Academic Vocabulary - The Meadows Center for Preventing ... · PDF file Academic vocabulary, an aspect of academic language, refers to the specialized words traditionally identified

© 2019 The University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency Academic Vocabulary: K–2 licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

A Teacher Resource for Kindergarten to Grade 2

Academic Vocabulary in the ELAR and Mathematics TEKS

2 © 2019 The University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency Academic Vocabulary: K–2 licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

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Acknowledgments Contributors

Bernette Blake, M.Ed., Project Coordinator

Alejandra R. Mielke, Ph.D. Senior Field Trainer/Analyst

Clinton E. Moore, J.D., M.A. Graduate Research Assistant

Elizabeth Swanson, Ph.D. Principal Investigator

Naomi Tamez Project Assistant

Althea L. Woodruff, Ph.D. Senior Field Trainer/Analyst

Consultants Maria Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.

Diane Haager, Ph.D.

Teacher Reviewers Kristen Lueck

Director of English Language Arts, Comal Independent School District

Maria Gilliland Elementary School Teacher

Texas Education Agency Cherry C. Lee, M.Ed., LDT, CALT, Educational Diagnostician

Dyslexia Coordinator, Division of Special Education

Steven Prater, M.A. Technical Assistance Manager, Division of Special Education

Design and Editing Matthew Slater, Managing Editor

Carlos Treviño, Senior Graphic Designer

©2019 The University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit

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For inquiries about using this product outside the scope of this license, contact [email protected]

© 2019 The University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency Academic Vocabulary: K–2 licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International 3

Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

What Is Academic Vocabulary? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Why Is Academic Vocabulary Important? ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 How Were Terms Selected? .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 How Can I Use This Booklet in Instructional Planning? ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 STAAR and the Vocabulary Lists ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 How Do I Teach Academic Vocabulary? ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Develop Depth of Vocabulary Through Direct Word Instruction ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Develop Breadth of Vocabulary by Creating a Language-Rich Environment .............................................................................................................................. 7

Sample Vocabulary-Building Strategies ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Word Scaling ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Semantic Feature Analysis .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Rating Word Knowledge ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Venn Diagram ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Frayer Model ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 10 Four Squares ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Cognate Connection ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Sample Word Lists ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Academic Word List .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Word Zones .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Others ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

How Do I Decide Which Words to Teach? ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Notes About the Word Lists ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Cheat Sheets ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

ELAR: Kindergarten–Grade 2 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 17 General Academic ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Subject Specific ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24

Math: Kindergarten–Grade 2 ............................................................................................................................................................................... 35 General Academic ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Subject Specific ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43

References .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 49

Introduction 4

© 2019 The University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency Academic Vocabulary: K–2 licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

Introduction What Is Academic Vocabulary? Academic vocabulary, an aspect of academic language, refers to the specialized words traditionally identified from a corpus of academic texts related to a particular academic discipline. Academic vocabulary is used in both written and spoken academic discourse and is a critical component of the language of different disciplines, such as science, his- tory, and literature. It is a requisite to engage in learning and thinking within these areas (Nagy & Townsend, 2012). There are two