1. 1 Session #2 Academic Vocabulary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzjEzohHmaM

2. Academic Vocabulary … is not unique to a particular discipline and as a result are not the clear responsibility of a particular content area teacher. What is more, many Tier Two words are far less well defined by contextual clues in the texts in which they appear and are far less likely to be defined explicitly within a text than are Tier Three words. Yet Tier Two words are frequently encountered in complex written texts and are particularly powerful because of their wide applicability to many sorts of reading. Teachers thus need to be alert to the presence of Tier Two words and determine which ones need careful attention. Common Core State Standards (English Language Arts, Appendix A) http://www.engageny.org/resource/common-core-in-ela-literacy-shift-6- academic-vocabulary

3. 3 Tiers of Words Common Core State Standards, Appendix A, page 33

4. Why are “academic words” important? They are critical to understanding academic texts. They appear in all sorts of texts. They require deliberate effort to learn, unlike Tier 1 words. They are far more likely to appear in written texts than in speech. They often represent subtle or precise ways to say otherwise relatively simple things. They are powerfully useful and frequently occurring. Common Core State Standards, Appendix A, page 33

5. Choosing Tier 2 Words Jose avoided playing the ukulele. Which word would you choose as a Tier 2 vocabulary word? Tier 3? Which words?

6. Avoided- Tier 2 Why? Verbs are where the action is – Teach avoid, avoided, avoids – Likely to see it again in grade-level text – Likely to see it on assessments – We are going to start calling these useful words “Tier 2 words” Why ukulele? – Rarely seen in print – Rarely used in stories or conversation or content-area information Ukulele- Tier 3

7. How do I determine that a word is TIER 2 ? WordIs this a generally useful word? Does the word relate to other words and ideas that students know or have been learning? Is the word useful in helping students understand text? If you answer “yes” to all three questions, it is a Tier 2 word. If not, it is probably a Tier 3 word.

8. How Many Words? In school settings, students can be explicitly taught a deep understanding of about 300 words each year. Divided by the range of content students need to know (e.g., math, science, history, literature), of these 300–350 words, roughly 60 words can be taught within one subject area each year. It is reasonable to teach thoroughly about three to ten words per week.

9. Implications for Instruction Teach fewer words. Focus on important Tier 2 (high utility, cross-domain words) to know & remember. Simply provide Tier 3 (domain-specific, technical) words with a definition.

10. Vocabulary Casserole Ingredients Needed: 20 words no one has ever heard before in his life 1 dictionary with very confusing definitions 1 matching test to be distributed by Friday 1 teacher who wants students to be quiet on Mondays copying words Put 20 words on chalkboard. Have students copy then look up in dictionary. Make students write all the definitions. For a little spice, require that students write words in sentences. Leave alone all week. Top with a boring test on Friday. Perishable. This casserole will be forgotten by Saturday afternoon. Serves: No one. Adapted from When Kids Can’t Read, What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers

11. Vocabulary Treat Ingredients Needed: 5-10 great words that you really could use 1 thesaurus Markers and chart paper 1 game like Jeopardy or BINGO 1 teacher who thinks learning is supposed to be fun Mix 5 to 10 words into the classroom. Have students test each word for flavor. Toss with a thesaurus to find other words that mean the same. Write definitions on chart paper and let us draw pictures of words to remind us what they mean. Stir all week by a teacher who thinks learning is supposed to be fun. Top with a cool game on Fridays like jeopardy or BINGO to see who remembers the most. Serves: Many Adapted from When Kids Can’t Read, What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers

12. Effective Vocabulary Instruction Increase independent reading time. Facilitate read-alouds. Keep vocabulary in circulation. Keep vocabulary interactive. Use graphic organizers.

13. Game Resources Scattergories Taboo Crossword puzzles Boggle Upwords Balderdash Prop box Content contained is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

14. Vocabulary Websites  http://www.wordsift.com/ Word maps, word clouds http://www.wordsift.com/  http://quizlet.com/ Make flash cards & games http://quizlet.com/  http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/ Academic vocabulary games http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/  http://www.vocabulary.com/ More games, including games using Latin & Greek roots http://www.vocabulary.com/  www.worldwidewords.com www.worldwidewords.com  Definitions, history and short essays on words  http://www.visualthesaurus.com/ Visual thesaurus http://www.visualthesaurus.com/  www.vocabgrabber.com www.vocabgrabber.com  www.wordle.com www.wordle.com

15. 15 Online resources for games… http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ http://www.freereading.net/index.php?title=Vocabulary_Reintroduce_and_Buil d_Mastery_Activities http://www.freereading.net/index.php?title=Vocabulary_Reintroduce_and_Buil d_Mastery_Activities http://www.visuwords.com/ http://www.pppst.com/templates.html http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/gameboard.htm http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/gameresources.htm http://people.uncw.edu/ertzbergerj/ppt_games.html http://reading.pppst.com/vocabulary.html