How Important is Vocabulary and where does it fit into my Social Studies

instruction?

Vocabulary Activities

What does it mean?

Where Vocabulary fits into Comprehension

What do you think?

Vocabulary Development

How do students learn vocabulary outside of school?

How should we teach it?

Do Don’tLess is more — depth is more. Teach fewer vocabulary terms, but teach them in a manner that results in deep understandings of each term.

Teach or assign words from textbooks just because they are highlighted in some way (italicized, bold face print, etc.).

Teach terms that are central to the unit or theme of study. These are terms that are so important that if the student does not understand them, s/he likely will have difficulty understanding the remainder of the unit.

Teach or assign words just because they appear in a list at the end of a text chapter.

Teach terms that address key concepts or ideas. While a text chapter may contain 15-20 vocabulary terms, there may be only 4 or 5 that address critical concepts in the chapter — sometimes only 1 or 2!).

Teach or assign words that will have little utility once the student has passed the test.

Teach terms that will be used repeatedly throughout the semester. These are foundational concepts upon which a great deal of information will be built on over a long-term basis.

Assign words the teacher cannot define.

Assign large quantities of words.

Assign words that students will rarely encounter again.

Do’s and Don’ts of Vocabulary Instruction

(Ellis, 2002)

How do we decide what to teach?

Application of the Words – Connections to experiences and schema

Something to think about…

Student Reference Chart

•Dr. Kate Kincella from the University of Redlands suggests that the use of signal words and graphic organizers assist students to determine context clues in their reading (Figurate). •Chart from Reading Rockets.

• L-ist the parts: Word and definition• I – dentify a reminding word: a word that “sounds

like” or reminds of vocabulary word in some way – can be a rhyming word, but is not necessary (could also be “Invent a sentence”)

• N – ote a LINCing story: short story to remind of word and meaning

• C – reate a LINCing picture: draw a picture of story• S – elf Test: Students study and test their

knowledge of vocabulary (O’Brien, 2005)

LINCS Strategy

•Example of a LINCS note card using the modified approach to the vocabulary learning strategy.

(O’Brien, 2005)

Example of LINCS Flashcard

• Use these words, and a partner to create your own version of a LINCS flashcard.– Independence– Immigration– Terrorism– Regions

o Share and Discuss

LINCS Activity

Concept Definition Maps

• Scholastic Videos – Using Concept definition maps to increase understanding

Instructional Practices

Source: engineering.purdue.edu

• UDL Toolkit – Study Skills• Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary I

nstruction

Additional Vocabulary Resources

Source: Utah State University

• Alexander, Francie. "Teaching Vocabulary to Your Child with Francie Alexander | Scholastic.com." Teaching Resources, Children's Book Recommendations, and Student Activities | Scholastic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4503>. Diamond, Linda, and Linda Gutlohn (2006). "Reading Rockets: Teaching Vocabulary." Reading Rockets: Reading Comprehension & Language Arts Teaching Strategies for Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://www.readingrockets.org/article/9943>.

• Ellis, Edwin S. (2002). "LD OnLine :: The Clarifying Routine: Elaborating Vocabulary Instruction." LD OnLine. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.ldonline.org/article/5759>.

• Figurate, Lynn. "Looking At Vocabulary." U.S. Department of Education Archived Information. U.S. Department of Education , n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <www2.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/summerworkshop/figurate/edlite-slide010.html>.

• O’Brien, C. (2005) Modifying learning strategies for classroom success. TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus, 1(3) Article 3. 1 Dec. 2010 from <http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol1/iss3/3>.

• "ReadingQuest Strategies | Concept of Definition Map." ReadingQuest | Reading Strategies for Social Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://www.readingquest.org/strat/cdmap.html>.

• "TeachingLD: Information and Resources for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities." TeachingLD: Information and Resources for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://teachingld.org>.

• * Please note: the imported PowerPoint slides are from the U.S. Department of Education website on this slide.

Resources