Academic Vocabulary: Powerful Strategies and Digital ConnectionsANGELA PEERY, ED. D.DRANGELAPEERY@GMAIL.COM

Two Forthcoming Books BLENDED VOCABULARY

o Modeling and school cultureo Direct instruction o Digital toolso Incidental learning opportunities

IT’S A SNAP VOCABULARY

o Effective instructiono Specific mini-lesson structureo 100+ ideas for mini-lessons

The Importance of VocabularyWhy do our students need to enlarge their vocabularies?

What will robust vocabularies help them do?

Robert Pondiscio (2014) notes, “To grow up as the child of well-educated parents in an affluent

American home is to hit the verbal lottery.”

Receptive vs. Expressive

Levels of Knowing a Word1. No knowledge—never heard or saw the word2. May have heard it, but don’t really know what it means 3. Can make general associations with the word & recognize it

within context (receptive vocabulary)4. Have a rich understanding of the word & can use it in speaking

and writing (expressive vocabulary)

Edgar Dale, 1965

Rank These Words… Enigmatic Lachrymose Cupidity Peignoir Verbosity Flumadiddle Hircine Fete Kerflooey Sempiternity Palliative Selenology Heptad Foist Condesplaining Pedantic Guanciale Microvolunteerism Natter Huitlacoche Blurbification Wistful Mostarda Caterwaul

The Link to Instruction How could you use the four stages of word learning with your students?

What Words To Teach?

How To Select Words

Name the unit of study Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Teach, teach,

teach!

Sort the Words 1A space probe is an unpiloted spacecraft that leaves Earth’s orbit to explore the Moon, planets, asteroids, comets, or other objects in outer space as directed by onboard computers and/or instructions sent from Earth. The purpose of such missions is to make scientific observations, such as taking pictures, measuring atmospheric conditions, and collecting soil samples, and to bring or report the data back to Earth. Numerous space probes have been launched since the former Soviet Union first fired Luna I towards the Moon in 1959. Probes have now visited each of the planets in the solar system.

Engelbert, 2009, as cited in All About Words

Sort the Words 1A space probe is an unpiloted spacecraft that leaves Earth’s orbit to explore the Moon, planets, asteroids, comets, or other objects in outer space as directed by onboard computers and/or instructions sent from Earth. The purpose of such missions is to make scientific observations, such as taking pictures, measuring atmospheric conditions, and collecting soil samples, and to bring or report the data back to Earth. Numerous space probes have been launched since the former Soviet Union first fired Luna I towards the Moon in 1959. Probes have now visited each of the planets in the solar system.

Engelbert, 2009, as cited in All About Words

Sort the Words 2Great whirling storms roar out of the oceans in many parts of the world. They are called by several names—hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone are the three most familiar ones. But no matter what they are called, they are all the same sort of storm. They are born in the same way, in tropical waters. They develop the same way, feeding on warm, moist air. And they do the same kind of damage, both ashore and at sea. Other storms may cover a bigger area or have higher winds, but none can match both the size and the fury of hurricanes. They are earth’s mightiest storms.Like all storms, they take place in the atmosphere, the envelope of air that surrounds the earth and presses on its surface. The pressure at any one place is always changing. There are days when air is sinking and the atmosphere presses harder on the surface. These are the times of high pressure. There are days when a lot of air is rising and the atmosphere does not press down as hard. These are times of low pressure. Low-pressure areas over warm oceans give birth to hurricanes.

Lauber, P. Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms, 1996

Sort the Words 2Great whirling storms roar out of the oceans in many parts of the world. They are called by several names—hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone are the three most familiar ones. But no matter what they are called, they are all the same sort of storm. They are born in the same way, in tropical waters. They develop the same way, feeding on warm, moist air. And they do the same kind of damage, both ashore and at sea. Other storms may cover a bigger area or have higher winds, but none can match both the size and the fury of hurricanes. They are earth’s mightiest storms.Like all storms, they take place in the atmosphere, the envelope of air that surrounds the earth and presses on its surface. The pressure at any one place is always changing. There are days when air is sinking and the atmosphere presses harder on the surface. These are the times of high pressure. There are days when a lot of air is rising and the atmosphere does not press down as hard. These are times of low pressure. Low-pressure areas over warm oceans give birth to hurricanes.

Lauber, P. Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms, 1996

Remember…“Teachable moments are important; however, they will not be sufficient for students to engage in complex texts. Rather, we will have to be much more strategic about word learning than our previous standards or instructional guidelines have acknowledged.”

S. Neuman & T. Wright, All About Words

The Blended Vocab ModelModelingDirect instructionIncidental learning

Digital toolsEffective instructional strategies

Modeling

All adults in the school – ◦ Model robust vocabulary (how?)◦ Show your interest in words (how?)

Reading AloudReading aloud once a day exposes your students to an additional 540 words per year.Reading aloud twice a day exposes your students to more than 1000 words per year.Select three tier 2 words (general academic vocabulary) to briefly instruct upon along with your read-alouds.

Recommendations from Isabel Beck

Connect-a-Word Strategy To prepare, the teacher makes a set of words from the unit’s word wall or list. During class time, she distributes one word card to each student. To begin, a student places his word in the center of the floor and provides a definition. Any student can follow, placing his/her word on the floor touching the first word and tells the relationship between the two words by using them in a sentence. Then the game continues.

TIP Chart (S. Rollins, 2014)Term

Information

Picture

TIP Chart Example

Term Information Picture EPIPHANY

(A sudden and profound understanding of something)

An a-ha!

An in-the-moment deeper understanding

Vocabulary LogWord Part of Speech Context

(How was it used when you read, heard, or saw it? Provide enough context for others to understand. Cite your source.)

Definition(Put in your own words, matching the part of speech.)

Application(Write a sentence of your own or use the word in enough context for others to understand the meaning.)

1.

2.

3.

Great SitesFreerice.com (many levels of difficulty)Prepfactory.com (for SAT and ACT practice)Dictionary.com (word of the day email)Wordspy.com (guide to new words)

http://www.learningunlimitedllc.com/

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/vocabgrabber/

Let’s Connect…. Website: drangelapeery.com Facebook: Dr. Angela Peery Twitter: @drangelapeery Slideshare: slideshare.net/AngelaPeery1 Amazon: tinyurl.com/jdnpres