Running Head: WORDS = KNOWLEDGE

Words = Knowledge:
A Discussion of the Importance of Word Acquisition and Comprehension in the Elementary
Classroom
Tori T. Senegar
East Carolina University
READ 4534
Dr. Elizabeth Swaggerty
23 November 2015

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Words are Knowledge:

A Discussion of the Importance of Word Acquisition
and Comprehension in the Elementary Classroom
There have been numerous studies conducted and articles written
about what content rich vocabulary instruction is and how best educators
should approach literacy in the classroom. Many of these studies show that
the challenges struggling readers face make themselves apparent early in
the students educational journey. There are many factors that can cause a
student to be labeled a struggling reader. This paper will focus on an
examination of the role that vocabulary acquisition plays in literacy success
for the elementary school student. Most will agree that collectively, words
matter, but do words matter on an individual level? If students struggle with
vocabulary acquisition, and are identified as struggling readers, will it turn
into a lifelong struggle? Educators pride themselves on being able to reach
each child that enters the classroom, so what can be done to help these
students who start their educational journey with minimal vocabulary
comprehension and/or is labeled, struggling reader?
The Gap
First, there is a need to identify the students that need help. There is
an overwhelming amount of information supporting the theory that students
who grow up in poverty typically begin school knowing significantly fewer
words, and run a much higher risk of becoming a struggling reader than their
more privileged peers. The lack of initial vocabulary acquisition creates a gap

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that continues to grow as the students progress if these discrepancies are
not addressed. (Lenfest and Reed, 2015; Nelson, Vadasy, and Sanders, 2011;
Graves, Duesber, Pyle Brandon, and McIntosh, 2011; and Tucker). Beck and McKeown
(2007) agree and further this point by stating, there are profound
differences in vocabulary knowledge among learners from different ability or
socioeconomic groups. They also reference several studies that have found
that first graders that come from higher socioeconomic groups know at least
twice as many words as their lower socioeconomic counter parts. If left
unchecked, this gap widens substantially. Graves, Duesber, Pyle, Brandon, and
McIntosh (2011) report that about 50% of high school students in high poverty neighborhoods do
not graduate high school. Disadvantaged students are marked from the onset as having the
potential to fail, but what can be done and how can they be identified in the elementary
classroom?
The Disadvantaged
Who then are these students entering school at such a disadvantage?
It seems that a significant portion of the students identified as struggling
readers are English Language Learners (ELLs) or are of African American
descent. The theories suggest that most students that grow up in a lowincome household are not exposed to a variety of rich vocabulary in the
home; this seems to be especially true for African American students. English
Language Learners on the other hand may face these same issues or,
conversely, they may be exposed to a lot of rich vocabulary in the home and
have an extensive vocabulary in their native languages, but have no word

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comprehension in English. This puts ELLs and low-income African American
students at an immediate disadvantage because they have a much lower
beginning baseline.
The Acquisition of Vocabulary
How do we acquire Vocabulary? Studies have shown that we gain
vocabulary in two ways. The first way is through incidental exposure, and the
second is through explicit instruction. Incidental word acquisition occurs
during the everyday encounters we have with each other. These encounters
occur through words we hear in conversations and words we hear or read in
texts and even in movies and on T.V. (Tucker; Nelson, Vadsay, and Sanders,
2011). The acquisition of vocabulary in this manner does not require any
forethought; the words are learned naturally through incidental exposure and
oral language interactions. At home, parents, friends, and other family
members can contribute to word acquisition by engaging young children in
stimulating conversations.
Explicit acquisition of vocabulary, on the other hand, is pedagogical.
This type of vocabulary acquisition is specifically and intentionally taught. It
occurs when direct and targeted vocabulary instruction is given to students
for the purpose of vocabulary acquisition and comprehension. (Wright and
Neuman, 2015; Tucker; Nelson, Vadsay, and Sanders, 2011). Both types of
acquisition are essential to a students overall reading success. Teachers
need to provide their students with meaningful, authentic and literature
based experiences to ensure their success in the classroom (Tucker).

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Thinking about how children acquire vocabulary, its is important to
take another look at the demographic of students identified as likely to be
categorized as struggling readers, specifically English Language Learners.
Because incidental exposure is the primary means of vocabulary acquisition
for most children before entering the elementary school classroom, students
whose primary language is one other than English are at an immediate
disadvantage because they do not know the meanings of many words we
use when we are teaching students how to decode. For example, Nelson,
Vadsay, and Sanders, (2011) assert that
Decoding consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) patterned words is typically supported in
young, native English Speaking students by their familiarity with the meaning of high
frequency CVC words often used for decoding practice (e.g., lip, tap, ham, sack).
[English Language Learners] that are not familiar with the words used to teach
decoding skills are not able to monitor their pronunciation and recognize when they
have successfully sounded out these words.

It stands to reason, that even if these students become fluent decoders, they
will still struggle with reading comprehension if they do not learn the
meanings of the individual words that they have decoded, (Wright and
Neuman, 2015). Pinnel and Fountas (2015) assertion that In general,
children are much more likely to be able to solve a word if they already have
it in their oral vocabulary, furthers that point. The point is words mean
things and are, therefore, undeniably tied to literacy comprehension, which
means: Words are Knowledge. With that in mind, educators that do not
engage in rich vocabulary instruction are putting their students at a huge

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disadvantage, this holds especially true in elementary education because the
gap can be narrowed through specific instruction and does not have to
continue to grow. Educators have the power to intervene before the degree
of separation in insurmountable.
Finding the Right Words
Tucker; Nelson, Vadsay, and Sanders, 2011 maintain that,
vocabulary knowledge plays an increasing role in word reading and
comprehension by the end of Grades 2 and 3. This is why early literacy
interventions and explicit content-rich vocabulary instruction are vital in the
kindergarten to second grade classroom, and beyond. With the increased
need for vocabulary instruction, how do teachers decide which words to
teach? Bowers and Kirby (2010) contend that both the quantity and quality
of words matter. There is no formula that can be presented that will tell
teachers exactly what words to teach, when to teach them and how they
should be taught, but there are several theories that have been proven
effective through research and studies.
Tier III Vocabulary Section
Wright and Neuman (2015) recommend, focus[ing] on childrens
vocabulary development across all content areas and contexts starting in the
early years [because] the use [of] academic language is essential for all
students participation in the day-to-day business of school. They suggest
using vocabulary that can be found within informational texts because these
texts will include words that have specialized meanings relevant to a

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particular content area and are typically not used in everyday conversations.
These specialized words that they are suggesting are inline with what is
known as Tier III words. Tier III vocabulary words are not frequently used
except in specific content areas or domains. Think about words like lava,
asteroid and plasma. These words can only be applied to specific contexts.
Tier 3 words are central to building knowledge and conceptual understanding
within the various academic domains and should be integral to instruction of
content, (wappingersschools).
Tier II Vocabulary Selection
While most will agree that focusing on tier III vocabulary is important
and essential to academic success, there is also evidence that teachers need
to spend a significant amount of time teaching Tier II vocabulary words as
well. Tier II words are high frequency words used by mature language users
across several content areas. Because of their lack of redundancy in oral
language, Tier 2 words present challenges to students who primarily meet
them in print, (wappingersschools). Tier II and tier III words are the words
that most teachers choose to teach explicitly in the classroom. For their
study, Beck and McKeown (2007) chose tier II words that they considered to
be somewhat complex but were of high utility and would most likely be used
in the students daily lives. They recommend choosing words for vocabulary
instruction from the portion of word stock that comprises sophisticated
words of high utility for mature language users and that are characteristic of
written language. Though that seems a bit abstract, when broken down,

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Beck and McKeown (2007) are proposing that teachers choose words that a
student may not use in their day-to-day conversations, but that can be
added to their repertoire of words so that they may later use them and
become mature language users. Others like, Lenfest and Reed (2015) and
Wright and Neuman (2015), suggest choosing high functioning and high
utilities words that exhibit both general academic language and are
thematic. Think of this as it relates to the content being taught, because
words might appear several times throughout several different text sets.
When looking at these suggestions objectively, choosing words that students
will be able to use, not only when engaged in mature language
conversations, but that also can be applied to the content being learned in
school makes the most sense. When examining how content is taught,
teachers use numerous text sets and other materials and activities to build
students comprehension and to give students a larger breadth of
understanding. Looking at all of the information that students will be
exposed to, it is not feasible to think that every single tier II, high-frequency
word can be explicitly taught. This is where the teachers judgment and
instinct must come in to play. As mentioned previously, there is no magic
formula or potion in existence that, when taken, will provide all the answers
about vocabulary selection in the classroom. Using ones own intuition when
looking at the overall themes found within the content to be taught, and the
thinking about the big picture of the unit will guide teachers to choose words

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that are important for understanding what is being taught and applicable to
the students.
Tier I Vocabulary Selection
Typically Tier 1 vocabulary is not explicitly taught in the classroom
because they are basic words that commonly appear in spoken language
(wappingersschools). Think about words like happy, lips, mix, and
playground. These words are heard frequently, in numerous contexts and
with nonverbal communication. Most educators take for granted that their
meaning is known. Agreeably, this may be the case for the majority of the
English Language students in the classroom, but what about English
Language Learners, and those who come from low socio-economic
backgrounds who may have limited exposure to general vocabulary?
Educators cannot take for granted that their students know and fully
understand the meanings of all words and cannot look at the task of teaching
the basics as menial and not worth their time. Having a strong foundation is
essential to all learning, and students cannot be expected to succeed later
on when they have a foundation that was not reinforced early on.
Found the Words Now What? Strategies for teaching vocabulary
There will never be enough time in the school day for teachers to teach
all words with the same amount of emphasis. Multiple exposures and
practice are key characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction (Tyson,
2013). Beck and McKeown (2007) and Lenfest and Reed (2015) both agree
that using multiple strategies to increase student vocabulary knowledge is

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very effective. It has long been known that all learners are different and
approach learning in different ways. Gardners Multiple Intelligences Theory
puts emphasis on the fact that all students have different learning styles and
benefit greatly when teachers plan lessons with that in mind. Successful
teaching practices in todays classrooms have to attack the issues like
vocabulary acquisition from multiple fronts in order to accommodate a
diverse population of students.
Interactive Read Alouds
One strategy that has proven to be a helpful instructional tool that
helps students with vocabulary comprehension and acquisition and is
supported by Lenfest and Reed (2015), Beck and McKeown (2007), and
Nelson, Vadasy, and Sanders (2011) is using interactive read alouds (IRAs)
as a vocabulary extension activity. Though Nelson, Vadasy, and Sanders use
the phrase dialogic reading approach as opposed to interactive read aloud,
the approach/method of instruction is very much the same and for this
purpose of this paper the strategy will only be referred to as an interactive
read aloud or IRA. An interactive read aloud is an interactive approach to
reading that teachers use when sharing/reading books with their students.
The key to this type of reading is to ensure that students actively participate
in their learning. Most times the selected books are challenging texts for
students to read on their own, and when read aloud to students, IRAs
provide teachers with a unique opportunity to model comprehension
strategies, and to explicitly teach concepts and vocabulary. When this

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strategy is implemented correctly, the students remain engaged and take
part in their own learning because unlike story time, students are asked to
interact with the text and shown how to implement strategies that will aid in
comprehension. IRAs are an effective means to help students with
vocabulary and can be used effectively in a whole group setting.

Guided Readings
Lenfest and Reed (2015), Beck and McKeown (2007), and Nelson, Vadasy,
and Sanders (2011) also discuss the utilization of guided reading in the
classroom. Guided reading lessons are done with using the same texts with a
small group of students that have been identified as reading on the same
level. The teacher will preview the text with the student, going over any
words and/or concepts that are unfamiliar and will help the student with
comprehension. These walkthroughs are important and help students build
schema and learn strategies for comprehension and attaining new
vocabulary and concepts. After the pre-reading activities, the students will
read the text independently while the teacher monitors their reading
(teachers may ask the students to read the entire text or just a segment of
the text). The teacher follows up the reading by discussing the story with the
students. Through small group discussions, teachers can assess student
comprehension; reading strategies used, and listen for vocabulary usage
during retelling.

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Use of extension activities
As Lenfest and Reed (2015) assert in their piece about enhancing basal
vocabulary instruction for students that are at risk for reading difficulties,
there are many ways to deepen student knowledge of words that extend
their learning. They developed an enhanced vocabulary instructional model,
in which they implemented in a classroom over a six week trial period. This
instructional model consists of seven steps. Steps 1-3 are selecting
vocabulary, preparing for implementation, and introducing words. As these
aspects of vocabulary instruction have been addressed in previous sections
of this paper, they will not be readdressed. Step four, Recording the Words,
discusses the implementation of a word wall. For this step, the teacher wrote
the words down on a sentence strip and added newly learned words to the
classroom word wall. If the words were used in other texts, the teacher made
reference to the words and definitions of words from the word wall. Step four
focuses on Deepening Students Knowledge of Words. There are many
interesting and innovative ways to deepen students knowledge of words
that extend beyond the initial introduction and Lenfest and Reed give a few
good examples. In their study, they wanted to be sure that the students were
frequently exposed to the words and planned hands on activities that the
students would engage in for 15 minutes at least 4 days per week. After
providing student friendly definitions in addition to the curriculum based
definitions, the teacher showed pictures depicting the words. Additionally,
students engaged in acting out and illustrating words collaboratively

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created sentences using target words, predicted the meaning of a word using
pictures, described differences and similarities of related words. Also they
had to prove that the given shape was actually a square, rectangle, triangle
etc. using academic language.
Word Study/Reviewing Words
Lenfest and Reed (2015) also add that Reviewing Words creates the
opportunity for repeated exposures and gradual deepening of students
knowledge about the words. Having student engage in hands-on activities
in which students move beyond rote memorization and toward a deeper
understanding of word meaning and structure is a vocabulary acquisition
strategy known as word work. Students that engage in word work during
the school day, learn to search for larger patterns that guide the grouping of
letters. Students need to study word meanings and patterns in order to gain
the ability to reflect on the semantic relationships across related words
(Williams, Phillips-Birdsong, Hufnagel, Hungler, and Lundstrom, 2009). Kindergarten
students that are able to grasp the concept of word families tend to be better
decoders and, therefore, are likely to comprehend texts at higher levels. For
example, quickly recognizing the word all will make decoding words within
the all family simpler. The students will be able to quickly read words like
call, fall, tall, ball, stall, mall, wall, hall, etc because the need to sound out
each individual phoneme (sound). The same can be said for students that are
able to find and reflect on larger word patterns. A student is likely to
pronounce and understand the word composition upon initial introduction

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during a reading if they are able to pronounce and understand the definition
of compose. Additionally, Lenfest and Reed (2015) assert that practice
outside of class and parent involvement is a key element found within
successful vocabulary programs. It is very important to continually review
vocabulary after introducing students to the target vocabulary. Parents and
other family members can play a key role in a childs overall vocabulary
acquisition. As previously mentioned, parents can help by simply conversing
with their children and setting a few minutes aside daily for reading.
Tying it all Together
The bottom line is that vocabulary matters for literacy and for school
success. As sited in this paper, it has been shown that children with stronger
vocabulary knowledge become better at text comprehension and are more
successful in school than their peers with weaker vocabulary knowledge
(Wright and Neuman, 2015). In the examination of the role that vocabulary
acquisition plays in literacy success for the elementary school students, a
new understanding of the importance of vocabulary acquisition has been
uncovered. As mentioned, vocabulary acquisition can occur through
incidental exposure; more importantly, explicit instruction of rich contentbased vocabulary is the key to future reading and academic success of both
Native English Speakers and English Language Learners. Understanding how
to identify the students that need the extra support, selecting challenging
and appropriate vocabulary and then implementing strategies to help
students reach their learning needs should be the ultimate goal of all literacy

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based instruction models. The beauty of being an educator is that the
teacher is tasked with teaching students from all backgrounds, at all ability
levels, that have unique perspectives and learning styles. Teachers are not in
it for the income, they are in it for the outcome, and as long as students are
taught the importance of words and continue to acquire vocabulary
knowledge the will continue to see academic success in the classroom and
personal success once they leave the classroom.
Reflection
Originally, the topic for this paper was going to center around using
non-fiction texts in the classroom. I thought that this would be interesting
because I read an article on how non-fiction texts are not widely used in
elementary classroom settings therefore students miss out on a huge
learning opportunity. Upon researching this topic, I realized that (1) there was
not a lot of literature on this topic, (2) Although the initial article was
interesting, the topic itself was not one I was truly interested in, and (3) I
wanted to choose something that I could really learn about through research
that would be widely applicable; not just in my future classroom but in the
classroom of others as well. I settled on vocabulary acquisition because it
was a topic that I knew would be interesting, and I wanted to learn more
about it.
Before researching the topic of vocabulary acquisition I really did not
think I knew much about, though I learned that some of the content
overlapped with things I had learned in previous coursework. In previous

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courses I learned a lot about words; specifically technical terminology,
assessing comprehension, and teaching skills like phonemic awareness etc.
What I in turn learned through my research for this paper, is how dynamic
word acquisition actually is. It is not as simple as giving the students words
and definitions to memorize. I am leaving this paper with a complete
understanding of a very simple concept: Every student enters the classroom
with a wide range of background knowledge, and it will be up to me to find
out what they know and how I can best help them move forward in their
literacy journey. I have a new understanding of how students, to whom
English is a second language, struggle with vocabulary acquisition and
comprehension. Classrooms of today are rich with diversity, and I am looking
forward to applying everything that I learned to my future teaching
experiences. I am feeling more confident because of my new understanding
of how to provide content rich vocabulary instruction. There are many
aspects of this topic that could have been extended, or were not added to
the paper at all for the sake of staying within the given length parameters.
For example, analyzing word structure and word work were topics that were
briefly discussed but could have been discussed more deeply. Word walls,
effective use of dictionaries, word consciousness, assessing student learning,
vocabulary retention, and activities such as role playing and group work are
also areas that I wish I could have added more about in this paper. Even
though certain things were not added to the paper does not mean that the
content was lost. I have learned a great deal from this assignment, some of

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the learning is documented and some aspects of learning will be placed in
my teaching knapsack for safe keeping until I am ready to pull it out and use
it in my classroom.
This paper had evolved before the first word was written in this
document. The topic was changed from The Importance of Non-fiction Texts
in the Classroom, to Vocabulary Acquisition. Initially, my plan was to focus
solely on how students learn words and how we can best teach them
vocabulary in the classroom. After reading multiple articles detailing a gap
that many students have in initial vocabulary before they even reach the
classroom, I decided that understanding the students in need of extra
vocabulary support was just as important as identifying words that needed to
be taught. I realized that it would be hard to help someone that I dont have
a basic understanding of. This was especially true for ELL students. Many of
these students are very smart and may even be literate (reading) by the
time the enter kindergarten, but if they cannot read, write, speak, and
understand the English language, even the most learned student will fail
without support and explicit instruction.

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References
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Vacabulary Repertoires through Rich and Focused Instruction. The Elementary School
Journal, 111(3) 251-271.
Bowers, P. N., Kirby, J. R., & Deacon, S. H. (2010). The Effects of Morphological Instruction on
Literacy Skills: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Review of Educational Research.
80(2) 144-179
Graves, A. W., Duesber, L., Pyle N. b., Brandon, R. R, & McIntosh, A. S. (2011). Two Studies
of Tier II Literacy Development: Throwing Sixth Graders a Lifelin The Elementary
School Journal, 111(4) 641-661. doi: 10.1086/659036
Gillis, M., & Eberhardt, N. C. (2015). A word selection grid: Choosing vocabulary to teach.
Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 41(3), 49-51
Lenfest, A. and Reed, D. K. (2015). Enhancing Basal Vocabulary Instruction in Kindergarten.
Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 30: 4350. doi: 10.1111/ldrp.12050
Mason, P. & Sweeny, S (2011). Research-based Practices in Vocabulary Instruction: An Analysis
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Reading as an Instructional Approach. Scholastic.com/guidedreading. Retrieved October,
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My Digital Project Link: http://wordsareknowledge.weebly.com