Success With Vocabulary Due to Building-Wide SMART Goal Alignment 16 th National Quality Education Conference November 16, 2008

Words Of the Week Vocabulary Project Cedar Rapids, Iowa Grant Early Childhood Center

1 of 2 early childhood centers in the CR District Grant Early Childhood Center

Based on a model called PONDing (Prizing Our Natural Differences)

Current enrollment=260 AK K 1 Early Learning Preschool Special Ed (ECSE and BD) Grant Early Childhood Center

Current enrollment=260 Plus approximately 100 students are served by Five Seasons Day Care and Extended Day programs Grant Early Childhood Center

Current enrollment= % Free & Reduced Lunch 22 % minority Grant Early Childhood Center

Grant A ction R esearch T eam Principal Grade level teachers Special ed & preschool teachers Reading Coach & Title I teachers GWAEA Speech Pathologist Media Specialist

PLAN ACT STUDY DO Plan for Continuous Improvement Standardize Improve- ments Study the Results Try Out Improvement Theory PLAN Analyze Causes Define the System Access Current Situations ART process is based on a cycle called PlanDoStudyAct

PLAN Spring 2006 Only 64% of 2 nd grade students were at the proficient level in vocabulary 2005/2006 ITBS Vocabulary Subtest

PLAN Why are vocabulary scores so low on 2 nd grade ITBS? Teachers Want a process to teach words and their meanings that is aligned in the building. Methodology We teach sight words explicitly to students. Want and need a process for word knowledge. Materials We are not using a standardized curriculum for vocabulary instruction. K/1 Students *Lack of extensive working vocabulary for many students. *Many Tier 1 and 2 words are unknown to many of our students.

DO Spring 2006 Looked at systematic and research-based vocabulary programs Bringing Words to Life by Isabel Beck Elements of Reading by Isabel Beck

STUDY Spring 2006 How could we begin to implement a vocabulary program for Kindergarten and first graders in the fall of 2006?

ACT Spring 2006 Decided to utilize childrens literature selections in Bringing Words to Life

PLAN Fall 2006 To develop a receptive assessment tool

DO Fall 2006 For each story at each grade level: Collected 9 storybooks Created and displayed 3 Boardmaker pictures

STUDY Fall 2006 How to make vocabulary instruction consistent

STUDY Fall 2006 Were 3 words enough? WOW Assessment – 1 st Trimester

ACT Fall 2006 Focused on 1 book and 3 targeted words each week Shared teaching ideas

PLAN Winter 2007 To increase from 3 to 10 targeted words To make WOW books more accessible

DO Winter 2007 Made 10 Boardmaker pictures for each story Purchased classroom sets of books

STUDY Winter 2007 Studied weekly random assessments Collected feedback from teachers

STUDY Winter 2007 Percentage Correct

ACT Winter 2007 Brainstormed reasons why teaching more words was not effective

ACT

PLAN Spring 2007 To decrease from 10 to 6 words per week To make completed WOW books available to students

DO Spring 2007 Adjusted number of Boardmaker pictures to 6 per book

DO Created a teacher survey for feedback Spring 2007

STUDY Spring 2007 Continued weekly random assessments and feedback from teachers

STUDY Spring 2007 Studied data collected throughout the 3 trimesters.

STUDY Spring 2007

STUDY Spring 2007

STUDY Spring 2007

STUDY Spring 2007 Trimester KKK111 Percentage of Gain Goal = 25

ACT Spring 2007 Decided to make a WOW notebook for each teacher

ACT Spring 2007 Discussed developing an expressive vocabulary assessment

ACT Spring 2007 Discussed involving other support staff (Media, Art, Music, PE)

PLAN Summer 2007 To create WOW notebooks: –Vocabulary schedules –Story maps –Examples of teaching activities

DO Summer 2007 Added an implementation log to the data collection component

DO Summer 2007 Developed an expressive assessment tool to be used by each teacher

DO Summer 2007 Created common, uniform, kid-friendly definitions

STUDY Summer 2007 Began to study explicit instruction models and techniques

ACT Summer 2007 Finished notebooks and presented them to teachers in August

PLAN Fall 2007 To begin explicit instruction in a more systematic and building-wide format

DO Fall 2007 Asked teachers to follow the daily vocabulary schedule

DO Fall 2007 Collected data from random assessments Sent home weekly word list

STUDY Fall 2007 Studied expressive assessment, PPVT, and weekly implementation logs

STUDY Fall 2007 PPVT Gains - Fall 2006 to Fall year, 7 months 1 year, 5 months 1 year, 4 months

STUDY Fall 2007 Vocabulary Percent of Words Correct Test Date

ACT Fall 2007 Piloted an explicit instruction model and activities to reinforce learning

ACT Fall 2007 Provided on-going staff development

PLAN Winter 2008 To define a weekly schedule To establish a daily teaching plan

PLAN Winter 2008 To create story summaries and graphic organizers To in-service staff

DO Winter 2008 Monday Read the book Explicitly introduce the vocabulary Post the words Send home the word lists Tuesday Explicitly teach words and definitions Choose a vocabulary activity Wednesday Oral retell of story summary Thursday Graphic organizers of a vocabulary word Friday Writing or interactive writing activity using prompts Assessment (Bi-Monthly) Reread story on any day of the week

DO Winter 2008 Created story summaries and graphic organizers In-serviced staff

STUDY Spring 2008

STUDY Spring 2008

STUDY Spring 2008 June random assessment results AK: averaged 82% correct K: averaged 78% correct 1 st : averaged 70% correct

ACT Spring 2008 Would the kids remember the words better if they had access to all the WOW words the whole year? Continue to look at ways to allow kids to have access to all the words all the time.

ACT Summer 2008 Floods hit Cedar Rapids, Iowa, affecting 40% of the Grant neighborhood

PLAN Fall 2008 Starting in fall, 2008, put all the WOW words in the first grade picture dictionaries (alphabetically).

PLAN Fall 2008 Reduce the size of pictures to be posted in classrooms.

DO Fall 2008 Did expressive assessment for random students in August with plans to post test this same group in June 2009

DO Fall 2008 Assessed a random group of 2nd graders on the PPVT with plans to follow them for years to come.

DO Fall 2008 Found ways to assimilate the WOW program with the new District Reading program.

PLAN Oral VocabularyHigh-Frequency Words Maintain Your Skills characters and setting authors purpose Structural Analysis build words with –ed contractions with nt build words with –ing contractions with ۥs Literary Elements rhythmic patterns Reading Comprehension Strategy: Summarize Skills: identify main idea and details retell story identify sequence of events Grade 1 Unit 2 Outside My Door Text Features and Study Skills diagrams reading lists and directions reading signs and symbols Writing / Grammar Writing Focus: How-To Sentences Report Story identify nouns plural nouns, add s, -es irregular Plural Nouns proper Nouns Phonemic Awareness/ Phonics putting sounds together and taking sounds apart short /o/ (hop and lot) short /e/ (leg and beg) short /u/ (bus can cup) digraphs sh and th (fish and thank) blends bl, cl, (/kl/ sound) and fl (black, clip, and flip) provide protect guide separate wild responsibility cooperate appreciate partner scrumptious habitat survive powerful rare wade entertain perform audience brilliant enjoy humorous amuse delighted mood ridiculous one her two they does who some of no eat into many live out want put show under three make today way schoo l late away why Teacher Plan on a Page

PLAN Structural Analysis I can add –ed to the end of words to show something happened in the past. I can make two words into one word by adding an apostrophe like didnt and shes (contractions). I can add –ing to a word to show its happening now. Literary Elements I can find the beat in a poem (rhythmic patterns). Reading Comprehension I can find the most important parts of a story and the details. I can retell what happened in a story in my own words. I can put the events in a story in order. ___________________s Learning Expectations Grade 1 Unit 2 Outside My Door Text Features and Study Skills I can use diagrams with labels to learn about the parts of something. I can read directions for the steps to get a project done. I can get information from signs by looking at the symbols, pictures, and words. Writing / Grammar I can name the people, places, or things in a sentence. I can add -s or -es to a word to show there is more than one person, place, or thing. I can write a word showing more than one when it is spelled differently like leaf to leaves (irregular plural nouns). I can write proper nouns, like days of the week, months, and holidays, with correct capitalization. Phonemic Awareness/ Phonics I can read words by putting sounds together and pulling them apart. I can use short /o/ sounds like hop and lot. I can use short /e/ sounds like leg and beg. I can use short /u/ sounds like bus and cup. I can use words with the sh and th sound like fish and thank. I can use words with bl, cl, and fl like black, clip, and flip. Oral Vocabulary I can use these words: High-Frequency Words I can use these words: Maintain Your Skills I can… describe the characters and the setting. tell the authors purpose. provide protect guide separate wild responsibility cooperate appreciate partner scrumptious habitat survive powerful rare wade entertain perform audience brilliant enjoy humorous amuse delighted mood ridiculous one her two they does who some of no eat into many live out want put show under three make today way school late away why Student Plan on a Page

STUDY Fall 2008

STUDY Fall 2008 Class of 2018 data

STUDY Fall 2008

STUDY Fall 2008 Percent of second graders at chronological age in September

ACT Fall 2008 Sample Week At A Glance Explicit Instruction Vocabulary Activities for Mrs. Mooley by Jack Kent

WOW is now part of Grants school culture with building-wide teacher/staff/student buy-in

We do not accept that This is the way kids are,

but rather we ask, What more can we do?

Further study of data Where do we go from here?

Continue to implement the PDSA cycle Where do we go from here?

To contact Grant: