1. Macedon Ranges February 2012

2. AIM: to get students to increase their vocabulary by using a consistent, structured, and measurable approach

3. Learning Intentions Understand why we need to teach academic vocabulary to build student background knowledge Understand characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction. Know how to apply a six-step process for direct instruction in vocabulary.

4. Success Criteria We will need to  explore the need for direct vocabulary instruction  look at the 6 step model  Think/select terms from subject areas to use  share final thoughts/plan ahead

5. Funny I have a problem with my Blackberry! My Blackberry Is Not Working! - The One Ronnie, Preview - BBC One - YouTube.flv

6. What is Academic Vocabulary? Academic vocabulary is the vocabulary critical to understanding the concepts of the content taught in schools. In identifying academic vocabulary for instruction teachers must remember that not all terms are of equal importance. Some terms are critically important. Some terms are useful but not critical. Some terms are interesting but not useful.

7. Think of how you learn new vocabulary. What do you need to do to be successful? Turn and talk and share your experience with a partner.

8. ' A f r i c a n Elephant '

9. 83% 50 %

10. 10 The Category is Maths Quickly and quietly on your pieces of paper (1 word for each piece) write all the words you can think of that remind you, define, or make you think of maths. With a partner combine your pieces of paper and sort your pieces of paper into categories. What do you notice?

11. How do we teach academic vocabulary now? How do we decide on what words kids should know? Turn and talk with a partner What questions do you have?

12. Think about Background knowledge is more important to the understanding of reading than IQ. Vocabulary instruction in specific content-area terms builds up a student’s background knowledge in content area. Students who understand content for example, regarding data analysis and statistics need to understand terms such as mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, and central tendency.

13. “What students already know about the content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to the content. This is “background knowledge.”

14. viniculture, whorl, sepals, propagation, ovules, carpel, filament, stigma, cultivation, style, corolla, staminate, pistillate, pedicels, solitary, pollination

15. The relationship between poverty and academic achievement is almost self- evident. Children of poverty come to school with significantly fewer academic background experiences than other children.

16. 16 Six-Steps for Teaching New Terms First 3 steps – introduce and develop initial understanding. Last 3 steps – shape and sharpen understanding.

18. Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term. Step 2: Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. Step 3: Ask students to represent the term visually; this might be a drawing, a symbol, or graphic representation. Step 4: Engage the students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their notebooks. Step 5: Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another. Step 6: Have fun by using games that allow students to play with the terms.

19. 19 Step 1 Provide a description, explanation, or example of new term. Our term for today is: “prediction.”

20. Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term. Prediction When I think something will happen. An example: My chooks will lay 2 eggs today This is based on the fact that even though I have three chooks they have been laying 2 eggs a day for a month.

21. Step 2: Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. Have a go yourself

22. Step 3: Ask students to represent the term visually; this might be a drawing, a symbol, or graphic representation.

26. After Step 3 students rate their current level of understanding of the word

28. 4-- I understand even more about the term than I have been taught. 3 -- I understand the term and am not confused about its meaning or usage. 2-- I’m not sure I understand the term, but I have some idea as to its meaning. 1– I really don’t understand the term at all.

29. The 6 Step Process First 3 steps – introduce and develop initial understanding. Last 3 steps – shape and sharpen understanding.

30. Step 4: Engage the students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their notebooks.

31. Step 4 cont--- Free Association In a group of 4, one person at a time upon hearing the word--------, says a related word. Keep going around the group until you hear “stop”. The last person speaking must explain how their word is related.

32. Step 4 cont..... Comparing Terms. The sun and the moon are similar because they both  Are in space  Influence our lives and our moods  Shine The sun and the moon are different because  ------------------ Turn and Talk

33. Step 4 Cont...... Classifying Terms The process of grouping words on the basis of similar attributes. This task can be quite structured or more open- ended. You could supply the list of words and the classifying headings or provide only one or the other. Students might be given the terms plateau, mesa, mountain, bay, ocean, hill, glen, forest, plain, port, canal, reservoir These words could be based on size, topography, natural or man-made etc. Students could be given words that are easily classified or that require more creative thinking.

34. Step 5 Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.

35. Step 5 cont----- Modelling of discussion With a partner, have a discussion about your material on the pro forma. What are the similarities? What are the differences? Are the pictures helpful? Is there anything in your partners work that is helpful to you that you might now add to your own sheet?

37. Step 6 Have fun by using games that allow students to play with the terms.

38. The Password Game Passwordgame.ppt

39. Vocabulary Charades Game Activity You can ask students to use their arms, legs, and bodies to show the meaning of terms below: ocean Desert What do you think you might see from students? Students in groups of 4-6 try to represent terms as a group. Organise yourselves into groups of 6 and try to show the meaning of—------. The rest of us will try to guess.

40. Draw Me This game is modelled on Pictionary Students draw pictures representing several words belonging to a cluster of related words. Divide into groups of six. Appoint one person to draw and the rest to guess. The “drawer” cannot use letters or numbers and draws until the team has guessed all words.

41. The Pyramid Game

42. Other online games

43. Decision time Think about some key words that you would want your students to know thoroughly. Jot these down on the back of a sheet then share with partner. Think about the number of words to be directly taught at each year level. This is decided by each team: KLA or unit. Decide on what criteria you will use for selection. Use VELS (or national curriculum)

44. Where do I get the time? Having a better knowledge of what your kids know should save time in the end. Try to aim for 3 words per week. After you have taught 9-10 words, you should have enough to begin games, activities and partner talk. These are good activities especially for that dead time at the end of an activity. If kids are to learn new things they need multiple exposures but they don’t need to be long sessions. 15 mins per lesson is a good guide. Not all steps need to be completed in every lesson

45. Assessing Student Progress It is important to note that this six step process is intended to be ‘a Drip feeding process”. Students need to encounter these words multiple times. Ensure that you correct misconceptions early. These will be much easier to spot in this process. Listen into discussion and activities/games. Student notebooks are important in the process. Check them regularly. The students’ vocab sheets/books and the checklist will be really helpful in writing reports and during parent teacher sessions. Students can also set their own goals around their learning.

46. References Marzano, Pickering, Building Academic Vocabulary. Teacher’s Manual Allen, J. Inside Words http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/media/siteASCD/commo n/six_step_flash.html http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/media/siteASCD/commo n/six_step_flash.html http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/

47. There's no such thing as the perfect lesson, the perfect day in school or the perfect teacher. For teachers and students alike, the goal is not perfection but persistence in the pursuit of understanding things. Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe