigan, Kevin and Scott Greenwood (2007).  Effective content vocabulary instruction in the middle: Matching students, purposes, words, and strategies.  Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(3).

Graves, Michael F. (2006). The vocabulary book: Learning and instruction. New York: Teachers College Press.

An essential primer for vocabulary instruction, covering a significant amount of research-based instructional strategies and principles for vocabulary instruction and use.  Book divided into sections based on various key aspects of vocabulary instruction

Graves, Michael F. (2009). Essential Readings on Vocabulary Instruction.  Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

This selection of essays is not an introductory overview, but a good selection if you're looking for information on a specific topic within the within current issues in teaching vocabulary.  Particularly helpful essays include "Teaching Vocabulary: Early, Direct, and Sequential" (p.28), "Breaking down words to build meaning: Morhpology, Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension in the Urban Classroom" (p.90), and "Teaching Vocabulary Through Text and Experience in Content Areas" (p.141)

Harmon, Janis M. (1998).  Vocabulary teaching and learning in a seventh-grade literature-based classroom.  Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 41(7).

Harmon, Janis et. al. (2006). Instructional Strategies for Teaching Content Vocabulary.  Westerville, OH: National Middle School Association.

A thorough go-to guide for vocabulary instruction strategies, sorted by instructional stage.  A good reference once basic principles are understood.

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Manzo, Anthony and Ula (2005). Content Area Literacy (4th Edition): Strategic Teaching

for Strategic Learning. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Moore, D.M et al.  (2000).  Struggling adolescent readers: A collection of teaching

strategies.  Newark, DE: International Reading Association, Inc.

Websites

http://www.literacymatters.org/content/readandwrite/vocab.htmA hefty resource by Literacy Matters with several links to specific topics.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/9943An article on the basics on vocabulary instruction with an emphasis on English language learners.

http://www.eslflow.com/vocabularylessonplans.htmlA collection of vocabulary exercises and lesson plans in the form of downloadable .pdf documents.

http://www.vocabulary.com/Vocabulary lists, games, activities, lesson plans, and further webpage links.

http://www.adlit.org/article/c138Articles on vocabulary instruction specific to adolescent literacy.