Tools for vocabulary instruction

ToolsforVocabularyInstruction

Researchalsodemonstratesthatvocabularydeficitsareasignificantdetrimenttoreading,andthatlearners’variedlevelsofvocabularyknowledgesignificantlywidenstheliteracyachievementgap.AccordingtoBiemiller,whileaveragestudentsacquireanaverageof2.4rootwordsaday,studentsatthebottomquartileacquireonlyanaverageof1.6rootwordsperday.Withoutfocusedintervention,thisproblemcompoundsovertime,asdemonstratedbelow:

Grade AverageStudent(at2.4rootwordsperday)

Bottom25%(at1.6rootwordsperday)

EndofPre‐K 3,440 2,440EndofK 4,300 3,016EndofGrade1 5,160 3,592EndofGrade2 6,020 4,168

Source:Diamond,Gutlohn,Honig,TeachingReadingSourcebook,2008,p.413

Aneffectivestrategytoincreaseliteracyachievement,andnarrowtheknowledgegap,istofocusvocabularyinstructiononrootwordacquisition.Vocabularyresearchersbasicallyagreeonthenumberofwordsthatcanbedirectlytaughtinaschoolyear.2wordsperdaycanbetaughtdirectlyor10perweek.

PerSchoolWeek PerSchoolYear/180days Researcherabout10 360rootwords Biemiller2005aabout8to10 about400wordfamilies Becketal.2002about8to10 300to400wordfamilies Stahletal1986

Source:Diamond,Gutlohn,Honig,TeachingReadingSourcebook,2008,p.412

Thefirststepinteachingvocabularyisdecidingwhichwordswillbetaughtdirectly.Newwordsarelearnedmoreeffectivelyinarichcontext.Selectingwordsthatstudentswillencounterinavarietyoftextsallowsmultipleexposuresandahigherprobabilityofacquisition.Therefore,selectingwordsthatstudentswillcomeacrossinbooksinsideandoutsideofschoolandthatwillbeusefulinreading(notjusthighfrequencywords)makesthetaskoflearningthewordsmoreworthwhileandpurposefulforstudents(McKeown,Beck,Omanson,&Pople,1985).

Beck,etal.,(2002)describesapracticalmethodofselectingtermsforexplicitinstruction.Thismethodincludescategorizingwordsintothreeareas:• Basicwords(tierone)knownbymoststudentsataparticulargradelevel(e.g.,ball,person,bike)• High‐utilitywords(tiertwo)thatstudentsencounterfrequentlyinmanycontextsandacrosscontent

areas(e.g,compare,examine,coincidence)• Content‐specificwords(tierthree)pertainingtoasubjectareathatoftenlackgeneralizationtoother

subjectareas(e.g.,photosynthesisorquadrilateral)

Basicwordsrarelyrequireinstructionformoststudents.However,ELLstudentsmayneedadditionalinstructionintieronewords.Beckrecommendsprovidingexplicitinstructiononthehigh‐utilitywords(tiertwo)inreadingclasses.Teachersselecttiertwowordsbasedontheimportanceandutility,theinstructionalpotential,andstudent’sconceptualunderstanding(Beck,2002).Theword“collaboration”isanexamplebecausestudentshaveaconceptualunderstandingofwhatitmeansto“worktogether,”eventhoughtheymaynotknowcollaboration.Content‐specificwordsarebestlearnedinthesubjectareawheretheyareencountered.Choosecontent‐specificwordsthatarethemostimportantforunderstandingtheconceptsthatstudentsareexpectedtolearn.Preteachingtheseimportantwordsbeforereadingthetextwillhelpstudentstocomprehendathigherlevels(Louisiana’sAdolescentLiteracyPlan,2010).

Graves,Juel,&Graves(1998)developedcriteriafornarrowingthelistofwordsanddecidingwhichwordstoteach:

• Identifythewordsstudentsdonotknow• Identifythemoreimportantwords• Identifythewordsstudentsmaynotbeabletofigureoutontheirown• IdentifywordsstudentswillencounterfrequentlyThesecondstepinteachingvocabularyisprovidingexplicitinstructionforthewordsyouhavechosen.AccordingtotheNationalReadingPanel(2002),explicitinstructionofvocabularyishighlyeffective.AllofthestudiesoftheNRPfoundthatbothcomprehensionandvocabularyimprovedasaresultofexplicitanddirectinstruction(NICHD,2000).WilliamE.Nagy(TeachingVocabularytoImproveReadingComprehension,1988,InternationalReadingAssociation)tellsusthat“effectivevocabularyinstructionhelpsthelearnertousetheinstructedwordsmeaningfully.Onemotivationforthispropertyissimplythatstudentslearnmorewhentheyareactivelyinvolved.Anotheriswhathasbeencalled“depthofprocessing.”Simplystated,themoredeeplysomeinformationisprocessed,themorelikelyitistoberemembered.Inotherwords,vocabularyinstructionthatmakesstudentsthinkaboutthemeaningofawordanddemandsthattheydosomemeaningfulprocessingofthewordwillbemoreeffectivethaninstructionthatdoesnot.”TwoframeworksorroutinesthatencompassexplicitinstructionanddeepprocessingareMarzano’ssix‐stepprocessandtheInstructionalRoutineforTeachingCritical,UnknownVocabularyWordsfromtheWesternRegionalReadingFirstTechnicalAssistanceCenter.

Marzano’s(2004)six‐stepprocessisaframeworkforprovidingdirectandexplicitinstructiontofurtherdevelopwordmeanings.Activeengagementisinfusedthroughouttheframework.• Provideadescription,explanation,orexampleofthenewterm.(Includeanon‐linguistic

representationofthetermforELLstudents).• Askstudentstorestatethedescription,explanation,orexampleintheirownwords.(Allowstudents

whoseprimaryexistingknowledgebaseisstillintheirnativelanguagetowriteinit).• Askstudentstoconstructapicture,symbol,orgraphicrepresentingtheword.• Engagestudentsperiodicallyinactivitiesthathelpthemaddtotheirknowledgeofthetermsintheir

notebooks.• Periodicallyaskstudentstodiscussthetermswithoneanother.(Allowinnativelanguagewhen

appropriate).• Involvestudentsperiodicallyingamesthatallowthemtoplaywithterms.

WesternRegionalReadingFirstTechnicalAssistanceCenterVocabularyRoutine