reading association of ireland summer seminar colaiste mhuire, marino institute of education may 20...
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Reading Association of Ireland Summer Seminar
Colaiste Mhuire,Marino Institute of Education
May 20th 2009
Gene Mehigan
A person who knows more words can speak and think more precisely about the world
scarlet, crimson, azure, indigo
red, blue
Listening Vocabulary Reading Vocabulary
Speaking Vocabulary Writing Vocabulary
Gene Mehigan Colaiste Mhuire, MIE
Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies.
Infants 1st &2nd 3rd & 4th 5th & 6th
Oral Language
- experience challenging vocabulary and sentencestructure from the teacher
- experiment with more elaborate vocabulary and sentence structure in order to extend and explore meaning
~ experience the teacher’s use of challenging vocabulary and sentence structure
- experience from the teacher a growing elaborationand sophistication in the use of vocabulary andsentence structure
Reading - build up a sight vocabulary of common words
- continue to build a sight vocabulary of common words from books read and from personal experience
Writing - to use dictionaries and thesauruses to extend and developvocabulary and spelling
Reading vocabulary“word-synthesis and word-analysis skills, which receive much attention
in the early stages of the teaching of reading, can, in Middle an Senior classes, be developed more fully and used in conjunction with vocabulary-building activity”
Curaclam na Bunscoile (1971) (p.106)
26 letters of the alphabet 44 phonemes 75,000 words It is clear that teachers must teach
the sounds and letters systematically and explicitly — the challenge is how to teach 75,000 words.
Talk Wide reading Books Word consciousness Word study Direct instruction (includes teaching individual
words and word learning strategies)
Research indicates a strong correlational relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension (Snow et al, 1995; Beimiller, 1999; Blachowicz et al 2006)
Comprehension (the ultimate goal of reading) improves when you know what the words mean.
Good vocabulary teaching makes students excited about words and leads them to attend more closely to them. (Stahl & Shiel, 1999)
Words are the currency of communication. A robust vocabulary improves all areas of communication — listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Oral vocabulary is a key to learning to make the transition from oral to written forms
Relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension – both ways
Goal of early reading instruction is to teach children to recognise (decode) words whose meanings they already know
When young children pronounce written words, those words need to match with meanings in their speech
Early years – primary source is oral language experience – often context related (e.g. urban/rural)- Tend to define words using synonyms/functions/attributes rather than taxonomically . Tell me something ......
1st – 2nd class(ish) – vocabulary related to content- start to use print as a source of learning new words- vocabulary in read-alouds more advanced than books read independently- reading vocabulary still typically more limited than listening vocabulary- understand the use of prefixes, suffixes, compound words, abbreviations
Middle/senior classes – use print as a major source for learning new words- content-area vocabulary, more abstract words, literal and figurative meanings of words (metaphors, idioms), use of dictionaries
Move from learning words orally to learning words from written texts
Create the experiences to allow students to learn new words based on words they are familiar with
hope – hopeful; stop – unstoppable; multiple meanings e.g. Sound
Enable children to learn and use vocabulary strategies
Not just learning to recognize words (in print)
Acquiring new meaning
In-depth word knowledge
Difference between vocabulary needed to understand the story and enhancing/developing vocabulary
Pre-teaching doesn’t take advantage of text context
obstinate ingenious
During reading “explain-quickly-and-go-on” reading
After reading -opportunity for robust, directed vocabulary teaching on selected words (Beck et al, 2008)
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Description Basic words that most children know before entering school
Words that appear frequently in texts and for which students already have some conceptual understanding
Uncommon words that are typically associated with a specific domain
Examples clock, baby, happy sinister, fortunate, curious
isotope, peninsula, cumulus
(Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002) Gene Mehigan
Colaiste Mhuire, MIE
Tier 2 Words
Example 1“Mark avoided playing the ukulele.”
Which one word would you choose to teach?
Example 2
isotope, coincidence, absurd, latheWhich words are Tier 2 words?
Mary saw her father, holding a parcel, emerge from the elevator.
As John sat on the bench he thought about the injustice of having been sent off for such a mild tackle.
Research shows that we need to encounter a word about 12 times or more before we know it well enough to help us comprehend what we read
(McKeown, Beck, Omanson and Pople, 1985)
When students have enough encounters with a word, they’ll begin to use it in their writing and speech
Association Level:“I am familiar with the word; I remember seeing or
hearing it before.”
Comprehension Level:“I know the word and understand what it means.”
Generation Level:“I know the word well; I can use it in my conversations or
in my writing.”
Word
I know the word well; I can use it in my conversations or in my writing.
I know the word and understand what it means
I am familiar with the word; I remember seeing or hearing it before.
I don’t know the word
lap
fictile
score
hippopotamus
truculent
craven
Which words did you know immediately? Which ones do you use in speech or writing?
Which words did you recognize but had to think about before defining? Would you feel confident enough to use them in conversation or in a paper that your colleagues would read?
Were there any words that you just didn’t know?
(from The Vocabulary Book, Graves, 2006)
Providing Rich & Varied Language Experiences: Independent reading, reading aloud, exposure to oral language (speaking, listening, discussion), writing.
Teaching Individual Words: Instruction in select words found in texts read independently or read aloud, and words to be used in writing.
Teaching Word-Learning Strategies: Teaching structural analysis (roots, affixes, Latin/Greek cognates), contextual analysis, and the use of tools (dictionary & thesaurus).
Promoting Word Consciousness. Word and language play, figurative language, and developing metacognitive knowledge with regard to words.
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May not be sufficient as a means of teaching new meanings
Although John was very rich, his brother was destitute.
unconcerned, generous, charitable, not jealous
Careful of dictionary only approach e.g. erode – “to eat out”
My family erodes a lot.
extinguish – “to put out” Every night my mother extinguishes the cat.
Two principles
- characterise the word and how it is typically used- explain the meaning in everyday language
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Story Sentence Meaning Our SentenceThen it reached up, broke some leafy branches with a snap, and draped them over the mass of torn thick flesh.
To place casually and loosely; to hang or arrange in folds
We draped the flag from the top window of our school one week before the big hurling match.
Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees.
To come into view; to come up to the surface
Shane can swim under water for one minute before he needs to emerge to breath
Definitional & Contextual Information
Vocabulary Words
Definitions Contexts
Reword Definitions / Child Friendly
Create sentences or stories using new vocabulary
Synonyms Examples
Antonyms Non-examples
Discuss Multiple Meanings
Gene Mehigan Colaiste Mhuire, MIE
Reluctant
1. feeling or showing aversion, hesitation, or unwillingness
2. this word describes when we do not want to do something or we are not sure about doing something
Lisa was reluctant to eat the liver and onions that her grandmother had cooked for her.
Which one would you be reluctant to hold: a kitten or a rattlesnake?
What would you be reluctant to do? “I would be reluctant to …”
Gene Mehigan Colaiste Mhuire, MIE
Dictionary entries work best when you already know something about the word, not when introducing new words.
Once you already know something about a word, use a dictionary to Determine if the word you are using is the right
choice in a context. See if the word has other forms (adj. or adv.). Identify additional meanings of a word. Trace history of word/word origins
Gene Mehigan Colaiste Mhuire, MIE
Clear & Understandable Definitions
Paperback: 1088 pages Publisher: Harpercollins Canada; 2nd edition
(January 2002) ISBN: 0007120346
Defines words in easy to understand language and gives a sample sentence for each word.
e.g. furious
Definition: “if someone is furious, they are extremely angry”
Sentence: “He was furious at the way his wife had been treated”
Semantic Mapping Semantic Feature Analysis Teaching concepts through comparisons Word Map Encouraging Deep Processing Read and React
Gene Mehigan Colaiste Mhuire, MIE
Jam, lap, Strict interpretation vs Strict parentSoundScoreDown – computer, sun, swallow, tie
securely,stocks, elevator, record,
feathers, mood, bet, finished, historical, homeless
Word in Book
Means in Book Other Meaning (O), Synonym (S), Antonym (A)
Other Words or Interesting Information
scoreResult in the game
O: twenty
O: mark
Music
Settle a score
jamSticky stuff for putting on your bread
O: traffic
O: play music
stepPart of a stairs
O: stages
O: raising a foot and setting it down again
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Multiple-Meaning Words
viola oboe bassoon trianglebrass violin clarinet pianodouble bass cymbals woodwind trumpetfrench horn percussion
Record “new” or “interesting” words on vocabulary log sheets or book marks
Add words to a class Word Wall from independent readings
Use the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (Haggard, 1982)
Illustrate a word
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COOL COOL WordsWordsWrite new, interesting, or unusual words
____________________________________________________________Name _______Date ________Book ____________________
37Baumann, Ware, Edwards. (2003) IRA Elva Knight Research Grant.
Word WallWord Wall
clou wheather ee ch sp
ieieceiie no ways it ways sigh
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Strategy adapted from: Nickelsen, L. (1999). Quick activities to build a voluminous vocabulary. New York: Scholastic, page 19.
Learn & Draw a Word
Word: inaudible Means: can’t be heard
Synonym: silent Antonym: noisy
Sentence & PictureThe whistle wasinaudible to me,but my dog Butch
could hear it well.
Purpose: To maintain learned vocabulary. Directions:
Put vocabulary words randomly on a chart, whiteboard, overhead transparency.
Form two teams and give each team a different coloured fly swatter.
As you read the child friendly definition, the first two children in line will find and swat the correct word.
Continue until all children have had at least one turn.
man gate pig house
trousers hat wellies waistcoat
roof field sky ground
hedge grass trotters ears
post leaf arm leg
fingers hill eyes hair
wall stance nose view
waist cheek shoulder soil
hinge heel pocket foliage
conversation surprise understand blue
corner tiles mouth horizon
Good vocabulary teaching makes students excited about words and leads them to attend more closely to them.
(Stahl & Shiel, 1999)
Usually discussed within the context of its relationship with reading comprehension
Correlation between vocabulary and general reading ability is significant throughout the primary school years
Vocabulary is a causal determinant of differences in reading ability and comprehension specifically
Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press.
Biemiller, A. (1999). Language and reading success. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Graves, M.F. (2006). The Vocabulary Book: Learning & Instruction. New York Teachers: Co- published by Teachers College Press, International Reading Association, and National Council of Teachers of English.
Scott J. A. & Nagy W.E. (2004). Developing word consciousness. In
J.F. Baumann & E.J. Kame’enui (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp. 201-217). New York: Guilford Press