Good Morning Deep Creek Family,
Vocabulary
is all around us-it’s the core of everything! Vocabulary impacts every part of
our student’s school experience. They are surrounded with vocabulary in all
academic areas which leads itself to standardized tests. As we noticed, on our
recent assessments, vocabulary was a struggle across the board.
Every
second, minute, or hour we enrich our students vocabulary knowledge it will
create a lasting effect! Across the nations studies show that there is a wide
vocabulary gap between our at-risk readers and our strongest readers. Students
are struggling, they lack the background knowledge, the exposure, or the
capability of how to retain the words because the way it was presented. As
times passes how do we meet the challenge of improving our student’s vocabulary?
With vocabulary being an important part of a child’s education we must to our
part to expose them to these words. Research states that when a child makes a
connection and has a chance to be exposed to the word numerous times then the
word will become part of their permanent memory. Below are a few strategies
that researchers have found work to strengthen student’s vocabulary knowledge.
Give students a post-it note to put on the cover of the books they are reading during independent reading time. Have them write down words from the book that they don’t know or they feel are important. During conferences with students, you can discuss these words.
Also, you can appoint a word expert. Students enjoy leadership roles, so once a week, assign someone to be the word expert. He or she sits at a special table with a dictionary and students come to the expert to ask about the words they don’t know. Students can share these words with the class during sharing time, add the words to the word wall, or put them in their vocabulary journal.
Vocabulary Journal
Give each student a spiral steno book to record words they gather from independent reading, content area reading, read-alouds, or videos watched in class. On one side of the page, they write the word. On the other side, they put a representation of the word or tell something about the word. This could be a picture, sentence, student-friendly definition, synonym, or antonym. Students take ownership of the words like they’re small treasures. The words they put in the journal become a permanent record and celebration of the words they are learning.
Vocabulary Stories
Do you remember having to write a story with all your spelling words? Well this strategy takes that activity to an all new level—it improves students’ vocabulary and encompasses multiple learning styles.
First identify five to ten key words from a story or chapter that you plan to read with the class. Give students a copy of the words and have them cut them apart or have them write the words on index cards. Give students a few minutes to work with a partner to sort the words into categories that make sense to them. Sorting the words is important because students discuss their prior knowledge of the words, make connections between the words, look at word parts, and talk about the words. Allowing students to work with a partner helps generate thinking. Students may use dictionaries or thesauruses, but it is not necessary.
Then, lead the students in a discussion of their thinking about how the words are connected and help them develop kid-friendly definitions.
Next, give the title and genre of the story they are about to read, but do not read the text yet. Guide the class in writing a group story in that genre using the title and vocabulary words. At first students will be afraid of saying something wrong, so remind them that this is a shared writing exercise and that everyone’s input is welcome. Encourage students to be creative with their story and use all the words. Finally, read the actual story and have students compare their vocabulary stories with the actual story. You’ll be amazed at the level of thinking and laughing this strategy encourages.
Word Webs
This activity helps students teach one another new words. When you introduce new vocabulary words, put each word on an index card. Have each group (or each partner) select a word and put their word in the center of a large sheet of paper. Working together the students research their word using dictionaries or the computer and create a graphic organizer to teach the word to the other students. Students love using poster board or large sheets of paper for this project. In each corner of the paper students “illustrate” the word, by drawing a picture depicting the word, writing a sentence using the word, listing synonyms or antonyms of the word, and writing a student-friendly definition. The power of this activity lies in the collaboration of students who want to find the best way to teach their word to their peers.
Showcase for Abstract Terms
To teach abstract concepts like independence, conservation, or friendship, introduce the word in context and discuss it with students. Ask the class to think of pictorial representations of the word. Encourage them to bring pictures, photographs, and artifacts to represent the word and have them create a bulletin board to showcase each word. Give students time to explain how the object or picture they bring in relates to the essential concept.
Vocabulary Parade
At our school, kids love having a vocabulary parade. Students choose a word to depict through costume and they stage an actual parade to showcase their words. You can set parameters for the words by using, for example, only words with multiple meanings or words dealing with a certain period in history. Each child wears a costume depicting his or her word and poster board sign with definitions, part of speech, or other ways to describe the word. Our school has done this parade for several years and it has made learning new words a memorable experience.
Thinking Maps...which we all use ;)
-Kristina
http://www.nea.org/tools/52083.htm
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