Kinds of Words: Tier 1,2,3Tier 1:Rarely require instructional attention in schoolHigh frequency of useE.g., happy, jump, clockTier 2: High utility High frequency for mature language usersFound across a variety of domainsVary according to age and developmentWords that we sometimes assume student know, but often they have only heard the word..E.g., glance, confident, commotion, regretTier 3:Low frequency, often limited to content-specific domainsImportant to learn when specific need arisesOften critical for content area learningE.g., peninsula, habitat, climate, evaporation

(adapted from Isabel Beck & Margaret McKeown, Bringing Words to Life

A Few Key Points from Researchabout Vocabulary Development1. Vocabulary is one of the strongest contributors to comprehension.2. Significant differences among students levels of vocabulary acquisition are present from a very early age, and it takes intentional, focused effort from the earliest years onward -- to close those gaps. 3. Its important to think carefully about WHICH words to teach. (next slide addresses this)

A Few Key Points from Research [continued]4. There are different levels of knowing a wordWords are labels for concepts or relationshipsNot an all-or nothing situation!More like a continuous process, building degrees of understanding, forming a network of understandingsHighly influenced by prior knowledgeTry this with jib 5. There are some key conditions for vocabulary development (language-rich environments, connections to real-life experiences, etc.)

A Few Key Points from Research, [continued]6.Vocabulary instruction needs to include: Explicit, direct instruction of words and Opportunities for incidental learning ( through carefully selected teacher read-alouds, use of rich language in classroom , discussion, wide reading)7. The most effective approaches to vocabulary development include:Active learningConnections to previous knowledge of concepts, related wordsMultiple repetitions ( 10-40 are needed!) Keeping words accessible/visible is key to accomplishing this!

A Possible Way to Manage the Explicit Teaching Portion of Vocabulary Development

* * * * * * * *** * * * * * * Collect and explore Tier 2 words On Friday, select keepers * * over the course of a week * * * for explicit instruction * (e.g. from read aloud, discussion, * and continual review in * * grade-level text). * * * following weeks. * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * Keepers * * * * * Direct instruction of Tier 2 (Keeper) words and review of previously studied words would be happening simultaneously throughout each week as well as pre-reading and incidental vocabulary instruction. Periodic assessment of Keepers would also take place perhaps every other week, using some of the current keepers and some from previous weeks. S. Biggam, N Woods, 2005

A few sample tools or strategies for assessing vocabulary within the classroomSample approaches:Add a checklist or rubric to a vocabulary activity (e.g., Semantic Feature AnalysisWord LinesPolar Opposites LadderFrayer modelConcept Circles (Vacca and Vacca, 1986)

Have a two- or three-minute vocabulary review conference. Check the meaning of five to ten words. Have students do partner quizzes, on five or ten previously studied words (handle like a spelling test) Have an everyone gets 5 quiz : students are handed index cards of five previously studied words; they write a sentence and/or otherwise demonstrate their knowledge of the word. ( drawing, graphic etc.) Vocabulary Rating Sheet (How Well do I Know This Word?)Pose Meaningful Use vocabulary questions or quick vocabulary-checking activities

Vocabulary Rating Scale

Sample Meaningful Use vocabulary questions or quick vocabulary-checking activities

Applause/applause; Clap if you agree:Soccer is a gentle sport.Ice cream is usually bitter.Riding a bike can be exhausting.YEA/Nay: Could a container be hollow? Which would be more likely to hover: a hummingbird or a shark? Would you be more dubious if your mother baked a cake or if your grandmother ran a marathon? If what I say could be leisurely, say it could be leisurely. If not, say no wayE.g., a marathon, a stroll, a saunter, a shuffle, a jog, a sprint, a nap Why might an animal snarl at someone? Tell about some time when something was a coincidence. Which would you do if you wanted to look quickly at someone or something? Glance or gape? When would condolences not be appropriate? Evasive people like to say exactly what they mean. True? False?

(adapted from Isabel Beck, Bringing Words to Life, 2002

See if you can come up with a meaningful use vocabulary task or question for two of the words in any given row

K- 2: alert, stranded, cautiously

3-6: dreary, subtle, intrigued

6-8 : irrelevant ,spectacle, constrained

Caveats: Vocabulary AssessmentIt IS important to doIf we do not assess vocabulary, we do not know whether or not students are learning, we do not know which students need more focus on vocabulary, and we do not know if our instruction is effectiveBut keep in mindThere is no single agreed-upon list of what words should be known at a certain age.It probably takes a couple of years of intentional vocabulary work to show an impact on a standardized reading measure, because of the sampling of words from a broad domain. (Beck, 2005) There are different levels of knowing a word.There are different ways of displaying knowledge of a word.

Thinking ahead how might this information be used? What kinds of patterns might be seen?How differentiation might take place?in a classroom setting?in other settings?

A Few Vocabulary Resources

Words Words Words by Janet AllenBringing Words to Life by Beck, McKeown and KucanTeaching Vocabulary in All Classsrooms: Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement. ASCD. By Robert Marzano