Classroom Research:Vocabulary Instruction

Embedded vs. Extended

Presented by: Christy Funderburk Ann Marie Wasson

Research Question

Which form of instruction would work best in kindergarten and first grade?

Embedded: Giving a brief, child friendly definition of target words during reading.

Extended: Giving a brief, child friendly definition of target words during reading with the addition of vocabulary activities after reading.

Hypothesis:

We thought students would learn more words taught with Extended Instruction.

Research Procedure

• We chose two books that we would both read in our classrooms.

Andrew’s Loose Tooth by Robert Munsch

Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth

• We each chose two additional books to read in our own classrooms.

Christy Funderburk’s choices

Chester’s Way by Kevin Henkes

Lilly’s Big Day

Ann Marie Wasson’s choices

Henry’s Freedom Boxby Ellen Levine

Chrysanthemumby Kevin Henkes

• Chose tier two words for each book• Chose activities for 1/2 the words from each book• Read each book one time for three consecutive days• Called attention to the chosen words by giving “child-

friendly” definitions during reading• Did activities with 1/2 of the chosen words after reading• Had the students retell the story during a shared writing

after three days of instruction• Looked for the chosen vocabulary words in the retell.

*Four words were chosen from Andrew’s Loose Tooth.

*During reading the “child friendly” definitions were delivered to the students for all of the selected words.

Reached- stretched out his arm to get something

Incredible- hard to believeExtended instruction given

to the words below.Shined- rubbed or polished

something to make it look bright and clean

Sprinkled- shook or dropped small pieces over or onto something

Data from Andrew’s

Loose ToothBriefly Mentioned

with Vocabulary Ac-tivity (Extended)

67% (2)

Briefly Mentioned (Embedded)

33% (1)

Andrew's Loose Tooth(Christy)

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Activity

(Extended)67% (2)

Briefly Mentioned (Embedded)

33% (1)

Andrew's Loose Tooth(Ann Marie)

* Six words were chosen from Listen to the Wind.

Wisest- someone who is smart and makes good choices

Wedge- pack or fill in a spaceExplore- look at closely to learn

thingsAttached- connected or hooked

toStumbled- tripped almost falling

while walking or runningCelebrate- have a party or

activities because something special happened

* Definitions were given for all words during the reading of the book. Stumbled, attached, and celebrate had extended instruction at the conclusion of the story.

Data for Listen to the

Wind

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Activity

(Extended)67% (2)

Briefly Mentioned(Embedded)

33% (1)

Listen to the Wind(Ann Marie)

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Ac-

tivity67% (2)

Briefly Mentioned33%(1)

Listen to the Wind(Christy)

*Four words were chosen from Chester’s Way. Definitions were given for all of the words.

definitely- clearly, for sure, without a doubt

replied- to answer

Extended instruction given for the following words.

duplicated- repeated or copied

fierce- scary or terrifying

Data for Chester’s Way

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Activity

(Extended)100% (2)

Chester's Way(Christy)

• Six words were chosen from this book. Definitions were introduced during the read aloud.

announced- to tell others aloudentire- the whole thing, completeunfortunately- unlucky

Extended instruction was given for the words below.

exhausted- very tiredprobably- likely to happen, maybeconsidered- to think about or to

think about something carefully

Data for Lilly’s Big Day

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Ac-

tivity(Extended)

75% (3)

Briefly Mentioned(Embedded)

25% (1)

Lilly's Big Day(Christy)

Four words were chosen from this book. Definitions were introduced during the read aloud.

Twist- take hold of the one end or both ends of something and turn it, making get tighter Beckoned- trying to get someone to come closer

Extended instruction was given for the words below.

Delivered- bring something to where it is supposed to go and hand it over Excuse- an explanation for doing something wrong or not doing something you should have

Data for Henry’s Freedom Box

Briefly Mentioned(Embedded)

100% (1)

Henry's Freedom Box(Ann Marie)

Six words were chosen from this book. Definitions were introduced during the read aloud.

Perfect- if something is perfect, it is as good as it can be; it has nothing wrong with it Scarcely- barely Fascinating- very interesting

Extended instruction was given for the words below. Dreadful- horrible; really bad Precious- worth a lot; highly valued; means a lot to someoneEnvious- want to have the same thing as someone else

Data for Chrysanthemum

Briefly Mentioned(Embedded)

100% (2)

Chrysanthemum(Ann Marie)

Combined data results for all books for Christy

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Activ-

ity75% (9)

Briefly Mentioned25% (3)

Total Words Learned (12 out 20) Christy

Combined data results for all books for Ann Marie

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Activity

(Extended)44% (4)

Briefly Mentioned(Embedded)

56% (5)

Total Words Learned(9 out of 20) Ann Marie.

Data Results for Christy and Ann Marie

Briefly Mentioned with Vocabulary Ac-

tivity62% (13)

Briefly Mentioned38% (8)

Total Words Learned (21 out of 40) Christy and Ann Marie

(extended) (embedded)

Articles Christy Ann MarieBiemiller: Students learned Students learned Students learned50% of the words taught 60% of the words taught 45% of the words taught :

Biemiller: An increase in # of 2 books with 4 words 2 books with 4 wordswords taught will mean an taught= 5 learned words taught= 4 learned wordsincrease in words learned 2 books with 6 words 2 books with 6 words

taught= 7 words learned taught= 5 words learned

McKeown: The number of Andrew’s Loose Tooth Andrew’s Loose Toothencounters affects student Highest % learned- 75% Highest % learned- 75%learning. More encounters =More learning

Students learned the same 3 words in both classes.We had read all books 3 times. What accounted for this higher percentage? We think the percentage was

higher because there were more encounters with these words. There were phrases containing these words which were repeated several times in the book.

We could not help but draw comparisons.

• We will increase repeated readings.• We will increase the number of words we

explain.• We will not feel guilty about not having

activities planned for every word we target.

How will this affect our instruction?