Enhancing Vocabulary Instruction

Secondary Curriculum, Instruction, and

Assessment

Session Goals1. Discuss strategies in which vocabulary is

acquired and retained.

2. Explain important features of vocabulary instruction.

3. Model strategies for teaching vocabulary to secondary students.

Background

• Students need multiple (40-57) exposures to new vocabulary to truly internalize it (Vogt, 2009)

• Students should be active in developing their understanding of words and ways to learn them (Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000)

• Students should be immersed in words (word walls, personal dictionaries) (Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000)

Show What You Know!

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

Determining Prior Knowledge (AVID, p. 20)

Show What You Know!

Check Your Answers:

1.) 5.)

2.) 6.)

3.) 7.)

4.) 8.)

High School VocabularyHow do students learn and retain Academic

Vocabulary? (AVID, p. 34, 36)

• regular practice, immersion• word games

Regular Practice/Immersion

Create Word Walls

-different categories,

concepts, text words

-include NLR

(Marzano)

Review Frequently

-in sentences

-point out in

readings

Word Games

Play Games Take online

voc. quizzes

http://www.freerice.com/

http://quizlet.com/subject/english/http://sheppardsoftware.com/web_games_vocab.htm

Regular Practice/Immersion Strategies

• Word Walls• Morphemic Analysis• Word Maps

Word WallsA display area in the classroom strictly devoted

to high-frequency vocabulary that will be used/is being used during the course of a particular unit of study.

• Interactive• Related to Writing/Reading activities• Across content areas

Word Walls

Interactive

Evolving

Student Centered

Purposeful

Relevant

Word Walls:Academic Vocabulary

When should students learn and retain Academic Vocabulary? (AVID, p. 34)

Every time students read a text:• Teacher: previews text to determine key words

that students will learn.• Students: record unknown words in their notes

or student handout – “Keeping Track of New Vocabulary” (AVID, p. 40).

Morphemic Analysis of Word Parts

• Requires students to break multisyllabic words into meaningful parts.

• Determines the meaning of the word by analyzing the meaning of its parts.

• Combines the meanings of the word parts to form the meaning of the unknown word.

• Increases recognition of prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

• Handout available: “Morphemic Analysis” H.O., #7

Morphemic Analysis of Word Parts Map

Word

Your Sentence using the Word

Parts + Meaning

Word Maps

• Graphic organizers, like the Frayer Model, used to define words and later used as a study tool.

• Pre-Reading Strategy to introduce key vocabulary words

• www.visuwords.com

Word Maps• Allow for an examination of semantic

categories that are critical for understanding a text or lesson. – Categories can be used to:

– introduce words that will appear in the text or lesson– discuss the power of words as enhancers of or

deterrents to text comprehension.

• Hand-out #16

Sample Word Map

Explicit Instruction: A Three-step Process

I Do: Model/think aloudWE Do: Guided PracticeYOU Do: Monitored independence practice (Archer, Isaacson, & Peters, 1998)

•

Texas Education Agency 19

Word Maps are effective for Special Populations because they can be:

• Included pictures and words, appropriate for students with lower levels of proficiency.

• Completed cooperatively, providing needed interaction.

• Used as an assessment tool.

Adapted from: Building Connections in the Content Areas through Sheltered Instruction

Word Maps are effective for Special Populations because they :

• Provide details about the term or concept through the characteristics of the word.

• Use examples and non-examples to provide clarity.

• Allow clarifications to be made in the student’s native language (ELL).

• Help students better understand content concepts.

Games and Adaptations

“VOCAB” aka “BINGO”

The traditional way:• Teacher reads aloud the definition.• Students mark the word on VOCAB card

(s).Modification:• Teacher calls out vocabulary word • Students match it with picture/visual

(example of figurative language)

• Source: http://print-bingo.com/bingo-cards-custom.php

Crossword Puzzles

• Clues can be definitions or applications for vocabulary words.

• Word searches are useful for ELLs to pay close attention to the spelling of new words.

• Assignments can be completed independently, in small groups, whole group or for homework.

• http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/

Literary Devices

Across2. Uses the five senses to describe setting/character/etc

7. Direct comparison between two unlike things10. The use of words to imitate sound or rhythm

11. Comparison between two unlike things that states one thing is like another12. A brief scene that goes back in time

13. The repetition of initial consonant sounds14. How the reader feels

Down1. Helps reader predict outcomes

3. Implied or indirect reference to something outside the story/poem4. An extreme exaggeration

5. Giving human qualities to a non-human/inanimate object6. Using an object or an idea to represent something else

8. How the author feels9. Author's word choice

14 of 14 words were placed into the puzzle. Created by Puzzlemaker at DiscoveryEducation.com, sponsorship by Scotch.

Swat it! / Spot Light

• Vocabulary competition• List or pictures of vocabulary are

projected/written on the board.• How:

– Two students participate at a time.– Teacher calls out definition.– Student who “swats” or “spot lights” the term first

earns a point.

Let’s Play “Swat It”!

Free Morpheme Analogy

Derivatives Bound Morpheme

Morpheme NLR

Acrostic Word Immersion

Texas Education Agency 27

FoldablesAdapted from: Building Connections in the Content Areas through Sheltered Instruction

Exit Ticket

Think of the strategies and techniques shared today and the pre-assessment you completed earlier.

Write down something youwill incorporate within the next two weeks.

TheSecondary Literacy

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Department

wants to

THANK YOU!