Closing the Vocabulary Gap Effective Strategies for Vocabulary Development October PDL Training Syracuse City School District

Participant Outcomes Understand the importance of direct vocabulary instruction Become aware of research-based practices for vocabulary instruction Gain instructional strategies that will enhance vocabulary instruction and student comprehension of informational text

How Words are Learned

Read it in a book, figured it out from context or looked it up Read it or heard it and figured out it’s meaning from it’s parts Learned it in a conversation Heard it on the television Learned it in a class Heard it from a family member

Indirect Vocabulary Learning Students learn vocabulary indirectly when they hear and see words used in many different contexts; for example, through conversations with adults, through being read to, and through reading extensively on their own. Direct Vocabulary Learning Students learn vocabulary directly when they are explicitly taught both individual words and word- learning strategies. Direct vocabulary instruction aids reading comprehension. How Words are Learned

Research Shows: Indirect Vocabulary Instruction Speak Content Language Give students ample opportunities to read on their own Engage students in discussion around content Active participation/engagement with text (Reader’s Theatre, discussion protocols) creates better vocabulary gains than passive listening to text

Direct Vocabulary Instruction What the Research Shows

Research Shows …Marzano Effective Vocabulary Instruction: –Multiple exposures –Previewing words helps –Image association –Direct instruction works –Focus on most important words

Research Shows: …Heidi Hayes-Jacobs Immersion in Grouped Words Teach the right words –High-Frequency Words –Specialized Terminology –Embellishments

Research Shows: …Janet Allen Build background knowledge Teach words critical to comprehension Develop conceptual frameworks for themes, topics, and units of study Assess students’ understanding of words and concepts

Research Shows: … Beck, McKeown, and Kucan Frequent encounters with the words Richness of instruction Extension of word use beyond the classroom

Putting it all Together Choosing Words

Words Matter You can’t pre-teach every hard word –Critical to meaning –Not defined in context –Likely to be seen again –High utility –Figurative speech or idiomatic expressions

What Words to Teach Tier Two Words (Beck) Larry Bell’s Twelve Words Heidi Hayes Jacobs Marzano’s Academic Vocabulary Common Sense

Reflection… Think about the words teachers (or the reading series) typically identify as important vocabulary words. How can you support your teachers in choosing the most appropriate words for direct vocabulary instruction?

Cracking Vocabulary’s Code Harvey Silver C: Connect O: Organize D: Deep Process E: Exercise

Connect: Making Connections Students define word in context Provide examples and non examples Identify places, events, people or situations where you would find the word Make personal connection as well as academic connection to the word

When and Why Enhances vocabulary learning in all content areas when critical words will assist in understanding the concept. Making connections to the academic word and how the word is used in real world events builds on students background knowledge

Organize: Categories and Labels Focused on students’ organization of information Clusters words by concepts Exposes and creates patterns of meaning

How Does It Work? Provide each student with a copy of key concepts and critical vocabulary. Read each of the terms aloud as students match pronunciation to print. Allow students to ask questions and remind them of places where they can find additional information about the words (if necessary). Assign student groups. Ask groups to discuss the words and decide on how to categorize the words into logical groups. Direct students to give each category a label. Ask students to justify their word groups and labels.

multiple exposuresprosodyfeedback formative assessmentpredictingrate high-utility accuracyspecific strategy metacognition background knowledge scaffold comprehension benchmarkguided practice buddy readingconnections inferencing

When and Why? Students access and gain background knowledge related to the topic. Through discussion around grouping, students create attributes of the words in relation to each other and the topic being studied. In labeling the words, students create a structure for remembering the words and the information they have gathered.

Deep Process: Concept Circles Adapted from Vacca, Vacca, and Gove 1987 Builds on relationships between words, creates conceptual understanding Can work for a variety of instructional and assessment purposes

How Do They Work? Put words or phrases in each section of the circle and ask students to write about the connections they see between the words and phrases. Why are these words together? Put vocabulary words in three sections. Ask students to choose a fourth and justify in writing. Ask students to choose four vocabulary words from their study of a topic or a text and use those four words to write about what they have learned about the topic. (Teacher can generate list) Ask students to shade either the words that go together or the word that doesn’t fit with the others. Students can then talk or write about what attributes caused a word to be included or excluded.

Concept Circles instruction high-utility understanding vocabulary questioningsummarizing inferring

Concept Circles GlaciersExtend Transform Retract simplifymodify equationsolve abhorOthello pride

When and Why? When you want students to think conceptually about content. Can be used to focus students’ discussions, to review word meanings and word families, or to support students’ writing. Can be a simple assessment tool of what students have learned about a concept or topic of study.

Exercise: NCAA Board Work with your shoulder partner. Together, come up with eight important words associated with vocabulary instruction. # and write your words on the far left side of a sheet of paper. Listen for directions.

When and Why Provides opportunities for students to evaluate importance of vocabulary words Students have to discuss all of the words in order to make decisions Multiple exposures to the words!!

Classroom Application Think of a topic, concept, theme, or unit of study where this strategy could support students’ vocabulary development or overall understanding of the content. Talk with your shoulder partner about how using these strategies could benefit your students.

A Cool Web Site!!

Thank you! Rhonda and Kathy