Vocabulary Development in CHC 2D8

Feb. 13, 2015

Risa Gluskin York Mills C.I.

Gluskin.ca

Less Is More

• More emphasis on how we teach than on what we teach• Let go of some of the details• Do more with less• Avoid “mile wide, inch deep” disaster

Historical Inquiry

• Vocabulary development works well in an inquiry-based classroom– Students need sophisticated understanding in

order to make interpretations• Therefore, they need to be able to express themselves

in a relatively precise way

Sources

Beck, I., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. Second Ed. New York: The Guilford Press.

AND

ER 16 Beginning Teachers Workshops, 2013, delivered by the incredible Speech and Language Pathologists Sherry Raffalovitch and Jana Leggett,

Textbook I Used

• Canadian History: A Sense of Time – big question: Is Canada a better country now than

it was in the past?

Three Tiersrobust vocabulary instruction = direct, interactive, causing students to engage

with the words (p. 3)

Tier One Words• basic words kids hear a lot in oral conversation • don’t need direct instruction (p. 10)

Tier Two• words that are useful in many areas in written text• need direct instruction because they’re not used a lot in conversation (p.

10)• Including academic words related to critical thinking and historical

thinking (e.g., draw conclusions, use criteria, overlap of continuity and change)

Tier Three• words very tightly related to a particular subject area (p. 17)

SRSD* Model1. Build background knowledge

– Students need personal relevance attached to what they are learning– KWL charts

2. Discuss the skill– Actively discuss, don’t just tell students what to do– Oral language lays the foundation for reading and writing

3. Model the skill– Instruct using simple language– Repeat– Have students rehearse

4. Memorize/internalize the skill– Help students understand the purpose of the skill or strategy– They should verbalize it as they repeatedly practice it

5. Support the skill development– Practice without perfection

6. Independent practice– They should start using it on their own in many different contexts

*Self-regulatory strategy development

Scale of Knowing a Word

1. No knowledge2. General sense (e.g., negative or positive

connotation)3. Narrow, context-bound knowledge4. Knows but can’t use in appropriate situations5. Knows words in many situations, including its

relationship to other words …

p. 11

Do and Don’tBAD– looking up a word in a dictionary and then using it in a

sentence is not very attention-getting for students – they don’t have the skills yet to do this when they first

learn a word (pp. 13-14)– Do not ask “who can tell me what X means?”

• incorrect guesses can be a problem – can create a false memory (p. 42)

BETTER: – student-friendly explanations– giving prompts or stems (sentence starters)– word trees (spectrums: e.g., of adjectives from depression

to prosperity) (p. 101)

Examples

• Residential School sentence starters– They didn’t have the right to…

• 1930s list of opposites– “What is opposite?”– Word tree would have been better

• 1950s and 1960s “Gaining Rights”– Positive and negative words

spec

trum

Good News – Good WordsList some positive words from the Gaining Rights worksheet.

• Liberty• Liberate• Brotherhood• Freedom• Equality• Security/safety• Human rights• Right to vote• Freedom of

religion• Freedom of

conscience• Citizenship• Enhance

• Internment• Seize• Suspend• Torture• Slavery• Persecute• Discriminate• Ghettoes• Death camps

List some negative words from recent lessons

Vocabulary Journal

• New words need to be used multiple times before they sink in (p. 83)– Authors suggest a vocabulary log• I used a vocab journal that was the basis for quizzes

– They should include student-friendly explanations and examples of usage (p. 96)

Student-Friendly Explanations

• Better than dictionary definitions– Essence of the word– Meaning told in everyday language (p. 45)– Explanations are longer and can be better – more

specific to the meaning of the word (whereas dictionaries have to be concise) (p. 48)

Isolationism

When to Teach New Words

BEFORE reading– not too many

DURING reading– best – as word is experienced – only briefly described so that the story or topic

can be understood– flow of story is interrupted if too many

AFTER reading– some here as well

pp. 41-42

Make MeaningWord associations – that then have to be explained• Which word goes with “__________” (another word) • Which word goes with “__________________” (a phrase)• Have you ever? Describe a time when… (using the new vocab)• Clap to indicate how much you’d like to be described by the

word• Which would you prefer (between two alternatives)• Which would be easier to ________ – item 1 or item 2? Why? • ***Examples and non-examples of words being used

correctly

pp. 52-53, 84

Work with a Cluster of Words for a While – Women in 1920s

Which ideas about women did these events successfully challenge?

• That women were…– weak– unintelligent– dependent– naïve– pure– shy– innocent– emotional– followers

Visuals

• My PPTs were mostly composed of visuals from the textbook image bank

• See next slide: – Positive or negative words?• Swarm, severe, drought, bleak, abandoned

Dust Storm

RationingHow much sugar, tea and coffee was allowed per week?

Can you see the sign? It says “Loyal citizens do not hoard.” What is hoarding?

Go Beyond Vocabulary as Synonyms

• Not precise enough– Affects quality of writing

Progress and Decline - AnnotationOn the whole winter is more good than bad for Canadians. Despite its length

and harshness, winter is still enjoyed by many groups of people. To begin, it is clear that winter is great for Canadians who love winter sports. This includes people who play hockey, as well as those who ski and skate. They see winter as a positive time of year because they get to enjoy the sports they love. They enjoy the crisp, clean air. They think this cold time of year is an improvement on all the hot and humid days of summer when it is too hard to do physical activities. In addition, some people like winter because it is an opportunity to make money. All the businesses that operate during winter benefit from the cold. This includes companies that own ski hills and ice rinks. This also includes stores that sell winter sports equipment and clothing. Their employees have jobs because of the cold climate so it is a positive time of year for them. By contrast, winter is a difficult time of year for some other groups of people. For instance, winter can be quite a bad time of year for elderly people who find it very difficult to get around or even get out of their homes. They might have to rely on others to shovel their snow. Winter can also be a negative season for people who are new to Canada and have come from warm countries. They have to adjust to how long and cold it is. Overall winter is a natural part of Canadian life despite its difficulties. Most Canadians have adapted to winter and make the most out of it.

Progress and Decline 1920s Timeline

Quebec in Canada: 1950s-1995

Page Year Event Effect on French-English Relations (continuity and/or change? For whom? How much? )

63 • Parti Quebecois (PQ)• New political party made

up of separatists• Won the 1976 provincial

election• Many English speakers

and companies left Quebec because they were scared of what the PQ would do

10 = big change

0 = no change

Old and New

old fashioned modern

Quebeckers wanted to catch up and have a fair and updated society

Types of Change

1 Small 10 Biglittle influence big influencelittle impact big impactlittle effect big effect

radical, extreme, revolutionary

Causation

How did the Holocaust lead to (cause)

the writing of the UDHR?

Vocabulary Assistance

Verbs:•Contributed to• caused•Led to•Made people think that•Caused people to believe that•Changed people’s beliefs about

Nouns:•Discrimination against•Persecution•Murders•Killing of•Treatment of•Problems•Solutions•Rights•Freedoms

Sample 1

Example• Many Jewish synagogues

(temples) in Germany were burned down by Nazi supporters in 1938 and thousands of Jewish people were sent to concentration camps.

Argument [the argument has to match the article]• Article 1: all human beings are

equal in rights: they are allowed to have their own beliefs.

• The Nazis did not believe that people should have the right to have their own beliefs. They disliked the Jewish religion and punished people for being Jewish.

Sample 2

Example• Nazi laws prevented Jews

from marrying non-Jews. Roma were not allowed to marry non-Roma. Handicapped people could not marry if their children might have diseases.

Argument and Article • Article 6: everyone has the

right to be treated as a person with legal rights.

• Nazi laws discriminated against people such as Jews, Roma and the disabled, therefore they were not treated as equals under the law.