DEVOTION

HELPING READERS BUILD

VOCABULARY

Anna Gruen -- 3/1/10 -- Reading Strategies

What is Vocabulary?

Different vocabularies: Receptive Productive

Different meanings: Denotations-- literal Connotations– associations (ex:

dictator)

Vocabulary effects Literacy Development…

It’s all about comprehension!

Vocabulary is the key to understanding more abstract ideas and deeper content within academic disciplines.

Effects of socioeconomic class

Example . . .

“Although the book of Ecclesiastes entertains death as an alternative to life and nonexistence as even more desirable, that is not Qoheleth’s final conclusion. For life is a gift of God, and man’s responsibility is to get the most out of it. The nihilistic note, therefore, is certainly sounded in Ecclesiastes, but its dissonance is resolved into the more realistic philosophy of pleasure. Death is not the greatest good, even though it is the common lot of all mankind.” (p. 37)

Developing Vocabulary in Content Areas

Motivate students to be open to learning words by promoting a respect for language.

Create a language-rich environment in which students can learn words through general acquisition.

Teach specific words Teach students strategies for learning new

words. Use assessment to monitor students’

vocabulary learning

1. Respect for Language

“Having a word in our vocabulary means we can notice something. Each word is a flashlight that illuminates another corner of our experience.” (Patterson, 1984).

“Without the word, there is nothing to anchor the experience in consciousness, and nothing to enable one to communicate about it to others.” P. 185

2. Create a Language-Rich Environment

Reading out loud books a little beyond what students can do on their own.

Pausing, thinking aloud, elaborating on words.

Writing them on the board for visual learners

Addressing word play Wall for multiple-meaning words and

confusing phrases.

3. Content-Specific Terms

By intermediate grades, vocabulary is given explicit time and attention.

Many Basal readers include vocabulary lessons and lists.

Three tiers of words: common/daily words (it, the, ball, pencil, think,

hungry) Frequent encounters in school (improvement,

undoubtedly, control group, infer, biography) Specialized vocabulary terms for a specific content

(Secondary dominants, neoclassicism, polytonality) http://www.funbrain.com/scramble/index.html

4. New Word Strategies

Context *ENGLISH ZONE* Semantics– study of meaning Morphology-- common affixes and roots References– dictionary, adults, other resources Memory– mnemonic devices

*Teaching strategies is important to facilitate a lifetime of learning for your

students!*

Semantics

A Connected Word Web

5. Assessment

Are the strategies and activities helping?

Pretest to see what they know

Administer the test after the lesson and compare to pretest.

Language Arts Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

Word wall ???

Concept of Definition map

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Semantic Feature Analysis

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