Important lexical itemsnouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and different lexical fields (e.g. colors, days of the week, action verbs, etc.)

Formal vs. informal instructionFormal instruction: Teach students the meaning of words and ways to uncover the meaning of words via direct instruction (deductive approach)Informal instruction: Non-rule oriented; notice, discover (inductive approach)

Example – Formal: Have students choose between the words big and gigantic in a sentence about sandwiches

Example – Informal: Play a vocabulary game or ask a series of questions that include the words big and gigantic

Importance of using both: engages students’ cognitive skills (formal) and gives them opportunities to actually use the words (informal)

Facilitate vocabulary learning (Nation, 2003)By teaching useful words (high frequency words) and by teaching strategies to help learners figure out the meanings on their own (e.g. context clues)

Vocabulary should be integrated into . . . Teaching the four skills – listening, speaking, reading, writing

Principles for teaching vocabulary

1. Emphasize both direct and indirect teaching (direct > teaching the words and their meanings – e.g. pre-teaching vocabulary items students will encounter in a reading selection; indirect > helping children learn appropriate strategies so they can figure out the meaning of words on their own – e.g. context clues)

2. Teach vocabulary words before a new activity (comprehension and acquisition)

3. Teach how to use context clues appropriately (meaning from the context)

4. Present multiple exposures to new vocabulary items (recycle; multi-sensory)

5. Give opportunities for deep processing of vocabulary items (connect new words with prior knowledge; personalize – students’ own lives)

6. Teach students to use dictionaries (picture dictionaries; simple definitions)

7. Have students keep vocabulary notebooks (simple definition, synonyms, antonyms, picture, personally relevant example sentence, etc.)

Classroom techniques and activities

1. Word for the day (e.g. jungle animals – new species each day)

2. Categories (e.g. words related to water and land)

3. Scavenger hunt (e.g. find the word apple – determine unit; classify)

4. What’s missing (12-20 cards on table or floor; remove one card)

5. Mystery words (e.g. I like to put ___ and mustard on my hot dog.)

6. Concentration (cards face down on the desk; find matching pairs)

7. Vocabulary basket (words cards; changing seats)

Key: Connect vocabulary to young learner’s lives through personalization