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Piecing Together the Puzzle: Multisensory Strategies to Enhance

ELLs’ Vocabulary

Beth Csiszer Indian Land Elementary

October 14, 2013 1

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Overview

• Rationale about the importance of explicit vocabulary instruction for ELLs

• Results of a pilot study with ELLs in an elementary setting

• Overview of strategies

• Discussion2

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Rationale for Explicit MSL Vocabulary Instruction

• 98% of vocabulary must be known to comprehend written and oral content (Carver, 2000)

• Strategies focus on prefix-root-suffix patterns because over 80% of English vocabulary consists of these Latin and Greek-based patterns (Henry, 2006)

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Rationale for Explicit MSL Vocabulary Instruction

• Long lasting benefits on reading, writing, and spelling performance (Carlisle & Fleming, 2003; Henry, 2006; Kieffer & Lesaux, 2007; Nunes & Bryant, 2006, Reed, 2008)

• Teachers often are not trained to provide this instruction effectively (Moats, 2009)

• Multisensory strategies have been proven to be effective with struggling learners for over sixty years (Birsh & Shaywitz, 2011) 4

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Terminology

• To confidently master vocabulary in listening, speaking, reading and writing tasks, students must have:

Passive (receptive) vocabulary knowledge: COMPREHEND meaning when listening or reading

Active (expressive) vocabulary knowledge: USE vocabulary properly (pronunciation, intonation,

meaning, connotation) when speaking or writing

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MSL Strategies for Vocabulary Enhancement

visual

Audit-ory

tactileKines-thetic

smell

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Multisensory: use many learning channels to learn vocabulary -> enhance, recall & use

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MSL Strategies for Vocabulary Enhancement

• Explicit: Model learning strategies, mnemonics, imagery directly-

DO NOT ASSUME

• Structured: carefully structure vocabulary instruction moving from

easier to more complex patterns, with images

• Metacognitive: Show why a word part, word or phrase means what

it does -> independence

• Repetitive: Provide opportunity for over-practice or passive and

active vocabulary

• Diagnostic-prescriptive: constantly analyze what causes difficulties

and remediate immediately

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MSL Pilot Study: Design• Purpose: Determining the effectiveness of teaching prefix-

root-suffix patterns in an MSL approach

• Participants: 4th grade ELL students (N = 7)

• Format: • 8 weeks, 3x times a week 45 min. each, small group =

total of 24 sessions• Pre-post assessment of knowledge and comprehension

strategies

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MSL Pilot Study: Data CollectionFormat:

Pre-and Post Test assessed a) knowledge of terms

What is a prefix?___ a part of a word that sits at the end ___ a part of a word that sits at the beginning___ a part of a word that sits in the middle

What does a prefix do?____ it changes the meaning of the word____ it changes the part of speech (noun to verb or noun to

adjective)___ it provides the meaning of the word

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MSL Pilot Study: Data Collection

Pre-and Post Test assessed b) comprehension in a single sentence

Read the sentence and mark your answer. If the prefix “ex” means “out”, what does it mean to export goods?

The moving water used for hydroelectric energy is replenished by the water cycle.

What is the meaning of the word “replenished”?A filled againB move throughC push backD use before 10

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MSL Pilot Study: Data CollectionPre-and Post Test assessed matching meanings with morpheme

Match the PREFIX with the explanation. re pro sub cent

_______________ means “under”

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MSL Pilot Study: Data CollectionComprehension survey assessed strategy use to

comprehend unfamiliar words

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MSL Pilot Study: InterventionIntervention: With student- created prefix-root-suffix cards

that were color coded, students engaged in a variety of activities

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MSL Pilot Study: InterventionIntervention activities

• “Word creators”: Students made words using prefix-roots and suffix cards and explained the meanings

• “Concentration game”: Students look to match morphemes and their definitions

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MSL Pilot Study: InterventionIntervention activities

• “Morpheme BINGO ”: Students created own cards from a list of grade-specific morphemes that had been previously taught

• “Morpheme Charades”: One models gesture and others guess meanings or separate morphemes and whole words with multiple gestures

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Results of an MSL Pilot StudyPre-Post Test

a. TerminologyPRE-test: students guessedPOST-test: 6/7 students understood each part Good to continue reinforcement

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Results of an MSL Pilot StudyPre-Post Test b. Retrieve meaning from sentence (in context)

PRE-test: students guessed

POST-test: 6/7 demonstrated understanding of morphemes More instruction- reinforcement, especially at beginning of a new school year

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Results of an MSL Pilot StudyPre-Post Test c. Matching definitions (out of context)

PRE-test: students guessed, were insecurePOST-test: 7/7 demonstrated understanding of morphemes–

used gestures Only area to reinforce: suffixes that carry grammatical meaning

(-tion, -or, -er)

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Results of an MSL Pilot Study

Comprehension Strategies

• PRE- DATA: No student had ever broken a word into prefix-root-suffix patterns even though 6/7 students regularly broke words into “syllables.”

• POST-DATA: 5/7 students reported they look at meaning of word parts

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Results of an MSL Pilot Study

OUTSIDE of STUDY impact

• Students wrote about prefix-root-suffix meanings & used words with these patterns in their journal writing unsolicited

• Students recognized studied morphemes in• content-area readings• silent, independent readings • In environmental print (i.e., EXIT)

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Implications of MSL Pilot Study USE OF MSL STRATEGIES Essential recall tools for reading, writing, listening and

speaking

IMPORTANCE of MAINTENANCE• in light of Common Core requirements• long-term memory

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Common Core Standards Addressing Affixes & Roots

• L.3.4-Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).

• L.4.4.-Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).

• L.6.4-Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., audience, auditory, audible).

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Common Core Standards (Cont’d)

• L.7.4.-Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel).

• L.9-10.4. -Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g., analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy).

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Resources• Ehrlich, I. (1968). Instant vocabulary. New York: Pocket books.

Prefix-root-suffix dictionary that explains the meaning of them and provides sample words that are frequently used in the content areas. provides great resource for new vocabulary • Phythian, B.A. (1989). A concise dictionary of confusables. Great

Britain: Hodder and Stoughton Educational.

• Contrasts words that look and sound familiar on basic and advanced levels. Good for teachers of all grade levels.

• Halfman, P. & Johnson, P.F. (2004). 50 Quick play vocabulary games. East Moline, IL: LinguiSystems Inc.

• A series of vocabulary enhancement games with CD at 2 levels and different game boards.

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Websites

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WEBSITES to find meanings of prefixes, roots and suffixes http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.phphttp://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/vocabulary/pdf/prefixes_suffixes.pdf

Suffixes according to parts of speech: http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/comsuffixes.htm