Common Core Curriculum Teaching Academic Vocabulary

Research Chances of Learning New Words in Context FactorChances of Learning Word AbilityLow Medium High 8% 12% 19% Grade LevelGrade 4 Grade 11 8% 33% Text Density1 new / 10 words 1 new/74 words 1 new/ 150 words 7% 14% 30%

With direct vocabulary instruction students’ comprehension increases. Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools (Marzano, 2004).

Common Core Focus on the Teaching of Academic Vocabulary in-ela-literacy-shift-6-academic-vocabulary/ in-ela-literacy-shift-6-academic-vocabulary/

Isabella Beck’s Distinctions (receptive vocabulary) Tier IBasic vocabulary children often come to school knowing- exception: ELL students and students of low socio-economic status 4000 word gap between Kindergarteners of low and high socio- economic status word gap for ELLs on river because before, after Tier II More commonly found in writing rather then speech, not commonly used in young children’s speech and not usually learned by simply reading them in context. Words that are used in a variety of situations, and used frequently. (We often assume students know these, but many times they do need to be taught.) compare and contrast detail analyze Sequence (words that may be taught during ELA- cross content areas) Tier III Content specific words which need to be explicitly taught isosceles Democracy (taught by content area teachers)

Concerns about teaching vocabulary: Nagy and Anderson found 88,500 terms in grades 3-9 textbooks (1984). – Most of these (85%) are tier 3 words. Half of these terms would be encountered only once in the life of an avid reader. Research has shown that giving students lists of words, having them look up the definition, and asking them to memorize them for a test does not teach students vocabulary.

Marzano Video academic-vocabulary-2.aspx

Research tested- One strategy for teaching vocabulary:

Marzano- 420 clusters of basic and advanced terms