Do This, Not That! 10 Strategies to Update Your Vocabulary Instruction Across the Content Areas Lori G. Wilfong, Ph.D. Kent State University Website with all handouts and information Vocabularystratsthatwork.pbworks.com Agenda O Who are we and how do we teach vocabulary right now? O 10 ways to update your vocab practices: O Tiering words O Vocabulary Readers Theatre O Defining words in 3 words or less O Assessing in the oral domain O Teaching Greek and Latin roots using the Root word tree O Using symbols/illustrations to cement word knowledge O Using a word wall O Nook and Cranny strategies O Opportunities for reading O Modeling appropriate academic language Four Corners O Purpose: O Get students actively sharing their opinions (I am all about the kinesthetic !) What do you teach currently? Language ArtsMath ScienceSocial Studies Other How do you choose which vocabulary words to teach? Whatever the book tells me to A list my district gives me Overlapping words with my content area colleagues Other What is your current favorite vocabulary strategy? Concept MapsI Have, Who Has Draw the meaning Other Strategy #1 Do this : Tier your words to decide which vocabulary to focus on Not that : Teach all words without thinking about where your instructional bang is Figuring out which words to teach O Tier 1/General O Commonplace; learned from interactions with texts and people O Tier 2/Specialized O Change meaning with context (polysemic) O Tier 3/Technical O Specific to the discipline Civil Rights Vocabulary Integrate Boycott Sit-in Amendment Nonviolence Barricade Constitutional Icon Rights Violate Strategy #2 Do this : Strategies that allow students to experience and manipulate words in interesting ways like Vocabulary Readers Theatre Not that : Have students look up lists of words in the dictionary, write arbitrary sentences or copy words multiple times Social Studies Example! SenatebicameralVeto How laws get passed System of checks and balances 2 reps per state 2 house legislature Power to override Social Studies Example! Strategy #3 Do this : Ask students to come up with their own definitions Not that : Have students simply copy definitions Steps in the process O Always place words in context first O Model, model, model O Limit the number of words as students grow adept at this strategy. O Provide appropriate online and text based dictionaries to suit student needs O Jigsaw to share meanings Example O The Highest Tide (Lynch, 2005) He had none of his daylight swagger. O Dictionary definitions: SWAGGER: Walk or behave in a very confident and typically arrogant or aggressive way; strut; brag; prance O Place back in context Which definition is appropriate to the sentence used? O 3 WORDS OR LESS! Strategy #4 Do this : Assess student use of words in authentic writing and speaking. Not that : Give students matching tests that only show memorization of definitions Updating Think-Pair-Share Strategy #5 Do this : Teaching students strategies to figure out words that they do not know like Greek and Latin roots and analogies Not that : Telling students to use context clues only to figure out an unknown word TELE Latin - far Telephone Telegraph Telemarketer Telecaster Telescope Strategy #6 Do this : Use symbols and pictures to help bring vocabulary to life Not that : Do not give visual cues to help students learn about new words Sketch to Stretch with vocabulary O Choose a text with clear stopping points. Designate them before the activity begins O Ask students to have sticky notes handy or recreate text on paper so that there is space for notes or drawing in the margins O Read the first paragraph and stop to nominate a word for sketching Is a word worthy of investigation? Sample S2S template Strategy #7 Do this : Highlight and use a word wall in classroom instruction Not that : Do not have a word wall in the class or have a word wall and do not use it effectively. Goals O Support principles about words O Foster reading and writing O Reference O Promote independence O Visual Map O Core of words Types of word walls O Commonly misspelled words/high-frequency words O Subject specific math unit, time in history, science concept, etc. Semantic Feature Analysis Word Wall WORDLanguage Arts MathScienceSocial Studies Other Base Bottom of an object Number multiplied by exponent React with acids Military center Support of pyramid (cheerleading!) Strategy #8 Do this : Find time to work vocabulary in all the time so that it has context and meaning Not that : Spend a large chunk of language arts time working on vocabulary in isolation Word jars O Encourage students to become collectors of words O Words that tickle my ears O Words that warm my heart O Words that make me feel smarter Strategy #9 Do this : Allow opportunities for wide reading so that students are exposed to words all of the time, in a variety of books. Not that : Teach only whole-class books/texts with controlled vocabulary study Some hard facts: O Students will encounter roughly 500,000 new words between kindergarten and 12 th grade O Divide that number in half O Students will need to learn about 107 words a day, 180 days a year (without absences!) O But we can only teach 6-8 a week through direct instruction! Organizing for SSR O The Three Ts (based on Allingtons 6Ts of reading instruction) O Time O Texts O Tasks Strategy #10 Do this : Model the use of academic language at all times, setting high expectations for language use Not that : Use kid language around the students and allowing students to speak kid back Teacher talk Precise vs. Nonprecise vocabulary (Costa & Marzano, 2001) NonprecisePrecise Look atCompare these What will happen?Predict what will happen.... Place into groupsClassify Work this problemAnalyze this problem What do you think?What conclusions do you come to? How do you explain?What hypotheses explain? With someone sitting next to you O Come up with 2 things you say in the classroom all the time O Then, replace this with more precise language O Example: O Eyes on me! O Focus your attention on the teacher. With someone sitting next to you O Come up with a list of 4 things that students say all of the time O Then, come up with replacement, precise language for your students. O Example: Im bored. O Replace with: This no longer interests me. Learn more!!! Thank you so much for your active participation!