vocabulary: a powerful connection to comprehension tamara konrade [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
4 Types of Vocabulary
Listening: words we understand when others talk to us
Speaking: words we use when we talk to others
Reading: words we know when we see them in print
Writing: words we use when we write
Why Vocabulary is Important…
The Vocabulary Gap
Grade Average Student (2.4 root words per day)
Bottom 25%(1.6 root words per day)
End of Pre-K 3,440 2,440
End of K 4,300 3,016End of Grade 1 5,160 3,592
End of Grade 2 6,020 4,168*Anglin 1993; Biemiller and Slonim 2001; Biemiller 2005
Research shows that average students learn approximately 7 words per day (Miller, 1978).
At-risk students are learning less than 1-2 words per day or none at all.
How Vocabulary is Learned
• Indirectly: Children learn the meanings of most words through everyday experiences:– having conversations with adults and peers– hearing stories– reading extensively
• Directly: Children learn vocabulary when they are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies:– morphemic analysis– contextual analysis
Variation in Amount of Independent Reading
Anderson, R. C. (1992)
PercentileRank
Minutes Per Day Words Read Per Year
Books Text Books Text
98 65.0 67.3 4,358,000 4,733,000
90 21.2 33.4 1,823,000 2,357,000
80 14.2 24.6 1,146,000 1,697,000
70 9.6 16.9 622,000 1,168,000
60 6.5 13.1 432,000 722,000
50 4.6 9.2 282,000 601,000
40 3.2 6.2 200,000 421,000
30 1.8 4.3 106,000 251,000
20 0.7 2.4 21,000 134,000
10 0.1 1.0 8,000 51,000
2 0 0 0 8,000
FREQUENT WORDS RARE WORDS
Adults talking to children 95.6 9.9
Adults talking to adults 93.9 17.3
Prime-time TV: adult 94.0 22.7
Children’s Books 92.3 30.9
Comic Books 88.6 53.5
Books-Adult 88.4 52.7
Popular Magazines 85.0 65.7
Newspapers 84.3 68.3
Abstracts of Scientific Papers
70.3 128.2
Frequent words = percentage of text from most frequent 1,000 words
Rare words = number of rare words (not in most common 10,000) per 1,000 tokens
Source: Hayes and Ahrens 1988
Common and Uncommon Words
Target vocabulary should include:
– Words that are important for understanding the text or content (and that are not explained within the text).
– Words that students will encounter often, functionally important words.
Selecting Words
Kindergarten
(Read Aloud)
Grade 1
(Read Aloud)
Grade 2
(Read Aloud)
Grade 2-8
(Independent Text)
3-4 words per book at 1-2 books per week.
4-5 words per book at 1-2 books per week.
5-6 words per book at 1-2 books per week.
3-10 words per selection at one selection per week.
~Based on Beck et al. 2002
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 conceptual understanding
Uncommon words that are typically associated with a specific domain
Examples clock, baby, happy sinister, fortunate, adapt
isotope, peninsula, bucolic
(Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002)
Selecting Words to Teach
Demands of Text• Narrative
– Unnecessary to know all the word--gist of the story.– Learning new words often involves learning a new term for a
known concept.– Words are usually unrelated to each other.
• Expository – Word meanings are closely tied to major topic.– New vocabulary is rarely associated with familiar concepts.– Words are often related to each other (e.g., metamorphosis,
pupa, and larvae).
B3: Vocabulary Tested Indicators
▲Context Clues (3-HS)
definitions, restatements, examples, descriptions, comparison-contrast, clue words, cause-effect
▲Structural Analysis (3-HS)
roots, prefixes, suffixes
▲Figurative Language (6-HS)
similes, metaphors, analogies, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, personification, idioms, imagery, and symbolism
B3: Vocabulary Tested Indicators
▲Context Clues (3-HS)
definitions, restatements, examples, descriptions, comparison-contrast, clue words, cause-effect
▲Structural Analysis (3-HS)
roots, prefixes, suffixes
▲Figurative Language (6-HS)
similes, metaphors, analogies, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, personification, idioms, imagery, and symbolism
Contextual Analysis
“Clue instruction appears to be more effective than other instruction types or just practice.”
Analysis by Fukkink and de Glopper (1998)
Contextual Analysis Strategy
• Look for Context Clues in the words, phrases, and sentences surrounding the unfamiliar word. Determine:– Signal Words or Punctuation– Type of Context Clue
Highlight different context clues you
find in the article.
B3: Vocabulary Tested Indicators
▲Context Clues (3-HS)
definitions, restatements, examples, descriptions, comparison-contrast, clue words, cause-effect
▲Structural Analysis (3-HS)
roots, prefixes, suffixes
▲Figurative Language (6-HS)
similes, metaphors, analogies, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, personification, idioms, imagery, and symbolism
Facts about Prefixes
Twenty prefixes account for 97 percent of the prefixed words in school reading materials.
Four prefixes (un-, re-, in-, and dis-) account for 58 percent of all prefixed words.
Highlight your grade level prefixes and suffixes.
Structural Analysis Strategy
• Look for the Root Word. What does it mean?
• Look for a Prefix. What does it mean?
• Look for a Suffix. What does it mean?
• Put the Meanings of the Word Parts Together. What is the meaning of the whole word?
B3: Vocabulary Tested Indicators
▲Context Clues (3-HS)
definitions, restatements, examples, descriptions, comparison-contrast, clue words, cause-effect
▲Structural Analysis (3-HS)
roots, prefixes, suffixes
▲Figurative Language (6-HS)
similes, metaphors, analogies, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, personification, idioms, imagery, and symbolism
Vocabulary Activities
• Kansas Parent Information Resource Center: http://www.kpirc.org
Attributes: Roll the Dice
1. Start with the stack of reading standards vocabulary cards.
2. Choose a vocabulary card and roll the dice.
3. Give attributes or something you’ve learned for each vocabulary word you draw (roll a 3 = 3 attributes).
Alphaboxes
• At your table, write one word that relates to the state reading assessment.
Word Sorts
Sort the words relating to reading standards into categories.
Graphic Organizers
Pictures / Objects / Videos