teaching vocabulary: three sure-fire ways

41
Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Upload: saeran

Post on 22-Feb-2016

50 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways. First, Get Selective. Students cannot and will not “learn” 10, 15, or 20 vocabulary words that you give them on a sheet of paper. And you can’t teach that many words and get anything else done. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Page 2: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

First, Get Selective

• Students cannot and will not “learn” 10, 15, or 20 vocabulary words that you give them on a sheet of paper.• And you can’t teach that many words and get

anything else done.• Instead, do triage: Choose the 4-5 most critical

words over several days of reading/discussion and teach those. These words are “keepers.”

Page 3: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

What Makes a Keeper?

• It has to be a word you can use again and again.• It has to be a word that is big and

juicy and that kids don’t know.• It has to be a word that kids can use

that will make them feel smart.

Page 4: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

WARNING!• DO NOT choose words that students

already know or think they know• For example, “acid” or “harmony”• You may think these are good words to

discuss with your class and you’re right; but these are NOT vocabulary.• If you choose easy words students

already know, they won’t pay attention and they’ll be insulted or think you’re an idiot.

Page 5: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Here is a Word Wall Full of Keepers:

Page 6: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

2. Select Words One of Two Ways

•You choose the words yourself before reading (4 or 5-NO MORE!!!)•Students choose the words themselves—NO KIDDING!!

Page 7: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Three Sure-Fire Ways to Teach Vocabulary:

1.Word Walls!2.Vocabulary Self-

Selection (VSS)!3.Concept Attainment!

Page 8: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

1. Word Walls Are Your Best Friend as a Teacher• A Word Wall is a bulletin board in your classroom that

you start at the beginning of the year and add words to all year long.• The words are all KEEPERS.• The words are big and juicy and represent new and

important concepts learned in your curriculum.• These words are the words that you will return to again

and again throughout the year. YES!! YES!!! To teach vocabulary, you need to constantly and recursively remind students of these words. This is the hardest part of vocabulary instruction but it’s essential and the most powerful thing you can do.

Page 9: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Revisit Your Word Wall Words Frequently

•Make a point of using new words DAILY.•Revisit old words several times a

week.• This is HARD because the tendency is

to put things up and forget about them.•DON’T FORGET!

Page 10: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Practice Activities

•Word Rallies (See hand-out)• Treasure Hunt word finds (See hand-out)• Games, recognition to students for using

vocabulary in speech and writing.• Give EXTRA CREDIT for using vocabulary

words in writing assignments.

Page 11: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Leave Your Word Wall up All Year

• Keep adding to the Word Wall. Don’t take it down ALL YEAR.• If you do this, you’ll see huge improvements in:• Reading comprehension• Writing quality• Students’ attitudes about themselves as

students• Students’ attitudes about vocabulary.

Page 12: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

2. Vocabulary Self-Selection (VSS)

• After reading, place students in groups of 3-4• Either assign the class the whole reading passage or break

it up into sections, one per group (depending on how long the passage was).• Tell each group to select one vocabulary word (and one

alternate) they want the class to put on the Word Wall. The students must then present the word to the class and make an argument for why this word should be included.• You as the teacher also select a word and make an

argument to model the process for students.• The class votes on each word.

Page 13: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

VSS Works Wonders. Why?

• It empowers students• It requires students to reread and review a passage after

they’ve read (And rereading is powerful and important learning strategy!)• It’s engaging and students will remember words they

suggest much better than words you give them.• It requires students to study the word and make an

argument for why it’s important—this requires discussion, processing of ideas, and real scholarship.

Page 14: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

3. Concept Attainment• This is a strategy used to introduce vocabulary words and

concepts that you have selected, usually before reading a passage.

• The activity is engaging because it works like a guessing game.• You select a word and think of examples and non-examples of

the word.• You present each example/non-example as a pair.• Over a series of pairs, you engage students in a discussion of

the characteristics of each pair.• Finally, you provide the word.• Concept Attainment words because it models the way that we

conceptualize and identify individual things in the world—by comparing and contrasting them to other things.

Page 15: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Let’s look at an example of Concept Attainment

Page 16: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example…

Page 17: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is not an example…

Page 18: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example…

Page 19: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is not an example…

Page 20: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example…

Page 21: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is not an example….

Page 22: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example…

Page 23: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is not an example…

Page 24: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example…

Page 25: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is not an example…

Page 26: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Here’s another example of Concept Attainment

Page 27: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example:

Page 28: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is NOT an example:

Page 29: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example:

Page 30: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is NOT an example:

Page 31: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example:

Page 32: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is NOT an example:

Page 33: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example:

Page 34: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is NOT an example:

Page 35: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example:

Page 36: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is NOT an example:

Page 37: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is an example:

Page 38: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This is NOT an example:

Page 39: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

One of the best ways to use Concept Attainment is to give groups of students different vocabulary words and have them come up with examples and non-examples to present to the class.

Page 40: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

This brings us to our last reading strategy:

The Directed Reading Activity (DRA)

Page 41: Teaching Vocabulary: Three Sure-Fire Ways

Steps for DRA:1. As the teacher, you select the reading passage and the three or

four vocabulary words you want to teach BEFORE reading.2. You prepare engaging ways to introduce these words (like Concept

Attainment or Beat the Dictionary, for example)3. You write them on the board and “talk them up” one at a time

(BUT DON’T DEFINE THEM!)4. After you’ve talked them up, get the students to generate a

definition (student-generated language is ALWAYS remembered more than your droning).

5. Give the students a Purpose-Setting Question for reading the passage. The PSQ is an interpretive question, not a factual one. WRITE THE QUESTION ON THE BOARD.

6. Have the students read the passage, usually silently (although you could use Shared Reading)

7. Conduct a summative discussion focused on the PSQ