Expanding Vocabulary

Vocabulary instruction should encourage students to make associations and

accommodations to their experiences and provide them with varied
opportunities to practice, apply, and discuss their word knowledge in
meaningful contexts (Rupley, Nichols, Mraz, & Blair, 2012).




Agenda
1. Introduction
a. What does learning vocabulary mean?
b. Vocabulary Parade
2. Survey results
3. Centers:
a. Vocabulary Parade
b. Sensory comparison
c. Paint/Synonyms
d. Root Words Creations
e. Word Wall/Homophone pears
4. Discussion:
a. When does learning vocabulary start?
b. How is vocabulary learned?
5. Break (5-10 minutes)
6. Group Activity/Adolescent activity
7. Discussion/Debrief (TPS)
8. Video of 2 instruction strategies
9. Wrap-up
Vocabulary Instruction in Local
Schools
York Elementary School
! Currently using Wright Group LEAD21 program
! Select list of spelling words (25 per week), nightly homework, workbook
activities, weekly spelling tests
! Select Tier III vocabulary for science, math, and social studies lessons
Vocabulary Instruction in Local
Schools
Bryant Elementary School
! Currently using Superkids
reading program
! Vocabulary instruction is done
during Book Club and Super
Magazine
! Instruction is aligned to common
core
! Skill and Drill
o Learn the words
o Read the story
o Review the words

What does expanding and learning
vocabulary mean?
Learning and expanding vocabulary means finding, knowing, and using
interesting words.

As teachers we want to help our students become word smiths,- kids who
are curious about words; their sounds, their uses, and their meanings.

When our classrooms become laboratories for words- places where students
can experiment with words and word usage, can try on new words and see
how they fit- students begin to naturally seek out and adopt new words into
their lives and personal vocabularies. (Smith, 2008, p.22)
Vocabulary Parade
Dont just teach vocabulary celebrate
it!!!!

We have all dressed up as a vocabulary word!!! Can you guess what our word
is?


You will learn more about what a Vocabulary Parade is when you visit Stacys
center!

Which Words to Teach
Tier 3 - Low frequency words that often pertain to a specific content
area. Examples: ectoplasm, cabriolet, molecule
Tier 2- High frequency words of a mature language user. Examples:
fascinate, unfortunate, mentioned
Tier 1- Very simple and basic words. These words are mostly learned
without instruction. Examples: summer, family, hungry

**We should focus on teaching our students Tier 2 words because they
enhance student comprehension of selected texts.
Survey Results
! What does expanding vocabulary mean to you?
o Introducing students to new words and meaning (not just memorization)
o Learning useful words that can be used for speaking and writing.
o Learning new vocab.
! How were you taught vocabulary in school?
o Vocab lists & memorization.
o Looking at the glossary in text books.
o Pre-test on monday, retest on Friday. (memorized the meanings)
! What strategies have you used/seen while teaching vocabulary instruction?
o Acting words out.
o Reading aloud higher level text to expose students to new vocab in context.
! What would you like to learn about vocabulary instruction?
o Ways to teach vocab that engages students and excites them.
o How should teachers choose vocab?
o How to know what words to teach.

Find Your Group!
When does vocabulary learning
start?
From the start babies are acquiring auditory vocabulary! As they learn to
speak and grow they develop an oral vocabulary.

During early childhood, children learn vocabulary at the rate of approximately 2,000 to 4,000 words
per year (Brabham & Villaume, 2002; Nagy, Anderson, & Herman, 1987), or an average rate of
seven words per day (Anderson & Nagy, 1991; Beck & McKeown, 1991).

Children 4-5 years old have an average oral vocabulary of over 5,000
words
By the time children enter kindergarten they an average of 13,000 words in
their vocabulary
Kids can on average can add 10-15 words a week to their oral
vocabularies
Learning vocabulary never stops!
How is vocabulary
learned?
Vocabulary growth occurs when we immerse students in words in a
variety of ways and get them personally and actively involved in
constructing word meanings (Bintz, 2011).





Informally Formally
! Independent reading
! Listening to reading
! Discussions
! Teacher using sophisticated
language
! Preteaching vocabulary
before read-aloud
! Teaching strategies to attack
words
! Text talk (after reading)
! Word Walks (before, during, and
after reading)

Strategies for Learning
Vocabulary

! Read! Read! Read!
! Use context of the entire sentence or text to hypothesize meaning
! Take the word apart and notice its components (roots, suffixes, prefixes)
! Connect words to words already known
! Recognize relationships between words (synonyms, antonyms, etc.)
! Notice words have multiple meanings
! Look at pictures, illustrations and diagrams
! Use reference materials (dictionary, thesaurus, glossary) as tools


Break!
Adolescent Activity!
What about adolescents?
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/build-student-vocabulary

- Important to create a word rich environment that supports exploration and
experimentation with vocabulary and one that holds advanced language as
the expectation.

- Give students words they can use in discussion about texts, not just content
words from texts.

- Spend less time, more often teaching vocabulary.
Robert Brown High School, Rochester City School
! 10th-11th grade ELA
! Vocabulary in the Classroom
- Word of the Day
- Texts read in class
- SAT Prep website, collegeboard.org
- Tier 2 words
- Identify word, part of speech, definition, sentence
- After 10 words identified, games to practice definitions
- Quizzes include a word bank and Cloze procedure to use words in context




Continue Centers!
Vocabulary and Reading
Comprehension
! Ones vocabulary level is highly predictive of ones level of reading comprehension
! Effective vocabulary instruction has a positive impact on reading comprehension
! Good vocabulary instruction can help to narrow the gap between children of higher
and lower SES groups
! But comprehension goes beyond vocabulary
o it is about much more than just words
! Meaning is communicated by the way words are presented according to the rules of
grammar (syntax)

Lets Take a Look at Instruction
Teaching Channel- College Talk
https://www.teachingchannel.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=expanding
+vocabulary&commit=Search

Youtube- How to do Spelling in your Classroom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BgmoWgJDnM

Debrief
- What was the most interesting strategy and/or piece of information you
learned? Why?
- What areas of expanding vocabulary (strategies, effective instruction,
assessment measures, etc.) are you still unclear or wondering about?

- How do you see yourself bringing your new knowledge of vocabulary
instruction into your classroom?