Spice Up Your Vocabulary Instruction Melissa Pletkovich, Hines Primary School, Peoria, IL Illinois Reading Conference, October 3, 2014

The facts: “There is a gap in vocabulary knowledge between economically disadvantaged and economically advantaged children that begins in preschool and is an important correlate of poor school performance” (Blachowicz et al. 2006). In a month, the difference in words heard was 1,100 (professional) to 500 (welfare) (Hart & Risley, 1995). Children in professional homes hear an average of 382 words an hour while children raised in welfare homes hear an average of 167 words an hour (Hart & Risley, 1995). First-grade children from higher SES groups know about twice as many words as lower SES children (Graves, Brunetti, & Slater, 1982; Graves & Slater, 1987). High performing third graders had vocabularies about equal to the lowest- performing twelfth graders (Smith, 1941). High school seniors near the top of their class know about four times as many words as their lower-performing classmates (Smith, 1941).

Our Mission  Students in poverty need access to reading and listening material regularly  Children in poverty need constant exposure to a wide variety of words  Vocabulary development could be the key to academic success Middle Income Low Income Average number of books in the home Listening vocabulary of kindergarteners (average) 20,0003,000 Average number of words spoken per month per home 1,100500

How to do this:  Teach conceptually- related words  Relate new words to known words  Encourage reading and talking at home  Get students reading  Read to students  Engage students in rich oral language  Raise word consciousness  Teach important words

Interactive Word Walls Teacher and student selected words

Interactive Word Walls Content based Subject-Specific

Interactive Word Walls Main word wall Student generated Stays up all year Starts out empty Stays up all year Is added to regularly

Interactive Word Walls Smaller word walls  Amazing Adjectives/Vivid Verbs  Science unit content  Social studies unit content  History studies unit content  Setting words  Character description words  Literary theme terms

Interactive Word Walls Classroom Inclusion Literacy stations Inclusion in Daily 5 activities Daily journaling Responsive writing Activities “Headbandz” “I Spy” WORDO

Question-Question-Trade Students write on an index card the word, synonym, antonyms, form, morphology, or any other information they are studying. Start with a partner. (Teacher should decide who goes first.) Ask each other a question. Answer each other’s question. High 5 for great answers, or help your partner. Trade cards. Raise hand & find a new partner.

Robust vocabulary exposure Use synonyms of basic words

Robust vocabulary Daily language  Talk like an expert: mathematician, scientist, & cartographer, etc.  Encourage students to use “expert” terms  Praise and reward students when they use “technical” terms—Reward with $5 and $10 bills

Robust vocabulary Reading  Choose and read texts that contain rich vocabulary  Listening stations and experiences at higher reading levels will expose students to higher level words  Encourage students to look/listen for new words, as well as newly learned words.  Include a place for students to record unfamiliar words on a Reading or Listening log

Robust Vocabulary Change the way you talk  Tell students to “Rotate”  “Talk to the person adjacent to you.”  “Evaluate and modify your answer.”  “Disburse these papers.”  “Dispose of your garbage.”

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat Teach a few words at a time, then repeat in discussion and lesson

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat Teach a few words in a class period  Key terms from the text  Word wall words  Student-selected words Keep coming back to the terms  What’s the word for ______?  Can you think of another word that means the same thing?  What would an expert call that?

Vocabulary Quilts Student-selected words, defined in context from text.

Play with Words Have fun with words and expand students’ vocabularies

Have fun with words  Jokes  Poetry  Silly songs  Figurative language

Contact Information  Thank you for coming.  Enjoy the rest of the conference!  Please feel free to contact me if you have any thoughts or querstions:  Visit my classroom website for this presentation: