Vocabulary Toolkits for ALL (Academic Language Learners) Shyla Vesitis on Twitter #vocabtoolkits

“Teachers should make teaching vocabulary intentional, transparent, useable, personal, and a priority.” ~Frey and Fisher Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary By: Brenda J. Overturf, Leslie H. Montgomery, Margot Holmes Smith

Choosing Words to Teach By: Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, Linda Kucan

Could one student’s tier 1 vocabulary exposure be different from another student’s tier 1 exposure?

Tier 1 Basic (“household”) vocabulary Tier 2 Academic (“textbook”)vocabulary Tier 3 Content specific (“core content”) vocabulary

Tier Two wordsStudents' likely expressions merchantsalesperson or clerk requiredhave to tendtake care of maintainkeep going performeddid fortunatelucky benevolentkind

When designing your own formative assessments, select academic vocabulary for your question stems.

gains =gets

Use interchangeable words frequently when exchanging dialogue with your students.

Directions: You do not need to read a passage to answer the question. Read and answer the question. Click and drag the answers into the correct boxes. Directions: Read the article and answer the questions that follow. Directions: Read the story and answer the questions that follow.

Passage, article, and story are examples of words that are used interchangeably in question stems.

Use uncommon words in place of frequently used words.

We may be more inclined to use picture or photograph instead of photo.

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” ~Mark Twain

Tier two words... allow students access to the question.

Tier three words... allow students access to the answer.

How can a student who is FLEP (Formerly Limited English Proficient) who received a composite score of 6 on the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs assessment not pass an English SOL?

WIDA ACCESS for English Language Learners Grades 3-5 Released Items

English SOL question stems have more tier two words than tier three words.

What about the Grade 5 Writing SOL?

What happens when a student doesn’t recognize academic vocabulary words in the question stem? They guess at the answer. They get discouraged and skip the question altogether.

Vocabulary Tool Kits - Accessing the Question During the first benchmark window, some teachers observed students “giving up” in the middle of a question. After our first benchmark window, we determined that many students were missing items on summative assessment that they were not missing on formative assessment. I blamed the vocabulary in the question stems. After further evaluation, I determined that many of the acadmeic vocabulary words in question stems are words that students often hear, but rarely see.

Designing the Academic Vocabulary Tool Kit I analyzed the Reading and Math benchmark data student by student and question by question in grades 2-5. If more than 30% of the students in that grade level missed the question, I flagged it. I looked for recurring words in the question stems and made lists of academic vocabulary words by grade level. Then, analyzed how the words were being used in context in summative assessment vs formative assessment as well as social or classroom conversation in order to determine which academic vocabulary words may be the culprits.

Revising the Academic Vocabulary Toolkits As soon as the toolkits were released, the revisions began. I asked teachers to provide me with feedback in three areas: Were there too many or too few words in each toolkit? Were the definitions and examples clear? Were the activities and suggestions useful and practical?

Toolkit Tips The font used in the toolkits is Tahoma which is the same font used on the SOL tests. The toolkits are designed so the students can see the academic vocabulary word and the teacher can see the definition, example, and activity. Some teachers use it as a center and students interact with it in small group. Some teachers use a heavy magnet and hang it by the door. They use it when their students are lining up. Every specials teacher has a full set (all four grade levels). They use them when they are waiting for teachers to pick up their classes.

References Beck, Isabel, Margaret McKeown, and Linda Kucan. "Choosing Words to Teach." Reading Rockets. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 July Overturf, Brenda J., Leslie H. Montgomery, and Margot Holmes Smith. Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, Print. Tyson, Kimberly. "No Tears for Tiers: Common Core Tiered Vocabulary Made Simple l Dr. Kimberly's Literacy Blog." Dr Kimberly’s Literacy Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 July "Virginia SOL Practice Item Guide – Grade 3 Reading Practice Item Guide."Virginia SOL Practice Item Guide – Grade 3 Reading Practice Item Guide (n.d.): n. pag. Practice Item Guide: Virginia Standards of Learning Grade 3 Reading. Virginia Department of Education. Web. 1 Aug "Virginia SOL Practice Item Guide – Grade 4 Reading Practice Item Guide."Virginia SOL Practice Item Guide – Grade 4 Reading Practice Item Guide (n.d.): n. pag. Practice Item Guide: Virginia Standards of Learning Grade 4 Reading. Virginia Department of Education. Web. 1 Aug "Virginia SOL Practice Item Guide – Grade 5 Reading Practice Item Guide."Virginia SOL Practice Item Guide – Grade 5 Reading Practice Item Guide (n.d.): n. pag. Practice Item Guide: Virginia Standards of Learning Grade 5 Reading. Virginia Department of Education. Web. 1 Aug

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