Vocabulary at Stretford High School

Why closing the word gap is a whole school issue

Sarah Eggleton, Assistant Headteacher and Head of English

It started with a book…

What we learnt:• Tier 2 v Tier 3• Strength – multiple exposures and

repeated practice• Depth – adding detail to understanding

and thinking ‘hard’• Elaboration – new associations and

varied connections made with new information

Which led to a computer programme…

PROS CONS

Set as homework no planning or teaching time

Chasing up non completionIt felt like an add on rather than an embedded part of our teaching

Self marked /all online Lots of glitches

Cross curricular content Not always the words we needed – difficult to differentiate

Which led to a rethink…

• After a nightmare year of constant admin, phone calls home, stressed and frustrated staff and students and little impact we knew Bedrock wasn’t working for our school

• People are better than machines! We can do this ourselves!

• Devised a word list to match every SOW in KS3 thinking about what words could be utilised in KS4 – for example Yr 7 scheme of work on Taming of the Shrew includes Patriarchal, Obstinate, Dominant etc which can be applied to Yr 8 study of Macbeth and KS4 study of Romeo and Juliet

• Devised a consistent teaching approach and structured interleaved exposure

• Trialled for one year in English

Answer the following questions:

Think about what you know about when Shakespeare was alive and writing plays.

1. How did the patriarchal society affect how his plays could be performed on the stage?

2. In a patriarchal society, fathers may choose who their daughter marries. Apart from the father having power, why else might a father want to choose a husband for his daughter? Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

It worked!

• We LOVED teaching it!

• The students loved learning and using their new vocabulary

BUT it wasn’t enough…

Which led to whole school…What we wanted to achieve:

• Whole school impact – students being explicitly taught vocabulary in every subject area – literacy is not English

• Staff and student awareness of vocabulary – etymology and morphology to enable greater independent understanding of previously unseen words in the future

• A consistent approach

• A spiral curriculum – teaching vocabulary throughout KS3 that will better enable access to and understanding of KS4 curriculum

• Improved student outcomes – with greater understanding of exam questions and more sophisticated written communication pupils will improve their outcomes over time

How we got there

• Training, training and more training

We have led about 6 sessions on vocabulary teaching in the last two years from the rationale to different teaching strategies

• Clear, simple expectations

i. Year 9 only in Year 1

ii. Six words per term

iii. The Frayer model must be used

iv. High expectations for all students

How we got there• Support, monitoring and chasing – determined and dogged!

i. Folder in public area for words and resources checked by assistant headteacher and literacy co-ordinator

ii. Learning walks – developmental, supportive and celebrated

iii. More training – recapping and re-explaining

iv. Learning walks

v. 1-1 support

vi. Staff and student voice

vii. More training – how to overcome barriers and developing creative teaching strategies

Next steps

• We’re rolling out explicit vocabulary teaching in all subjects to Years 7 and 8

• Explore how to extend the explicit vocabulary teaching to KS4

• Develop opportunities for cross curricular reading that will support students with vocabulary deficit

• Developing strategies to encourage academic writing – sentence structure and organisation as well as vocabulary so students can harness their new found vocabulary

What we’ve learnt

• Repeat everything – training, expectations, deadlines

• Support and understand

• Be positive in the face of adversity

• Keep it simple

• Be flexible

Physicality

Definition: The way in which an actor uses their body to create meaning.

Think, Pair, Share: Why might physicality be considered more

important than vocals?

Group Task:

Use your physicality to demonstrate an emotion to the

class.

The actor used their

physicality to

demonstrate their character’s sadness.

In the performance,

physicality was used to

demonstrate the intimacy of the character’s

relationship.

Do now: Explicit Vocabulary teachingCopy and complete the box below:

Get out all of your equipment (pen, pencil, ruler, rubber) and be ready to learn.

Reproducible

My definition

Other meanings Example sentence

AQA definitionA measurement is reproducible if the investigation is repeated by another person, or by using different equipment or techniques, and the same results are obtained. Previously known as reliable.

What have students said?

‘The use of the Frayer model really helps me to remember the meanings. Working out

the synonyms and antonyms is the most beneficial part but I find the etymology interesting

and it gives the word meaning.’

Lily

‘Using the word in a sentence is easier

than understanding the etymology

Luke’

‘I love learning new things. This includes the vocabulary and

the Latin meaning. It helps me to understand the word and so

remember it.’Simab

‘I love finding the synonyms on my own –

it shows me that I understand the word!’

Meisa

‘The etymology and the synonyms and antonyms are important because they help me to remember the word.’

Samiya

‘I love the Frayer model format – I love how it is everywhere and now I

understand it I know its going to give me vocabulary that will make me sound

more technical in my writing.’Emily

‘The Frayer model perfectly presents new

words – I can picture it in my head when I am using the words in a

sentence.’Ifaaz

‘Its really noticeable so I can find it in my book – its

consistent.’James

Reflection - how has this strategy been received?

‘Aspirational words are enhancing students’ written

and oral responses and enhancing their vocabulary.’

‘I’ve actually enjoyed it. It’s a bit like a game. I think

that the consistency of the approach across the whole

school is really working. Even if they can’t

remember the word they can easily refer back to it in

their book.’

‘The students are well practised because they do it so often and this makes it a quicker exercise – they are well able to come up with their own synonyms and

antonyms.’

‘Due to time restrictions given as

a homework and then go through for 10 minutes in class

as a starter or plenary.’

‘Students are able to use the correct

terminology when answering questions and they seem more

confident in lesson. In turn they become more resilient and are more willing to give things a

go.’