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Selecting Vocabulary Words to Teach English Language Learners | Colorín Colorado

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Selecting Vocabulary Words to Teach English Language Learners | Colorín Colorado

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This article offers guidance for selecting vocabulary words when teaching ELLs and explains the difference between Tier 1, 2, and 3 words.

A student's maximum level of reading comprehension is determined by his or her knowledge of words. This word knowledge allows students to comprehend text. As the teacher, you can explicitly teach word meanings to improve comprehension. However, to know a word means knowing it in all of the following dimensions:

The ability to define a word

The ability to recognize when to use that word

Knowledge of its multiple meanings

The ability to decode and spell that word

Therefore, it is vitally important to teach key words that children will need to comprehend texts, learn the content in those texts, and pass tests. Words are taught through direct instruction of word meanings as well as through discussions about words (including prefixes, suffixes, and roots) - all combined with a lot of reading.

For English language learners (ELLs), vocabulary development is especially critical for their ability to read and comprehend texts. The selection of vocabulary words to teach ELLs can be grouped into three tiers.

Tier 1 words

Tier 1 words are words that ELLs typically know the concept of in their primary language, but not the label in English. For example, a Tier 1 word might be butterfly. This is a word that English language learners may not know, but it can be easily taught by pointing to a picture of a butterfly during text discussion.

Another Tier 1 word might be march (move like a soldier). A word like march can be easily instructed during text discussion by marching in place. But because this word has multiple meanings, it also merits further instruction. This can be accomplished through oral language activities that follow the text discussion.

Teaching Tier 1 words

We take it for granted that native English-speakers know most Tier 1 words, but this is not the case for ELLs. Many Tier 1 words may be unknown to ELLs and key to the comprehension of a passage. Different types of Tier 1 words require different teaching strategies:

Some Tier 1 words cannot be demonstrated and do not have multiple meanings, but students will need to know them. An example of this is the word uncle. A simple explanation of the word's meaning during the story reading will suffice. Or, if the teacher and students are bilingual, a quick translation is sufficient.

Idioms and everyday expressions (like "make up your mind," "let's hit the books," and "once upon a time") are also in the Tier 1 category. Teachers will need to explain the meanings of these phrases to students.

Some Tier 1 words are simple cognates (like family/familia or preparation/preparación). The cognates in this category consist of words that are high-frequency words in Spanish and English. They may not require substantial instruction because students may know the word meanings in Spanish. The teacher can merely state the English cognate and have students provide the Spanish cognate. Or, the teacher can provide the English cognate and students can say both the English word and Spanish cognate.

It is also important to point out false cognates and give the correct translation. Examples of false cognates are: rope/ropa (clothing) and embarrassed/embarazada (pregnant). There are also some false cognates that have multiple meanings in one language, and one or some of those meanings do not coincide with the meaning of the other language.

Here is a list of helpful Spanish-English cognates.

Tier 2 words

Tier 2 words are more complex than Tier 1 words. They may also be more abstract. These include:

1. Words that are important and useful to understanding the text, such as: character, setting, plot, even numbers, and country.

2. Words that have connections to other words and concepts, such as: between, among, by, combine, and estimate.

3. Words for which students understand the general concept, but need greater precision and specificity in describing a concept or a person, such as: sets, tables (for math or science, or for a table of contents), shy, ashamed, and stubborn.

Teaching Tier 2 words

Tier 2 words appear in grade-level texts. They can be worked with in a variety of ways so that ELLs build rich representations of them and connect them to other words and concepts. Different types of Tier 2 words require different teaching strategies:

Some Tier 2 words will not require elaborate discussion, because they can be demonstrated. These include words with multiple meanings, such as trunk, which can be taught by using gestures to show that it is part of an elephant, part of a tree, part of our body, and the back of a car.

In addition, many Tier 2 words are cognates. In this tier, they are high frequency words in Spanish and low frequency words in English. This means that Spanish-speaking ELLs will have a head start with these words (such as coincidence/coincidencia, industrious/industrioso, and fortunate/afortunado) because they will know both the concept and an approximation of the label in English.

The Tier 2 words that should be targeted for pre-teaching include words that cannot be demonstrated and are not cognates.

ELLs should be expected to master Tier 2 words in order to do well on comprehension and on tests.

Tier 3 words

These are low-frequency words that are found mostly in content books in the upper grades. Examples include witticism, isotope, procrastinate, amoeba, or words that are not demonstrable or cognates. These words are rarely encountered in the early grades, but if they do appear, you can translate them or briefly explain them in either English or in the ELLs' first language.

Note: It is advisable at all grade levels to have bilingual dictionaries available in the classroom. If you do not know the translation for a vocabulary word into students' native language, it is an easy reference and clarification tool. Also, when reading texts on their own, students can look up unknown words and ensure their own comprehension.

References

Beck, I., McKeown, M. & Kucan, L (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: The Gilford Press.

Calderón, M., August, D., Durán, D., Madden, N., R. Slavin & M. Gil (2003 and in press). Spanish to English Transitional Reading: Teacher's Manual. Baltimore, MD: The Success for All Foundation.

Calderón, M. & L. Minaya-Rowe (2004). Expediting Comprehension to English Language Learners (ExC-ELL) Teachers Manual. Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University.

Calderón, M. & L. Minaya-Rowe (in press). Teaching Reading, Oral Language and Content to English Language Learners - How ELLs Keep Pace With Mainstream Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

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Selecting Vocabulary Words to Teach English Language Learners

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This article offers guidance for selecting vocabulary words when teaching ELLs and explains the difference between Tier 1, 2, and 3 words. A student's maximum level of reading comprehension is determined by his or her knowledge of words. This word knowledge allows students to comprehend text.

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Choosing Words to Teach | Reading Rockets

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Choosing Words to Teach | Reading Rockets

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The teacher's edition for a fourth-grade anthology suggests teaching the following words before inviting students to read an excerpt from Charlotte's Web (White, 1952): comfort, cunning, endure, friendless, frolic, lonely, soaked, and stealthily. Why do you think these words were selected? One obvious reason for selecting words to teach is that students do not know the words. Although cunning, endure, frolic, and stealthily are probably unfamiliar to most fourth graders, comfort, friendless, lonely, and soaked are probably not. Familiarity does not seem to be the principle used to make the selection. What about importance or usefulness? Are the selected words useful for writing or talking? Would the words be important to know because they appear in other texts with a high degree of frequency? Some - but not all - of the words might be considered useful or important. Thus, the question remains: Why were the words selected? The purpose of this chapter is to consider what principles might be used for selecting words to teach.

Useful words

As a way to begin thinking about which words to teach, consider that words in the language have different levels of utility. In this regard, we have found our notion of tiers, as discussed in Chapter 1, to be one helpful lens through which to consider words for instructional attention. Recall that Tier One consists of the most basic words - clock, baby, happy - rarely requiring instruction in school. Tier Three includes words whose frequency of use is quite low, often being limited to specific domains - isotope, lathe, peninsula - and probably best learned when needed in a content area. Tier Two words are high-frequency words for mature language users - coincidence, absurd, industrious - and thus instruction in these words can add productively to an individual's language ability.

Identifying Tier Two words in texts

To get an idea of the process of identifying Tier Two words, consider an example. Below is the opening paragraph of a retelling of an old tale (Kohnke, 2001, p. 12) about a donkey who is under a magical spell that forces him to do the chores for a group of lazy servants. The story would likely be of interest to third and fourth graders.

Johnny Harrington was a kind master who treated his servants fairly. He was also a successful wool merchant, and his business required that he travel often. In his absence, his servants would tend to the fields and cattle and maintain the upkeep of his mansion. They performed their duties happily, for they felt fortunate to have such a benevolent and trusting master.

The underlined words are those we identified as consistent with the notion of Tier Two words. That is, most of the words are likely to appear frequently in a wide variety of texts and in the written and oral language of mature language users. (Note: We chose this paragraph because there were so many candidate Tier Two words; however, most grade-level material would not have so many words in only one paragraph.)

One "test" of whether a word meets the Tier Two criterion of being a useful addition to students' repertoires is to think about whether the students already have ways to express the concepts represented by the words. Would students be able to explain these words using words that are already well known to them? If that is the case, it suggests that the new words offer students more precise or mature ways of referring to ideas they already know about. One way to answer the question is to think about how average third and fourth graders would talk about the concepts represented by the Tier Two words. We think that students would be likely to offer the explanations shown in the accompanying list.

Adding the seven target words to young students' vocabulary repertoires would seem to be quite productive, because learning the words would allow students to describe with greater specificity people and situations with which they already have some familiarity. Note that these words are not simple synonyms of the familiar ones, however, instead representing more precise or more complex forms of the familiar words. Maintain means not only "keep going," for example, but also "to continue something in its present condition or at its present level." Benevolent has the dimension of tolerance as well as kindness.

Selecting from a pool of words

The decision about which words to teach must also take into account how many words to teach in conjunction with any given text or lesson. Given that students are learning vocabulary in social studies and science as well as reading or language arts, there needs to be some basis for limiting the number of words so that students will have the opportunity to learn some words well.

Now consider which of the words will be most useful in helping students understand the above paragraph. For the seven words noted there, our thinking is that fortunate is particularly important because the fact that the servants thought they were lucky is an important condition of the story. Similarly, benevolent plays an important role in setting up the story, as the servants appreciate their master's kindness and do not want to upset their pleasant living situation. If one other word were to be selected, a good choice would be merchant. Merchant is a word that comes up in fourth- and fifth-grade social studies textbooks in discussions of colonization of the Americas (e.g., "European merchants were eager to locate new resources like tobacco and indigo which could be found in the colonies"; or "Colonial merchants were dismayed by the taxes on English goods which meant higher prices for their customers but no more profit for themselves").

The other candidate words, tend, required, performed, and maintain, are also words of strong general utility, and the choice of whether to include any more words is based solely on considering how many words one thinks students can usefully handle.

You try it

Below is another excerpt from the tale about the donkey under the magical spell described above (Kohnke, 2001, p. 12). You might find it useful to try your hand at identifying Tier Two words. You will get to see our choices below the excerpt, so that you can compare your selections with ours.

The servants would never comment on this strange occurrence [finding the kitchen clean even though none of them were seen doing the cleaning], each servant hoping the other had tended to the chores. Never would they mention the loud noises they'd hear emerging from the kitchen in the in middle of the night. Nor would they admit to pulling the covers under their chins as they listened to the sound of haunting laughter that drifted down the halls to their bedrooms each night. In reality, they knew there was a more sinister reason behind their good fortune.

Which words did you select? Trying to be all-inclusive, selecting any words that might fit Tier Two, we chose comment, occurrence, tended, mention, emerging, admit, haunting, reality, sinister, and fortune. We considered them Tier Two words as we viewed them as fairly "general but sophisticated words." That is, they are not the most basic or common ways of expressing ideas, but they are familiar to mature language users as ordinary as opposed to specialized language. The concepts embodied in each word are ones that students already have some understanding of, as shown in the accompanying list.

Now, the notion of tiers of words is not a precise one, and the lines between tiers are not clear-cut, so your selection may not match ours. Thinking in terms of tiers is just a starting point - a way of framing the task of choosing candidate words for instruction (see the accompanying box). Even within Tier Two, some words will be more easily familiar and some will be more useful than others. For example, our hunch is that admit, reality, and fortune are likely known to most fourth or fifth graders; that tended is not often used in a way that is key to understanding; and that fifth graders may already associate haunting with scary things - a Halloween context - which is fitting for this story. Thus we ended up with comment, occurrence, mention, emerging, and sinister. We judged the first four of these to be most useful across a range of contexts, and we chose sinister because it is a strong word with emotional impact that is used in literature to describe fictional characters as well as in nonfiction, such as when describing a group's sinister plans to invade another's territory.

Considerations beyond Tier Two

There is nothing scientific about the way words are identified for attention in school materials. Some words are obvious candidates, such as selecting the word representation for a social studies unit on the American Revolutionary War era. But beyond the words that play major roles, choices about what specific set of words to teach are quite arbitrary. Teachers should feel free to use their best judgment, based on an understanding of their students' needs, in selecting words to teach. They should also feel free to treat words in different ways. As Chapters 3, 4, and 5 will show, Tier Two words are not only words that are important for students to know, they are also words that can be worked with in a variety of ways so that students have opportunities to build rich representations of them and of their connections to other words and concepts.

In many texts, however, there may be several unfamiliar words that do not meet the criteria for Tier Two words but which nevertheless require some attention if students are to understand a selection. Consider the following excerpt from the short story "My Father, the Entomologist" (Edwards, 2001, p. 5):

"Oh, Bea, you look as lovely as a longhorn beetle lifting off for flight. And I must admit your antennae are adorable. Yes, you've metamorphosed into a splendid young lady."Bea rolled her eyes and muttered, "My father, the entomologist." "I heard that, Bea. It's not nice to mumble. Unless you want to be called a ... Mumble Bea!" Bea's father slapped his knee and hooted. Bea rolled her eyes a second time. The first day of fifth grade, and my father tells me I look like a longhorn beetle. Bea shuddered at the thought. She absolutely detested bugs.

With fourth and fifth-grade students in mind, we have divided the 12 underlined words from the story into the following three categories:

The first column contains words that are important to the story but that can be dealt with very quickly. Longhorn beetle does not call for attention-students will understand it as a type of insect, and more knowledge is not needed to understand the story.

Antennae and entomologist are needed to understand the situation the author uses to set up the story, but the two words can be quickly described as "those things that stick out from an insect's head" and "a scientist who studies insects." More precise information is not required for this selection.

Metamorphosed can be explained as simply changed or grown, but to get the humor intended here, the information needs to be given that it is the type of change that certain insects go through, such as when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. But, again, no more precision is required, and this is not the place to go through the elaborate explanation about the process or how it occurs. That should occur in a science unit about insects.

The words in the next two columns have more general applications and are consistent with Tier Two words. The words in the second column - obsessed, detest, and despise - are most substantively related to the plot of the story, which is about a father who is obsessed with bugs and his daughter who detests and despises them. Detest and despise create a kind of "two-fer" situation, in that they are very close synonyms that could be introduced together and used interchangeably.

The rest of the words do not play key roles in the story, nor is their unfamiliarity likely to interfere with comprehension. So, which other words are attended to, if any, is simply a matter of choice and convenience. That is, a decision as to the number of words taught might be made on the basis of how many a teacher wants to make room for at the moment. Factors in this decision may include, for example, how large the current vocabulary load is in the classroom, the time of year, and the number and difficulty of other concepts presently being dealt with in the curriculum.

Assume that there is room for several more words from this story. It might be convenient to teach splendid and shuddered, because they could take advantage of concepts already established for the story. Shuddered fits well, since something that is detested might well make one shudder. Splendid is also a good fit, as in: "Bea's dad thinks bugs are splendid, but Bea detests them." Or "If you're obsessed about something, you might think it's splendid." These two words would also be favored because they have a bit more dimension to them than mumble, muttered,or hurl. This is not to say that mumble, muttered,or hurl should not be taught, but simply that, presented with the choice of words to work with, splendid and shuddered seem to lend themselves to a wider diversity of possible uses.

What if there are not enough words?

Now let us consider a text that does not seem to offer much for vocabulary development because all of the words in the text are familiar to students. An approach in such a case could be selecting words whose concepts fit in with the story even though the words do not appear. For example, if the story features a character who is a loner, introduce the words hermit, isolated,or solitary; if a problem is dealt with, present it as a dilemma or conflict; if a character is hardworking, consider if he or she is diligent and conscientious. Think in terms of words that coordinate with, expand, or play off of words, situations, or characters in a text.

Bringing in words whose concepts fit with a story is especially salient when young children are just learning to read and there are only the simplest words in their text. Consider a story in which two children (Pam and Matt) try on a number silly hats, some of which are very big and two of which are exactly alike. A number of words came to mind, and we chose absurd, enormous, and identical. Next we suggest how those words might be introduced to young children:

In the story, Pam and Matt had very, very silly hats. Another way to say that something is very, very silly is to say that it is absurd. When something is absurd, it is so silly it's hard to believe.

Some of the hats that Pam and Matt wore were so big that all you could see were their feet. Another way to say that something is very, very big is to say that it is enormous. Enormous means "very big - very, very big."

Pam and Matt put on red hats that were almost exactly alike. A way to say that two things are exactly alike is to say that they are identical. Identical means "exactly alike."

Words don't need to be completely unfamiliar to students in order to be good candidates for instructional attention. Words might be selected for attention that may be familiar to students but which illustrate the power of an author's choice of words to reveal information about a character or situation. For example, notice the underlined words in the following excerpt, which is taken from a sixth-grade unit on Egypt (Banks et al., 1997, p. 87). The topic is Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh.

Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut was a princess and the wife of a pharaoh. She seized the chance to become pharaoh herself when her husband died. Her young stepson was supposed to become the new pharaoh of Egypt. Hatshepsut proclaimed, however, that the ten-year-old boy was too young to rule on his own. In this way she succeeded in being named co-ruler.

Hatshepsut's Trading Journey
In the eighth year of her reign, Hatshepsut organized the biggest trading expedition of her career. An expedition is a group of people who go on a trip for a set reason. The goal of Hatshepsut's expedition was to trade with Egypt's neighbors to the south in Punt. Historians think Punt may have been in what is today Ethiopia or Somalia...
The huge caravan of scribes, soldiers, artists, and attendants set off along a dusty road that led east to the Red Sea. There they loaded their cargo onto five sleek ships for the long journey south.

The only word identified for attention by the publisher in this segment is expedition, which is explained within the text. The two underlined words - seized and sleek - offer possibilities for drawing students' attention to the effect of an author's choice of words and help the topic come alive.

That Hatshepsut "seized" the chance to become pharaoh reveals something about her character that would make for an interesting discussion. For example: "It says that Hatshepsut seized the chance to become pharaoh. Seize means 'to grab something or take control of it firmly.' So, what does that tell us about Hatshepsut? Was she afraid of being pharaoh? Do you think she was eager to become a ruler?"

Similarly, that the expedition sailed off in "sleek" ships communicates the prosperity and style of the Egyptian civilization. Discussion could prompt thinking in that direction: "Sleek is a word used to describe something graceful and stylish, that marks its owner as well-to-do. 'They sailed off in sleek ships.' What picture does that give us of Egypt?" Additionally, words like ambitious and calculating could be introduced to characterize Hatshepsut.

An example for older students

The examples provided thus far were drawn from texts for readers in the intermediate grades. Although the same principles apply to selecting words from texts for students in the upper grades, they may play out a bit differently. Thus, we present a discussion of the words that might be selected for Agatha Christie's "In a Glass Darkly" (1934), a story that is likely to be of interest to students in eighth or ninth grade. It is a rather brooding tale that moves from a murderous premonition to unrequited love, jealousy, and near tragedy before resolving happily. The story begins as the narrator, while staying with a friend, sees a vision of a man strangling a woman. The woman turns out to be his friend's sister, Sylvia, with whom he falls in love. But Sylvia is engaged to the man he saw in his vision. He tells her of the vision, and she breaks her engagement. For years, the narrator is unable to tell her of his feelings for her. Finally, love is revealed and they marry. But he is deeply jealous, a feeling that results in his nearly strangling his wife - until he notices in the mirror that he is playing out the scene of his premonition.

The language of the story is sophisticated but not particularly difficult. Most words will likely be at least passingly familiar to many readers in eighth or ninth grade. However, many of the words are probably not of high frequency in the students' vocabularies, and thus an opportunity presents itself for students to work with these words and gain fluency with them. Here are the 30 words from the story that we identified as Tier Two words:

Of the 30 words, we decided to focus on 10 of them: essential, altered, well-off, devoted, entrenched, inevitable, sobering, revelation, upshot, and disinterested.

Ten words may be a lot to develop effectively for one story, but we see it as a workable number because many of them will already be familiar. Also, two of the words could be introduced rather briefly with little or no follow-up work. These are altered, which could be defined simply as "permanently changed," and well-off, which could simply be given the synonym wealthy. The reason for attention to these two words is that they could cause confusion at the local level in the story if not understood.

Two other words were also chosen because they could cause confusion in a part of the story. These are upshot and disinterested. The narra-tor talks of the upshot of his decision to tell Sylvia that he saw a vision of her fiancé choking her. Because of the context and feel of the story, we thought upshot might be interpreted as some sort of physical violence, instead of simply "the result of." The word disinterested meaning "not being involved in a particular situation" is often confused with uninterested, meaning "not interested," and the story provides a good opportunity to introduce that distinction.

Five words seem to convey the mood and emotional impact of story developments: devoted, entrenched, inevitable, sobering, and revelation. And the word essential was chosen because "one essential detail" turns out to be a key plot device - that is, in his premonition, the narrator notices a scar on the left side of the choker's face. The essential detail he fails to account for is that he is seeing this in a mirror, so the scar is actually on the right. The five words can be used to describe the plot as follows: The narrator is devoted to Sylvia, although entrenched in a jealousy that causes inevitable problems. Only a sobering revelation (that essential detail) saves him, his marriage, and his wife.

A couple of points should be emphasized here. The words were selected not so much because they are essential to comprehension of the story but because they seem most closely integral to the mood and plot. In this way, the vocabulary work provides both for learning new words and for enriching understanding of literature. This decision was made possible because there was a large pool of words from which to choose. Sometimes choices are more limited, and sometimes the best words are not so tied to the story. In such cases, a decision might be made to select words that seem most productive for vocabulary development despite their role in the story.

For the six words we consider to be most important to teach, some characteristics of the words themselves also drove our selections. Sobering was selected because its strongest sense for students might be as the opposite of drunk. So, the context of the story provides a good opportunity to overcome that and introduce its more general sense. The others, essential, devoted, entrenched, inevitable, and revelation, have wide potential for use and are not limited to specific situations or stereotypical contexts. Yet, they seem to be strongly expressive words that can bring emotional impact to contexts in which they are used.

An example for young children

We turn now to selecting words to enhance the vocabulary repertoires of young children - those who are just learning to read. We make two immediate distinctions between vocabulary work with intermediate and older students and work with students in the earliest grades, typically kindergarten though early second grade. The first is that we consider the best sources for new vocabulary to be trade books that teachers read aloud to children rather than the books children read on their own. In Chapter 4 we will make our case for that position. The second distinction is that in contrast to introducing words before a story, in our work with young children we have found it most appropriate to engage in vocabulary activities after a story has been read.

There are two reasons we decided that vocabulary activities for young children should occur after a story. First, if a word is needed for comprehension, since the teacher is reading the story she is available to briefly explain the word at the point in the story where it is needed (e.g., "A ukulele is a kind of guitar"; or "When ducks molt, they lose their feathers and can't fly until new ones grow"). Second, since the words that will be singled out for vocabulary attention are words that are very likely unfamiliar to young children, the context from the story provides a rich example of the word's use and thus strong support for the children's initial learning of the word.

The basis for selecting words from trade books for young children is that they are Tier Two words and words that are not too difficult to explain to young children. Here, we present our thinking for selecting three words for instructional attention from The Popcorn Dragon (Thayer, 1953), a story targeted to kindergartners.

In our review of The Popcorn Dragon for Tier Two candidate words, we first identified the following seven: accidentally, drowsy, pranced, scorched, envious, delighted, and forlorn. From the pool of seven, we decided to provide instruction for three: envious, delighted, and forlorn. We considered three issues in making our choices. First, we determined that the concept represented by each word was understandable to kindergartners; that is, 5-year-olds understand the concepts of wanting something someone else has (envious), being very happy (delighted), and being very sad (forlorn). Second, it is not too difficult to explain the meanings of those words in very simple language, as illustrated in the previous sentence! And, third, each word has extensive possibilities for use. In particular, the words are found in numerous fairy tales; that is, there is often some character who is envious of another, and there are characters who are delighted or forlorn about the turn of events. The words, however, are not restricted to make-believe; they can all be used in describing people in common situations.

We found the other candidate words - pranced, accidentally, scorched, and drowsy - interesting and potentially useful, but we saw scorched and pranced as narrower than the ones we chose, and drowsy and accidentally as not quite so interesting. We hasten to make the point that this is all a matter of judgment. The final decisions about which words to teach may not be as important as thoughtful consideration about why to teach certain words and not others.

What about words being on grade level?

A concern that surfaces in deciding which words to teach is whether words are appropriate for students at certain grade levels. Key to this concern is to understand that no formula exists for selecting age-appropriate vocabulary words despite lists that identify "fifth-grade words" or "seventh-grade words." There is simply no basis for determining which words students should be learning at different grade levels. For example, that coincidence is an "eighth-grade word" according to a frequency index means only that most students do not know the word until eighth grade. It does not mean that students in seventh or even third grade cannot learn the word or should not be taught it.

There are only two things that make a word inappropriate for a certain level. One is not being able to explain the meaning of a word in known terms. If the words used to explain a target word are likely unknown to the students, then the word is too hard. The other consideration for word selection is that the words be useful and interesting - ones that students will be able to find uses for in their everyday lives. Of course, this is a matter of judgment, best decided by those who know the individual students. Work we have done with kindergarten and first-grade children shows that sophisticated words can be successfully taught to young children. For example, kindergartners readily applied nuisance to disruptive classmates, and understood what was happening when a commotion occurred in the hall; first graders could easily discern argumentative peers from those who acted dignified!

In summary

In evaluating words as possible candidates for instruction, here are three things to keep in mind:

How generally useful is the word? Is it a word that students are likely to meet often in other texts? Will it be of use to students in describing their own experiences?

For example, students are likely to find more situations in which to apply typical and dread than portage and brackish.

How does the word relate to other words, to ideas that students know or have been learning? Does it directly relate to some topic of study in the classroom? Or might it add a dimension to ideas that have been developed?

For example, what might knowing the word hubris bring to a middle school student's understanding of the battles at Lexington and Concord, which set the Revolutionary War in motion?

What does the word bring to a text or situation? What role does the word play in communicating the meaning of the context in which it is used?

A word's meaning might be necessary for understanding a text. Or understanding its meaning might allow an enriched insight about the situation being presented, such as in the case of Hatshepsut's seizing power and her expedition traveling in sleek ships.

Keep in mind that there is no formula for selecting age-appropriate vocabulary words despite lists that identify "fifth-grade words" or "seventh-grade words." As long as the word can be explained in known words and can apply to what students might talk or write about, it is an appropriate word to teach.

Your turn

We invite you to use what you have learned in this chapter to make some decisions about which words you will teach.

1. Select a text that your students will be reading. It can be a story, or an excerpt from a chapter book or novel, or a social studies textbook.

2. List all the words that are likely to be unfamiliar to students.

3. Analyze the word list:

Which words can be categorized as Tier Two words?

Which of the Tier Two words are most necessary for comprehension?

Are there other words needed for comprehension? Which ones?

4. On the basis of your analysis, which words will you teach?

Which will need only brief attention?

Which will you give more elaborate attention to?

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Teaching vocabulary is complex. What words are important for a child to know and in what context? In this excerpt from Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction, the authors consider what principles might be used for selecting which words to explicitly teach.

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No Tears for Tiers: Common Core Tiered Vocabulary Made Simple l Dr. Kimberly's Literacy Blog

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No Tears for Tiers: Common Core Tiered Vocabulary Made Simple l Dr. Kimberly's Literacy Blog

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The Common Core State Standards place an importance on academic vocabulary. In addition to developing an advanced vocabulary, the CCSS calls for increasing the amount of nonfiction and informational text in classrooms. We know that vocabulary knowledge influences fluency, comprehension, and student achievement. And, vocabulary plays an even more important role in understanding nonfiction and informational text. It has been estimated that 80% of comprehension in nonfiction is dependent upon understanding the vocabulary.

In Appendix A of the Standards, the Tiered Vocabulary framework by Isabel Beck is summarized. To many educators, the idea of tiered vocabulary is rather new. In this post, I'll define Tiered Vocabulary and lay out a simple framework for thinking about the tiers, including examples for each tier, and provide implications for instruction.

Tiered Vocabulary: Definitions and Examples

Definition: Tiered Vocabulary is an organizational framework for categorizing words and suggests implications for instruction. (The three-tier framework was developed by Isabel Beck and Margaret McKeown.)
Tier 1: Common, Known Words

Examples: big, small, house, table, family

Tier I words are basic, everyday words that are a part of most children's vocabulary. These are words used every day in conversation, and most of them are learned by hearing family, peers, and teachers use them when speaking. These words are especially important for English language learners who may not be familiar with them.
Tier 2: High-Frequency Words (aka Cross-Curricular Vocabulary)
Examples: justify, explain, expand, predict, summarize, maintain

Tier 2 words include frequently occurring words that appear in various contexts and topics and play an important role in verbal functioning across a variety of content areas. These are general academic words and have high utility across a wide range of topics and contexts.
Tier 3: Low-Frequency, Domain-Specific words
Another way to think of Tier 2 vocabulary is as cross-curricular terms. For example, the term "justify" and "predict" frequently appear in Science, Social Studies, and English texts.

Examples: isotope, tectonic plates, carcinogens, mitosis, lithosphere
Understanding tiered vocabulary has practical applications for the Common Core and classroom instruction. Listed below are several instructional implications.
Tier 3 words are domain specific vocabulary. Words in this category are low frequency, specialized words that appear in specific fields or content areas. We anticipate that students will be unfamiliar with Tier 3 words. Beck suggests teaching these words as the need arises for comprehension in specific content areas.

1. Content Vocabulary Lists

First, as teachers work through content units to create key vocabulary lists, understanding the three tiers can help separate the "should-know words (Tier 3)" from the "must-knows (Tier 2)" and the "already-known words (Tier 1)." Too frequently, vocabulary lists are unnecessarily long. That leads to just-in-time cramming and promptly forgetting the words following the quiz or test.

2. Focus for Instruction

There isn't enough time in the day for teachers to teach all words with the same amount of emphasis. Multiple exposures and practice are key characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction.

Tier 2 words are important for students to master and understand deeply. Why? Because academic words such as justify, expand, maximum, and barren are found in many content area texts such as social studies, Science, Mathematics, English, and History texts. Understanding these terms greatly increases comprehension of academic texts.
3. Districtwide K-12 Core Vocabulary Lists
Creating a streamlined list of words helps teachers focus their instructional efforts and use strategies that help students master these terms. There are many evidenced-based vocabulary strategies. One of my favorites is Marzano's 6-Step Vocabulary Process which includes multiple exposures, linguistic and nonlinguistic definitions, and games to reinforce word learning.

Many districts we work with create K-12 vocabulary lists. While including other terms, these K-12 core vocabulary lists often focus on the broad-based Tier 2 words. Not only are these terms important for reading and comprehending in a cross-curricular sense, Tier 2 terms also frequently appear on standardized assessments.

4. Digital Tools to Support Word Learning

In today's 21st century classrooms, digital tools must coexist alongside more traditional tools to help students increase their word learning and master academic terms. Online tools, compared to their more traditional counterparts, provide a broader array of information about words and word meanings. In addition, some tools allow teachers to easily customize words so that students can practice, review, and play games with content or unit-specific words.

I've reviewed 21 digital tools that may help you plan and organize vocabulary activities. Students, too, can benefit by using online reference tools and various apps for practicing and reviewing terms.

Tiered vocabulary doesn't have to be complicated.

To start, review key terms from one unit and sorting them into Tier 2 and Tier 3 words which make up academic vocabulary.
Put simply, creating tiered vocabulary lists and effective vocabulary instruction support student learning, achievement, and the Common Core State Standards.
Then, you need to think about how you will teach some of those words, particularly Tier 2 vocabulary. Check out 5 Simple Steps to Effective Vocabulary Instruction - you'll get a few solid ideas and strategies there.

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No Tears for Tiers: Common Core Tiered Vocabulary Made Simple l Dr. Kimberly's Literacy Blog

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The Common Core State Standards place an importance on academic vocabulary. In addition to developing an advanced vocabulary, the CCSS calls for increasing the amount of nonfiction and informational text in classrooms. We know that vocabulary knowledge influences fluency, comprehension, and student achievement. And, vocabulary plays an even more important role in understanding nonfiction and ...

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Online Etymology Dictionary | Origin, history and meaning of English words

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The online etymology dictionary is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible enough to be used by anyone. The site has become a favorite resource of teachers of reading, spelling, and English as a second language.

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Using English for Academic Purposes: Information and Advice for Students in Higher Education

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Free online Dictionary of English Pronunciation - How to Pronounce English words

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Free online Dictionary of English Pronunciation - How to Pronounce English words

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learn how to pronounce english words free

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how to improve english accent and pronunciation

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how to improve english accent and pronunciation

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how to pronounce english words correctly with audio

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how to improve english accent and pronunciation

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how to pronounce english words correctly with audio

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how to improve pronunciation and fluency

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Free Online English Pronunciation Dictionary | Howjsay | Learn to Pronounce English Words | Howjsay

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Learn How to Pronounce English Words | Natural Recordings by Native Speakers

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Find Definitions & Meanings of Words | Britannica Dictionary

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Clear and simple definitions in American English from Britannica's language experts. More usage examples than any other dictionary.

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Toolsuite for visualizing and exploring passages of text.

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Homophone activity pack on TPT--GT students

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Homophone activity pack on TPT--GT students

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Pairs of Pears: A Homophone Activity Pack

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Pairs of Pears:  A Homophone Activity Pack

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Greek & Latin *free posters/flash cards --GT students

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Greek & Latin *free posters/flash cards --GT students

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Download this free unit!  Practice, Practice, Practice!  After all the practice and activities, students will be ready to take the test at the end of the week!  Spiral Review starts with unit 2!

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Match English meanings to Greek roots--GT students

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Match English meanings to Greek roots--GT students

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Color by Number: Match English Meanings to Greek Roots This resource is a color by number to help students match English meanings to their Greek roots. In this Greek roots color by number, students first match the given English meaning to a choice of Greek roots.

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Short A Activities and Resources (including freebies!)

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Short A Activities and Resources (including freebies!) - these phonics crosswords are great to challenge your high or gifted students or for fast finishers or homework

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Latin/Greek Vocabulary Through the Year 4th - 6th Grade

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Updated!!! This 311 page Latin Greek Vocabulary Unit has enough materials to take your class through the year, doing a unit a week. Each of the 30 units has two Latin/Greek practice pages and a test, along with keys for each. It also includes 5 foldables, 240 vocabulary cards and definitions, as well as 60 root cards and their meanings.(TpT Resource)

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GT students

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Critical Thinking Kids Love -- Hinkity Pinkities II

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28 cards with Hinkity Pinkity clues. Great for a literacy center, as a warm-up activity, a sponge activity, or an anchor activity. $ #CCSS #Gifted #HinkPinks #criticalthinking #higherorderthinkingskills #enrichment #BarbEvans #itsabouttimeteachers

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GT students

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Featured Educational Games Online Learning Games for kids are a great way to build the skills that kids need to succeed in school. These educational games for kids make learning fun with math facts, language arts, and more. Children enjoy learning with educational games.

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5 effective techniques for teaching vocabulary 

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5 effective techniques for teaching vocabulary 

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Can you keep a secret? You can? Here it is...

"Looking up vocabulary words in a dictionary to get their meaning is considered THE WORST instructional practice for vocabulary instruction," according to the research studies shared by Nell Duke at the Virginia State Reading Conference.

Yet sadly, many teachers continue this practice. After you read this post, please promise me that you will shift to new thinking and banish the practice of looking up words and writing sentences with them in future lessons. Deal? Instead, let me share techniques you can choose as an alternative.

Before I share strategies with you, let me first share WHY vocabulary instruction is critical to reading comprehension. Do you have fluent readers in your room who work through an entire text and when asked about it, they have no understanding of the meaning? We all do, so we know that there is a breakdown somewhere in the reading process. After all, making meaning out of our reading is the point. So, the child may have had breakdown such as the following:

1) He/she focused so deeply on pronouncing the words correctly that he/she failed to stay connected to the text. 2) He/she pronounced the words correctly, but did not know the meaning of enough words to be able to adequately understand. 3) Lacked the schema needed to understand the information shared.

We know much of children's vocabulary development happens with indirect exposure through conversation, listening to adults read to them, daily experiences, and from reading on their own. However, explicit vocabulary instruction leads to greater word learning, increased reading comprehension, and increased word usage in conversation and in print. The more often a child sees, hears, and works with the vocabulary words, the better he/she understands the words' meanings.

Make Visual Aids to Demonstrate Meaning

When you share new words with your students, demonstrate the meaning with a piece of clip art or photo that explains the context of the word. This is especially important with words the child will be encountering often and those that we want students to utilize in their speaking and writing. (Tier 2 words). Here's an example of what it would look like:

Then, have your students make their own drawing of the word. If you do these on index cards, you might punch a hole in the corner and put them on a ring for categorizing, vocabulary games, and other usage activities. Remember...repeated exposures to the words are necessary for the words to be fully understood.

Include lots of discussion of examples and non-examples of the word

The more students are able to discuss the words including synonyms and antonyms, usage of the word, and contexts, the better the student will understand it. Group discussion is especially important for struggling readers and ELL students. As you're discussing the words, poll your class to see how well they understand the words. You may have a few student "experts" who are able to convey meaning to students well too, so tapping into their leadership qualities can also improve motivation to learn. You might use a technique called Carousel Brainstorm to allow discussions. All you do is display the word at the top of chart paper and send groups of students around to each chart. They record as much as they know about the word in an allotted amount of time and then either the group moves or the paper moves for the next word. Groups read what previous groups have written and add to it each time. In this demo, you see different colored markers are used.

Make Learning Vocabulary into a Game

Using manipulatives such as a googly eyeball on the end of a popsicle stick, a magnifying glass, or big "detective" sunglasses can create Word Wizards out of all of your students. As you read, challenge your students to locate new words for the group to discuss as a post reading activity. If each child brings a list of new and exciting words, imagine how fun it'd be to categorize and explain them later. Here are two strategies you might try with the word list your kids create:

Feel free to print this as an anchor chart for your group.

In this strategy, the kids list the words, categorize the words, and justify their categories. I love the justify column for deep thinking and the fact that discussion is embedded throughout the process. The example shared was with a nonfiction book about money, but I can see this working well with other nonfiction titles too.

In this strategy, the teacher creates a poster sized thought bubble out of colored chart paper and laminates it. As new words are introduced, the student uses a dry erase marker to explain his/her thinking about the word. These thought bubbles could be used for other comprehension skills too, and they are super easy to make if you have paper, dry erase markers, and laminating film.

Credit: The Comprehension Queens at the VSRA conference 2016

Use Activities that Reach ALL Learning Styles

When you are teaching vocabulary, be sure to include activities that include all learning styles. Most of us do well with auditory and visual options, but we often lack kinesthetic options. Whole Brain Teaching techniques have been shown to be very effective for long term retention of information. You can also sing, chant, and role play with words too. Even if you can't come up with motions for a word's meaning, just getting your kids up and moving may help those kinesthetic learners better understand the word's meaning. Sarah from There's No Place Like Second Grade shared many great ideas in her presentation, and I loved the looks of Word Jams which is a subscription app from Go Noodle with us at the conference. She mentioned how her students really retain the words they've learned AND the motions.

Celebrate Words by Making Them Visible in your Classroom

With the increased rigor we see in our standards, motivation and student engagement are more important than ever. If students see that WE value words, then the students will feel they are important too. We need to showcase that learning by keeping attention on our growing word walls by making sure they are used and expanded. By using techniques such as Word of the Day and spotlighting ah-ha moments in discovering a new word in our read alouds, we demonstrate the importance to our students which leads them to be active thinkers as they read and learn versus passive. Ideas you might try include:

Graffiti Walls
Word of the Day Posters
WOW Word Anchor Charts
Said is Dead Alternatives
Be _____ Bulletin Board

Before I sign off, I will share one item you might be interested in if you are looking for vocabulary resources. This reading vocabulary word wall is one I use all year. You can display all the words and mark them as you feature them or add them to the wall as you teach the skill. I kept these posted and referred to them each time we used the skill or as I taught them. It's important that your students understand the meaning of reading words like summarize and infer in order to understand the task they're asked to do on the assessment. You can click the image below to further explore this product if you're interested.

We build readers one word at a time. Keeping kids actively engaged with lively discussion, high interest activities, and deep thinking leads them to increased learning. This sure beats looking up words in a dictionary, doesn't it?

See you next month...

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Five Effective Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary

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Can you keep a secret? You can? Here it is... "Looking up vocabulary words in a dictionary to get their meaning is considered THE WORST instructional practice for vocabulary instruction," according to the research studies shared by Nell Duke at the Virginia State Reading Conference. Yet sadly, many teachers continue this practice.

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1000 Word Challenge Procedures - Google Docs

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1000 Word Challenge Procedures - Google Docs

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Nell Duke - Vocabulary Instruction - LEaRN DVD6 EC1 - YouTube

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Nell Duke - Vocabulary Instruction - LEaRN DVD6 EC1 - YouTube

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Overview of Reading and Future Directions

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Nell Duke - Vocabulary Instruction - LEaRN DVD6 EC1

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Ejemplos de mapas de palabras con significados multiples

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Ejemplos de mapas de palabras con significados multiples

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Helps broaden and deepen students' understanding of related words

Helps students distinguish between shades of meaning

Enhances students' vocabulary, which can help them be more precise and imaginative in their writing

How to use semantic gradients

1. Select a pair of polar opposite words.

2. Generate at least five synonyms for each of the opposite words.

3. Arrange the words in a way that makes a bridge from one opposite word to the other. Continuums can be done horizontal or vertical, in a ladder-like fashion.

4. Have students discuss their rationale for placing certain words in certain locations. Encourage a conversation about the subtle differences among the words.

OR

1. Select a specific vocabulary word, e.g., large.

2. Using a book you've read, a unit of study, or different writing samples, create a list of semantically similar words. The teacher can develop the list, or work collaboratively with students to generate a list. It may work best to think of your target word as being in the center of your continuum.

3. Arrange the words in a way that illustrates an understanding of each word's meaning. Continuums can be done horizontal or vertical, in a ladder like fashion.

4. Have students discuss their rationale for placing certain words in certain locations. Encourage a conversation about the subtle differences among the words.

Download this semantic gradients handout, with examples of topics or themes and words that relate to that topic.

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Semantic Gradients | Classroom Strategy | Reading Rockets

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Semantic gradients are a way to broaden and deepen students' understanding of related words. Students consider a continuum of words by order of degree. Semantic gradients often begin with antonyms, or opposites, at each end of the continuum. This strategy helps students distinguish between shades of meaning.

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First Grade Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary

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First Grade Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary

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Vocabulary Activities for Extended Student Practice

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Vocabulary Activities for Extended Student Practice

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Second Grade Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary

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Second Grade Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary

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Third Grade Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary

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Third Grade Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary

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Vocabulary Lesson Plan: To Supplement Core Vocabulary Instruction

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Vocabulary Lesson Plan: To Supplement Core Vocabulary Instruction

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Planning for Vocabulary Instruction: Selecting Vocabulary Words to Preteach Before Reading

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Planning for Vocabulary Instruction: Selecting Vocabulary Words to Preteach Before Reading

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Kindergarten Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary and Oral Development

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Kindergarten Teacher Reading Academy - Vocabulary and Oral Development

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Visualizing Vocabulary - National Writing Project

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Visualizing Vocabulary - National Writing Project

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Visualizing Vocabulary - National Writing Project

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Research shows that vocabulary is closely linked to academic success. A strong vocabulary is essential to good reading and, because reading and writing are so closely related, essential to writing (Brynildssen 2000, 1). So, I knew I had to improve the vocabulary instruction in my classroom.

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Free Must-Have Apps for Grammar and Vocabulary.pdf

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Free Must-Have Apps for Grammar and Vocabulary.pdf

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Weekly Lists of Common Foreign Vocabulary

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Weekly Lists of Common Foreign Vocabulary

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There's a video related to this article at Byrdseed.TV →
Photo by Perpetual Plum
Many students aren't challenged by week after week of 20-word spelling lists. But instead of just giving these students harder words, let then study more interesting words.

English is packed with words that originated from other languages. This rich heritage contributes to the rather unexpected spelling of English words. And, as advanced readers, your students are likely to encounter words and phrases such as:

Using these vocabulary lists, students will be better equipped to understand (and begin to use) words with foreign origins that would otherwise be impossible to decipher. It's a fantastic way to increase the complexity of spelling and vocabulary lists - plus you don't have to offer these lists to everyone. If you have struggling spellers, they can certainly work with the more basic lists included in your reading program.

I do offer a 135 examples of these words broken into 15 themed lists as part of my Advanced Vocabulary Guide PDF.

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Weekly Lists of Common Foreign Vocabulary

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There's a video related to this article at Byrdseed.TV → Photo by Perpetual Plum Many students aren't challenged by week after week of 20-word spelling lists. But instead of just giving these students harder words, let then study more interesting words. English is packed with words that originated from other languages.

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Inductive Thinking in Spelling and Vocabulary

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Inductive Thinking in Spelling and Vocabulary

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Let's look at a couple ways to bring inductive thinking into vocabulary and spelling instruction:

Plural Rules

We're teaching the -s, -es, and -ies plural rules, but let's not reveal the rule yet. As with our other inductive lessons, we begin with carefully selected examples:

one chair → two chairs

one lady → two ladies

one bird → two birds

one box → two boxes

one dog → two dogs

one fox → two foxes

one candy → two candies

one whale → two whales

Have students categorize these examples based on patterns they spot. As they work, walk around and monitor their progress.

As the majority start spot the three groups, bring them together to share out. Then ask students to formalize the rules they discovered within their groups:

Words that ended in -y changed to -ies.

Words that ended in -x added -es.

Everything else just added -s.

Give them some more examples to practice with, highlighting the fact that you're using their spelling patterns.

Etymology

Let's move from plural rules to something more advanced: determining the etymology of foreign words (or phrases) used in English. Languages are full of patterns, so it's the perfect place for an inductive lesson.

Gather a group of foreign phrases used in English that share some obvious characteristics. Don't tell the students how many languages you're using. Instead, they'll infer the number of languages by grouping the phrases using patterns.

There are three patterns, but only two languages:

Hopefully, as they analyze the phrased, students will merge the c'est and bon groups using the phrase c'est bon.

Note that this linking phrase is no accident. Examples should be carefully chosen to enhance the patterns.

Once they have their groups, congratulate your students on organizing these words they don't even know the meaning of! and announce that these are examples of French and Latin words used in English.

Then, see if kids can puzzle out some meanings. It's amazing how they're often able to abstract small details they already know and decipher a phrase.

For example, starting with the well-known bon voyage and bon appetit, students might generalize that bon means "good."

They know sub means "under," and can infer that sub silentio means "under silence" and sub judice means "under justice".

Eventually, they'll hit a slump and you can step in and unclog the pipes. For example, revealing that c'est means "it's" might suddenly unveil "it's magnificent" and "it's good" [thanks to Mylène for some corrections here].

If your students like working with foreign phrases, this could be a great weekly vocabulary extension activity.

Working With Students' Natural Gifts

Think of how much more interesting these two lessons are because we allow students to discover meaning. We are working with students' intuitive nature rather than against it, and the benefits are plentiful.

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Inductive Thinking in Spelling and Vocabulary

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Let's look at a couple ways to bring inductive thinking into vocabulary and spelling instruction: We're teaching the -s, -es, and -ies plural rules, but let's not reveal the rule yet.

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Oral Language and Vocabulary Development (PDF)

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Oral Language and Vocabulary Development (PDF)

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eyesight means: | English Vocabulary | Play online, learn online and feed the hungry | Freerice.com

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eyesight means: | English Vocabulary | Play online, learn online and feed the hungry | Freerice.com

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Freerice.com | Not Your Average Online Trivia Game

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Play online, learn online and feed the hungry | Freerice.com

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For every correct answer you choose, 10 grains of rice are raised to help end world hunger through the World Food Programme.

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Vocabulary Development | Colorín Colorado

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Vocabulary Development | Colorín Colorado

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Knowing vocabulary words is key to reading comprehension. The more words a child knows, the better he or she will understand the text. Teachers can teach vocabulary directly or indirectly. Using a variety of effective methods will increase the student's ability to learn new words.

How vocabulary relates to ELLs

For English language learners (ELLs), vocabulary development is especially important. The average native English speaker enters kindergarten knowing at least 5,000 words. The average ELL may know 5,000 words in his or her native language, but very few words in English. While native speakers continue to learn new words, ELLs face the double challenge of building that foundation and then closing the gap.

You may be surprised at how quickly a new ELL student can communicate verbally with peers, but remember that there is a big difference between social English and academic English. Reading, writing, speaking, and understanding academic English happen in the classroom. Using a combination of the following strategies will help ELLs to close the gap.

Classroom strategies: Vocabulary

Pre-teach vocabulary

Before doing an activity, teaching content, or reading a story in class, pre-teaching vocabulary is always helpful, especially for ELLs. This will give them the chance to identify words and then be able to place them in context and remember them. You can pre-teach vocabulary by using English as a second language (ESL) methods such as:

Role playing or pantomiming

Using gestures

Showing real objects

Pointing to pictures

Doing quick drawings on the board

Using the Spanish equivalent and then asking students to say the word in English

To ensure mastery of more complex words and concepts, you might want to follow these six ESL steps:

1. Pre-select a word from an upcoming text or conversation.

2. Explain the meaning with student-friendly definitions.

3. Provide examples of how it is used.

4. Ask students to repeat the word three times.

5. Engage students in activities to develop mastery.

6. Ask students to say the word again.

Focus on cognates

Cognates are words in different languages that are derived from the same original word or root. Note that about 40% of all English words have similar cognates in Spanish! This is an obvious bridge to the English language – if the student is made aware of how to use this resource.

Cognates are related words like family and familia, director and director, and conversation and conversación. False cognates do exist (mano in Spanish means hand, not man), but they are the exception to the rule. Encourage ELLs to guess at words and try to decipher text based on this existing knowledge. The more familiarity a teacher has with Spanish, the easier it is to point out these connections.

Scaffold

Scaffolding is providing a support for students as they learn new skills or information. For scaffolding vocabulary, you can:

Use a graphic organizer to explain concepts and related words. [Example coming soon]

Use the six ESL steps above to help students understand and use the word immediately.

Post new vocabulary on a word wall, and review the words daily. Swap out old words as necessary.

Label drawings and pictures to help students make the connection between oral and written English. Point to these visuals to clarify meaning when using these words.

Use computers and television

When geared to ELLs, computer programs and television programs are proven supplements to helping ELLs build language and reading skills. Computers are a non-threatening way to help children work on their own or with a buddy to learn vocabulary, sounds of English, syntax, reading, and writing. Educational children's television can also be a wonderful way to increase many reading skills, including vocabulary and comprehension.

Use audio books

Help ELLs build vocabulary by providing books with tapes in a listening center on one side of the classroom. By hearing and seeing the word in context at the same time, ELLs pick up its meaning and also gain prosody, and oral fluency.

Use a word wizard box

Ask students to bring new words into the classroom that they hear at home, on TV, or anywhere else and drop these words into a word wizard box. At the end of class, pull out a word and ask who wrote it. Have students tell you where they heard the words and how they were used. Ask students to use these new words in their discussions and writing.

Encourage oral language use

ELLs are not going to learn academic English from their parents nor their peers. They are going to learn it from you. Begin by making sure that they know instructional words that you use every day, such as "follow directions", "describe", "start at the top of the page", "read to the bottom of page 4", "highlight the verbs only", and "use the steps in your guide."

Encourage ELLs to speak in class as much as possible. Structure conversations around books and subjects that build vocabulary. Instead of simple "yes or no" questions, ask questions that are interactive and meaningful. For example, "What do you think? What should we change?" In these ways, ELLs will learn the academic English they will need to succeed in future schooling. Remember to be sensitive to ELLs who may be afraid to make mistakes. Here are some ideas for helping ELLs feel comfortable in the classroom.

Model correct usage

Instead of frequently correcting pronunciation or grammar, reaffirm the student's idea and then say the word correctly and in context.

More ideas

Label classroom objects in English and Spanish

Develop lesson plans and activities with new vocabulary words in mind

Read narrative (children's literature) and expository (nonfiction, such as science, social studies) texts to your class and discuss vocabulary words

Teach words in context – this is more effective than isolated memorization

Discuss literal vs. figurative meanings of idiomatic expressions such as "sweet tooth," "at her heels," "make up your mind," and "the cat's got your tongue."

Teach students how to use dictionaries

Teach students how to use prefixes and suffixes to determine meaning

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Knowing vocabulary words is key to reading comprehension. The more words a child knows, the better he or she will understand the text. Teachers can teach vocabulary directly or indirectly. Using a variety of effective methods will increase the student's ability to learn new words. For English language learners (ELLs), vocabulary development is especially important.

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Photo by nicasaurusrex Update: I've now created a big PDF of advanced vocabulary resources.
An article by Dr. Levande lists guidelines for working with gifted students in language arts. This need caught my eye:

Keep Basic Word Skills To A Minimum

I know many gifted students slog through the typical vocabulary contract week after week. I know because I put my own students through it. However, gifted students can get more from vocabulary and spelling study than: writing the word five times, writing the definition, and using it in a sentence.

Help your students learn to explore the depth and complexity of words. Here are some ways to deepen your word studies :

Multiple Meaning Words & Homophones

Teach students about the art of wordplay using puns. My class wrote jokes about:

bands that were banned

vain veins

gorillas serving as guerrillas

and hoarse horses

Be sure to push your students beyond simple examples and encourage them to learn new meanings. Provide them with lists so they can explore and develop their own "punny" examples.

Here's a list of hundreds of homophones for your class.

Etymology & Greek and Latin Roots

My class studied Greek and Latin word origins by developing names for spells, new Pokemon, and strange inventions. Each creation had to be constructed with at least two Greek or Latin roots, prefixes, or suffixes. Some examples included:

Acubible - a sharp book

Aquacrat - a person who lives in water

Here are 111 Greek and Latin word parts to use in class.

Idioms

Young students, especially those learning English as a second language, may be unfamiliar with the wealth of idioms in English. We do weekly studies of five idioms using this list of English idioms.

Cognates

I am fascinated by the relationship between English and other languages. Comparing vocabulary, grammar, and even writing systems can give students a new point of view about langauge arts. Cognates are an interesting way to find parallels across languages. Some examples (taken from Wikipedia):

Night (English), nuit (French), nacht (German), natt (Swedish)

shalom (Hebrew), salaam (Arabic), and selam (Amharic)

Analogies

Analogies provide a great way to get gifted students thinking about word relationships and patterns (plus they're all over the SAT!). Consider using analogies not just in language arts, but across all disciplines. Have students create analogies using concepts from:

social studies (United States : Republic :: United Kingdom : Constitutional Monarchy)

science (Mount Saint Helens : Lava Dome :: Mauna Kea : Shield Volcano)

sports (Michael Jordan : Basketball :: Babe Ruth : Baseball )

Antagonyms

Antagonyms are words that have the two opposing meanings. Definitely look at the link, but "bound" is an example since it means moving ("My train was bound for Portland") and immobile ("I was bound and gagged.").

Further Reading

Susan Winebrenner's Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom has an excellent starting point for spelling and vocabulary contracts.
I've created a big PDF of advanced vocabulary resources with resources to implement many of these ideas.

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I know many gifted students slog through the typical vocabulary contract week after week. I know because I put my own students through it. However, gifted students can get more from vocabulary and spelling study than writing the word five times, writing the definition, and then using it in a sentence.

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching » 7. Vocabulary Instruction – K

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching » 7. Vocabulary Instruction – K

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Vocabulary Instruction - K

Grade Level: Kindergarten

School: McKinley Elementary School

Location: Tacoma, Washington

Materials: Honk!: The Story of a Prima Swanerina by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Videographer: Dima Yaremenko
Elapsed Time: 6:16

Introduction:Even as students enter kindergarten, there are huge differences in their individual vocabularies. If we are to narrow the achievement gap that students from different economic levels exhibit in the upper grades, we must provide systematic, robust explicit vocabulary instruction in the primary grades.

One of the best sources of vocabulary words is the books that we read aloud to students. In this video, the students have listened to the book Honk!: The Story of a Prima Swanerina. They are being introduced to the meanings of three words from the story.

This vocabulary instruction is presented at the end of a 90-minute reading period including the reading of Honk! The troops are restless. This video is a great reminder of the difficulties in delivering instruction and maintaining the attention of the students. There is no doubt about it ... teaching is hard work.
Focus: As you watch this video, ask yourself:
1) Did the Teacher use an instructional routine for teaching each vocabulary term including these steps:
a) Introduce the word?
b) Present a student-friendly explanation?
c) Illustrate the word with examples?
d) Check students' understanding?
e) Review the words?

What other good practices did you observe?

What suggestions would you give the teacher?
Feedback: 1) Did the Teacher use an instructional routine for teaching each vocabulary term including these steps:
a) Introduce the word?
b) Present a student-friendly explanation?
c) Illustrate the word with examples?
d) Check students' understanding?
e) Review the words?
The teacher followed all of these steps when introducing each word. At the end of the lesson, the teacher reviewed the words. This video shows that the practice of using instructional routines supports teachers even when the group is a little more challenging (though very sweet).
2) What other good practices did you observe?
During the lesson, the teacher actively involved the students by having them:

Say answers as a whole group.

Share ideas with their partners.

Share ideas with their partners and then with the class.

Respond with movement and facial gestures.

The instructor augmented the vocabulary instruction by:

Adding the use of gestures and movement.

Checking understanding using examples and non-examples.

Conveying the usefulness in learning the three words.

Adding humor.

What suggestions would you give the teacher?
If I taught this lesson again, I would do these things:

Perhaps, teach the vocabulary at a later time in the day after reviewing the read-aloud. OR

Create a better environment that would promote student attention by:

Putting the last two rows of children in chairs so they would be more visible.

Reorganizing the seating arrangement so that the inattentive students were closer to the teacher.

More carefully selecting the partners.

Reorganizing the schedule of activities so that the students would have an activity at their desk before this lesson.

Be careful in the choice of words. I would teach the word 'practice' rather than 'practiced'. It was confusing to switch between the two words.

But most importantly, I would be careful that I acted as if I expected participation. At the end of video, when the students did not all respond, I simply did a "do over". "I need everyone." As soon as I started to expect participation and instigated gentle "do overs", the students began to respond more consistently. It reminded me, "It is not what we tell students we want, but how we act in concert with our requests that students attend to."

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching

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Grade Level: Kindergarten School: McKinley Elementary School Location: Tacoma, Washington Materials: Honk!: The Story of a Prima Swanerina by Pamela Duncan Edwards Videographer: Dima Yaremenko Elapsed Time: 6:16 Introduction:Even as students enter kindergarten, there are huge differences in their individual vocabularies.

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching » 4. Vocabulary Instruction – 2nd

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching » 4. Vocabulary Instruction – 2nd

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching " 4. Vocabulary Instruction - 2nd

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1. Active Participation Instruction - 2nd grade