+II. Core vocabulary: The core of increased capacity 

Sample Text from 4th Grade NAEP (2007)

“I must get help,” said Rosa to herself. But how? I don't know anyone. Mama told me not to speak to strangers. Besides, I don't know how to ask in English.

Rosa had an idea. She rushed back to the street, walked to the traffic light, then raced around the corner and back to the school yard.

Sample item 1: NAEP (2007)

 What does the word "pleading" mean, as it is used in the sentence below?

"Ducks," she said again, her eyes pleading.

yelling begging

looking blinking

Percentage correct: •At basic: 72 •Below basic: 45

Sample item 2: NAEP (2007)

  Explain why Rosa visits the ducks at the beginning of the story. Use details from the story in your answer.

Percentage attaining “3” (Full Comprehension  At Basic: 56  Below Basic: 34

How are American students doing with the core vocabulary?

 National Assessment of Educational Progress (2007): the 50th percentile score was 220; the average score in CA in 2009 was 210

+Features of First-Grade Reading Texts

 Foorman, Francis, Davidson, Harm, & Griffin(2004): As much as 70-84% of the words in the first-grade texts in 2000 appeared only a single time across the instructional blocks of six different programs that they analyzed.

 Hiebert (2005): Rate of new unique words per 100 running words in America’s longest publishing core reading program:   1983: 5   1993: 29   2000: 21   2007: 23

+

Excerpts from 3 consecutive anthology selections & accompanying decodable in a core reading program

•50 words from middle of a 290-word text •Begin. of 3rd trimester of Gr. 1

Text 1 Decodable 1

Cecil does tricks with our dog. They can roll over. WHIRL! WHIRL! They can beg. CREAK! FIZZ! WHIZ! “Shake, Prince,” says Dennis.

“Shake, Cecil,” he says. Doing tricks is not the best thing my robot can do.

Cecil plays hide-and-seek, too. He is always IT. He gives everyone a chance

“Stop!” said Spike. “You stole my stuff!"

"That scamp!" said Skip. "But I have skill and speed. I'll snatch my stuff back."

While Spike slept, Skip sneaked a stone into the bag.

Smack, smack.

"Snack time," said Spike.

"Ugh! A stone!" said Spike.

"Yes!" Skip said with a smile.

Text 2 Decodable 2

Then off he went to market. Hop, hop, hop! Looking in the windows of every kind of shop.

He stopped on the corner where the fruit seller sells fruits of many colors. Oh, what lovely smells!

What a crowd of people dressed in their best! Choosing cheese and brown eggs fresh from the nest.

Jill told me, "Don't bump the lamp."

Don't jump, dump, tramp, slump, bump.

Don't, don't, don't!

That always makes me a grump.

Then they all told me, "Don't be a grump!"

What's a child to do?

Well, I'll find Gramp. Gramp knows I jump, dump, tramp, slump, and bump.

Types of Unique Words (per 100 Words of Text)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1962 1983 1993 2000 2007

Complex Decodable & Multisyllabic Target Decodable HF

0 200 400 600 800

1000 1200 1400 1600

1962 2007

Unique Words per Unit: Grade 1

Words in American Textbooks

(Zeno et al., 1995) % of 17.25 million words

Word ZonesTM

Level A

300 most frequent words; short and long vowels

Level B

600 most frequent words; short, long and r controlled vowels

Level C

1000 most frequent words; all monosyllabic words

Level D

1000 most frequent words; monosyllabic words; two-syllable words with regular vowel patterns

Level E

2,500 most-frequent words (plus monosyllabic words)

Level F

5,000 most frequent words (plus monosyllabic words)

The Speed of Insects

Most insects have wings. Other than birds and bats, insects are the only animals that can fly. Insects fly at different speeds. One kind of fly goes 35 miles an hour. Houseflies go five miles an hour. That's still fast when you are trying to catch a housefly!

Insects without wings jump or crawl. One kind of flea can jump more than one foot into the air. Other insects crawl, such as cockroaches and ants. One kind of cockroach can crawl 3 miles an hour. That's fast for a small insect.

Where Insects Live

When you play in a park, 0 to 2,000 insects may be around you. Some are underground. Others are on plants or trees. You might not see many of these insects because insects often look like the rocks or plants around them. A leaf insect looks like a leaf on the trees around it.

There are more insects on earth than any other kind of animal. Insects live in most places on earth. Some insects even live in water. The only place without insects is the deep water of the sea.

How Insects Help and Hurt

When a housefly buzzes around your head at night, it's a pest! Some insect pests can hurt plants, animals, and people. Flies can carry germs that make people sick. Ticks can feed on animals and even people. Some kinds of insects eat farmers' crops.

However, many insects are helpful to plants, animals, and people. Ladybugs eat the greenflies that eat plants. Without ladybugs, some plants would be eaten by greenflies. Many beetles eat dead things like leaves. By doing this, they help the farmers' crops to grow.

ANCHORING LEARNING IN KNOWLEDGE & COMPREHENSION: SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS: Grade 2

Life Science Earth Science Physical Science

Do Animals Talk? Insects Trees

Weather Water and Us Rocks

Magnets Forces Around Us Thinking Like a Scientist

Civics Geography/Economics

History

National Symbols Being a Citizen Brave Americans

Maps Money Jobs Around Us

Children’s Games Transportation Then and Now Life in Colonial America

Knowledge Acquisition & Comprehension are the core

Linguistic challenges of core vocabulary

 Compound words

 Idioms

 Polysemous meanings

Compound Idiomsoff off season, off-ramp, off-line, offset, offshoot, offshore, offspring,

offstage, off-the-record, off-the-walloff on the wrong foot, off themark, off the record, off thehook

under underachiever, underage, undercharge, underclass, undercover,undercurrent, undercut, underdog, underestimate, undergo,undergraduate, underground, undergrowth, underhand, underhanded,underlie, underline, undermine, underneath, undernourished, underpaid,underpants, underpass, underprivileged, underrated, underscore,undershirt, underside, undersized, understaffed, understand, understate,understudy, undertake, undertone, undertow, underwater, underweight,underworld, underwrite

under a cloud, under control,under cover, under fire, underone`s belt, under one`s breath,under one`s nose, under one`sown steam, under the sun,under the table, under theweather, under the wire, underthe weather, water under thebridge

high knee-high, waist, high, high-born, highbrow, highchair,high-class, high-definition, high explosive, high-frequency,high-grade, high heels, high jinks, high jump, highlands, high-level, highlight, high-minded, high-pitched, high-powered,high pressure, high-profile, high-rise, high roller, high school, high-speed,high-spirited, high-strung, high-tech, high tide, high-tops, highway,

high noon, high and low, beleft high and dry

Compounds & Idioms

High-Frequency Words & Polysemy

back adverb 1)where someone or something was before 2)into the condition that someone or something was in before 3)in the direction that is behind you 4)doing the same thing that someone that s/he has done to you 5)away from someone or something 6)in or toward an earlier time

noun 1) part of your body between your neck and legs, opposite your stomach and chest. 2) part of something that is furthest from the front 3) part of a seat that you lean against when you are sitting

verb 1)to move backwards, or to move a vehicle move backwards 2)to support someone or something, especially by using your money or power

adjective 1)at the back of something

Instruction in Compounds & Idioms

  Developing awareness of vocabulary relative to surrounding text: The idea that learning more vocabulary is not just learning new words; it is often learning familiar words in new combinations (Woolard, 2000)

  Collecting & categorizing: Vocabulary logs & notebooks

  Focusing on key words: Some common words are highly prolific in compound words and idioms (Lewis, 1997). Another form of compounding is frequent in content areas (e.g., carbon dioxide, air pressure, scientific method)

  Using resources: Dictionaries for ESL (e.g., Longman’s Dictionary of American English which uses West’s (1953) 2,000 head words for definitions)