1. Creating and Sustaining a Comprehensive School-Wide Vocabulary Program
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Michael F. Graves
University of Minnesota, Emeritus
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Paper presented at the symposium on Promoting Vocabulary Development in Grades 4 Through 12: A Comprehensive Approach. Chaired by Kathy Ganske and Douglas Fisher. IRA Annual Convention, Atlanta, GA, May 4, 2008
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2. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

3. The Importance of Vocabulary
Vocabulary knowledge is a crucial factor underlying reading comprehension and thinking more generally (Davis, 1944; Stahl & Stahl, 2004; Thorndike, ; Wittgenstein, 1953).
Vocabulary knowledge in kindergarten and first grade is a significant predictor or reading comprehension in the middle and secondary grades (Cunningham & Stanovich, 2005; Scarborough, 1998).
Vocabulary is the primary factor influencing the readability of text (Chall & Dale, 1995; Klare, 1984). 3

4. The Importance of Vocabulary—2
Teaching vocabulary can improve reading comprehension for both native English speakers (Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982) and English learners (Carlo et al., 2004)
Learning English vocabulary is a crucial task for English learners (Folse, 2004; Goldenberg, in press; Nation, 2001). 4

5. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
The Vocabulary Learning Task
The vocabulary learning task is huge.
The average fourth grader probably knows 5,000-10,000 words.
The average high school graduate probably knows 50,000 words.
To acquire this extensive vocabulary, he or she has learned something like 3,500 words a year.
This translates to learning 10 words a day.
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

6. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Vocabulary Deficits
Many children of poverty and English learners enter school with debilitating vocabulary deficits, vocabularies about half the size of those of their middle-class, native-English speaking counterparts.
Once in school, these children continue to learn words at about half the rate of their peers, and this increasing gap put them at severe risk of failing in school.
Although we have been alerted to this risk for some time (for example, Carroll, 1971; Becker, 1977; White, Graves, & Slater, 1990; Chall, Jacobs, & Baldwin, 1990; Chall & Jacobs, 2003; Hart & Risley, 1995, 2003), schools are only now beginning to do something about it.
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn 6

7. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Helping Students Build Strong Vocabularies
Helping average students achieve vocabularies of 50,000 words is a very substantial task.
Helping students with small vocabularies catch up with their peers is an even more substantial task.
Only a rich and multifaceted vocabulary program is likely to help students accomplish these tasks (Baumann & Kaméenui, 2004; Blachowicz, Fisher, Ogle, & Watts-Taffe, 2006; Graves, 2006; Stahl & Nagy, 2006).
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

8. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
A Four-Pronged Vocabulary Program
Frequent, varied, and extensive language experiences
Teaching individual words
Teaching word-learning strategies
Fostering word consciousness
Graves (2006). See Baumann, Ware, and Edwards (2007) for a study validating this program.
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

9. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Frequent, Varied, and Extensive Language Experiences
Reading, writing, discussion, and listening
The emphasis on these four modalities and the teaching/learning approaches used will vary over time.
With younger and less proficient readers, there is more discussion and listening and more teacher-led work.
With older and more proficient readers, there is more reading and writing and more independent work.
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

10. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Teaching Individual Words
Rich and powerful instruction
Semantic mapping
Semantic feature analysis
Robust instruction
Frayer method
Introductory instruction
Repetition and review
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

11. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Teaching Word-Learning Strategies
Using context
Learning and using word parts
Using glossaries and the dictionary
Recognizing and using cognates (for Spanish speakers)
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

12. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Fostering Word Consciousness
Creating a Word-Rich Environment
Recognizing and Promoting Adept Diction
Promoting Word Play
Fostering Word Consciousness Through Writing
Involving Students in Original Investigations
Teaching Students about Words
(Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2002, 2007)
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

13. Preplanning Assessing the situation
Recognizing and appreciating the size of the task
Committing to endeavor of that size

14. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Planning
Find a champion
Create a detailed plan
Garner support
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

15. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Initiating the Plan
Kickoff festivities
Initial inservice
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

16. Year One Activities Meetings Between meetings Teacher responsibilities
Teacher opportunities
Coaching
Assessment
Sharing successes and challenges
Sharing teaching activities
Sharing data
Deliberate plans to maintain and renew interest

17. Year Two Activities Adjustments in light of year one Meetings
Between meetings
Teacher responsibilities
Teacher opportunities
Coaching
Assessment
Sharing successes and challenges
Sharing teaching activities
Sharing data
Deliberate activities to maintain and renew interest

18. Year Three Activities Adjustments in light of years one and two
Meetings
Between meetings
Teacher responsibilities
Teacher opportunities
Coaching
Assessment
Sharing successes and challenges
Sharing teaching activities
Sharing data
Deliberate activities to maintain and renew interest

19. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
Major Points
Acquiring a sophisticated vocabulary is both a very important task and a very large task.
Designing and implementing a school wide program to assist students in acquiring a sophisticated vocabulary is also a very important and very challenge task.
At minimum, I would give it three years.
Included in the first year would be preplanning, planning, and implementation phases.
Implementation would continue into the second and third years— and of course hopefully beyond that.
Mike Graves, Univ of Minn

20. References—1
Baumann, J. F., & Kame'enui, E. J. (Eds.). (2004). Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice. New York: Guilford.
Baumann, J.F., Ware, D., & Edwards, E.C. (2007). Bumping into spicy, tasty words that catch your tongue: A formative experiment in vocabulary instruction. The Reading Teacher, 61, 108–122.
Beck, I. L., Perfetti, C. A., & McKeown, M. G. (1982). The effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74,
Becker, W. C. (1977). Teaching reading and language to the disadvantaged— What we have learned from field research. Harvard Educational Review, 47,
Blachowicz, C. L. Z., Fisher, P. J. L, Ogle, D., & Watts-Taffe, S. (2006). Vocabulary: Questions from the classroom. Reading Research Quarterly, 41,
Carlo, M. S., August, D., McGlaughlin, B., Snow, C. E., Dressler, C., Lippman, D. N., Lively, T. J., & White, C. E. (2004). Closing the gap: Addressing the vocabulary needs of English-language learners in bilingual and mainstream classes. Reading Research Quarterly, 39,
Carroll, J. B. (1971). Learning from verbal discourse in educational media. A review of the literature. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.Chall, J. S., & Dale, E. (1995). Readability revisited: The new Dale-Chall readability formula. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Chall, J. S., & Dale, E. (1995). Readability revisited: The new Dale-Chall readability formula. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Chall, J. S., & Jacobs, V. A. (2003). The classic study on poor children's fourth-grade slump. American Educator, 27 (1), 14-15, 44.
Chall, J. S., Jacobs, V. A., & Baldwin, L. E. (1990). The reading crisis: Why poor children fall behind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

21. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
References—2
Davis, F. B. (1944). Fundamental factors in reading comprehension. Psychometrika, 9,
Folse, K. (2004). Vocabulary myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Graves, M. F., & Watts-Taffe, S. M. (2002). The place of word consciousness in a research-based vocabulary program. In S. J. Samuels & A. E. Farstrup (Eds.), What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd ed., pp ). Newark, DE: IRA.
Graves, M. F., & Watts-Taffe, S. M. (2007). Word consciousness comes of age. Unpublished paper.
Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experiences of young American children. Baltimore: P. H. Brookes.
Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (2003, Spring). The early catastrophe: The 30 million word gap by age 3. American Educator, 27 (1), 4-9.
Cunningham, A. E. (2005). Vocabulary growth through independent reading and reading aloud to Children. In E. H. Hiebert & M. Kamil (Eds.), Teaching and learning vocabulary: Bringing research to practice (pp ). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Klare, G. R. (1984). Readability. In P. D. Pearson, R. Barr, M. L. Kamil, & P. Mosenthal (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (pp ). New York: Longman.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Scarborough, H. S. (1998). Early identification of children at risk for reading disabilities: Phonological awareness and some other promising predictors. In B. K. Shapiro, P. J. Accardo, & A. J. Capute (Eds.), Specific reading disabilities: A review of the spectrum (pp ). Timonium, MD: York Press.
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22. Mike Graves, Univ of Minn
References—3
Stahl, S. A., & Nagy, W. E. (2006). Teaching word meanings. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Goldenberg, C. (in press). Improving achievement for English Learners: Conclusions from recent reviews and emerging research. In S. Neuman (Ed.), Literacy achievement for young children from poverty. Baltimore, Brookes.
Stahl, S. A., & Stahl, K. D. (2004). Word wizards all!: Teaching word meanings in preschool and primary education. In J. F. Baumann & E. B. Kame'enui (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp ). New York: Guilford.
Thorndike, R. L. ( ). "Reading as reasoning." Reading Research Quarterly, 9,
Wasic, B. A., & Bond, M. A. (2001). Beyond the pages of a book: Interactive book reading and language development in preschool classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93,
White, T. G., Graves, M. F. & Slater, W. H. (1990). Growth of reading vocabulary in diverse elementary schools: Decoding and word meaning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 281–290.
Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical investigations. New York: Macmillan.
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