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This is a really in-depth discussion of teaching vocabulary in a generative way. From selecting to mapping to useful examples, this shows how generative vocabulary is a way to teach as well as a way to learn.

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This is an article about teaching vocabulary to learning disabled students in content areas. I like the morphological analysis - which will teach students the important parts of words they will need to identify related words in the future.

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This is an article about teaching vocabulary with current research into the area, some cool semantic maps, and further explanation of how direct instruction can help students with disabilities.

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Considerations for Students with Special Needs 

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Considerations for Students with Special Needs 

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This chapter contains a brief overview of teaching vocabulary, a useful strategy, examples, and accommodations for students with disabilities.

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Using Multimedia to Support Generative Vocabulary 

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Using Multimedia to Support Generative Vocabulary 

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This site contains some ideas to get students to elaborate on word meanings, create Powerpoints and web sites to expand on what they know and find resources to connect what they already to know to new knowledge. The multimodal word webs consist of using several different mediums to learn about a concept.

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Posted on by jillcastek

A post from Jill

In our April 26th post we shared that Bridget, Dana, and I have written a chapter for the second edition of Vocabulary Instruction: Research to Practice (forthcoming, Guilford Press) to be published in 2011. In our chapter, Using Multimedia to Support Students' Generative Vocabulary Learnin g we highlight ways to use digital media to support vocabulary learning. In the chapter, we include multimodal examples, which are reproduced as figures. However in static manuscript form, we found ourselves limited in showcasing these creations, which are meant to be interacted with digitally.

This post features each of the examples. What follows is a brief description of teaching ideas from the chapter along downloadable files. These files allow you to click on links and interact with the content to get a better sense of the potentials and possibilities. We hope these creations spark your creative ideas for ways to use digital media to support vocabulary learning!
Multimedia Hypertext Versions of Poems, Quotes, or Short Text Excerpts
Students often find it difficult to unpack the meaning of words and figurative language within a poem or passage. An alternative way to dive deep into word meaning is to engage them in creating hypertext versions of the text that include links to other media. The original text represents the first layer, and their personal connections and interpretations represent the second, hyperlinked layer. This activity works well in partner groups because it encourages students to talk about and use the targeted words as they design their linked text.

PowerPoint, or other multimedia presentation software, can serve as the hypertext medium. To introduce this kind of vocabulary and figurative language exploration, create a 3 slide PowerPoint template.: slide 1 explains the task and introduces how to make a hyperlink within a slide show, slide 2 introduces an example, and slide 3 provides the actual text to be expanded with vocabulary hyperlinks.

The example below demonstrates how key words and phrases in the opening of Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech can be hyperlinked to students' elaborations and connections in different modes.

Click Hypertext to download and interact with this example.
Compose Multimodal Word Webs
Creating a multimodal word web is probably one of the simplest and most effective ways to use language and media to express word meanings and explore the relationship between words. To begin, create a basic template that students can customize. At a minimum, the multimodal word web should include the target word or concept, an explanation, and examples of the word in a context. Further, at least two modes should be used such as text, sound, graphics, and video. For example, a word web for the target word 'habitat' might include descriptive information that defines what a habitat is, as well as photographs of different habitats, video of wildlife in their habitat, and audio clips that offer a chance to hear sounds within a given habitat.

In the example below, words come to life. You can listen to whale sounds from the arctic and watch a video clip showing how the polar bear learned how to survive in the arctic, a habitat that offers few comforts.

Click Habitat to download and interact with this example.
Pictures Worth 1000 Words
You know the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words"; the same can be true of a word - what information, memories, images, and sounds are evoked when you hear the word 'celebrate' or 'grandmother'? While we share cultural understandings of some visual symbols, the ways that visual representation can be connected to words is limitless. Even for something as specific as a car, our image memories will vary. To develop both visual literacy skills and vocabulary, challenge students to connect words to images or images to words.

The example below begins with the key word "challenge" together with images that match with it. After students complete such as collage, ask them to add a title and explain why the images are a good representation of the word. This offers an excellent opportunity to teach how to critically read images on the Web.

Click "C hallenge " to download and interact with this example.
Vocab Vids (see Bridget's post "VocabVid Stories: Developing vocabulary depth and breadth through live action video")
Bridget and Christian Ehret partnered to create an example that illustrates the power of video to illustrate word meanings. The video opens with a shot of a desk piled high with books. Ehret is sitting on the floor, hidden by the desk. Suddenly, his hand appears, pulling a book off. More books disappear as he pops up repeatedly, looking increasingly distressed. At the end, Ehret appears with a sign displaying the word " overwhelm," saying, "I'm distressed, drowning in a deluge of books. This is an overwhelming amount of books to read! Can you tell I'm feeling totally overwhelmed?!" Note that all of the italicized words were found on a thesaurus during a Web search the pair did to prepare for the video. They used different forms of the word (overwhelm, overwhelmed, overwhelming) and incorporated related words (distress and deluge) to aid in the development of word concepts.
View the Video Example
We hope these examples have gotten your creative juices flowing and introduced some new possibilities. We welcome you to share additional ideas for ways you've used digital media to enhance vocabulary learning. Please add a comment or send us an email.

Filed under: Uncategorized |

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Using Multimedia to Support Students' Generative Vocabulary Learning

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A post from Jill In our April 26th post we shared that Bridget, Dana, and I have written a chapter for the second edition of Vocabulary Instruction: Research to Practice (forthcoming, Guilford Press) to be published in 2011. In our chapter, Using Multimedia to Support Students' Generative Vocabulary Learning we highlight ways to use digital...

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A list of activities submitted by teachers to teach vocabulary. Activities like "same, opposite, or different dictation" and "collocation pelmanism" have learners categorizing and using words in a variety of ways rather than just offering definitions or writing simple sentences.

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Spot the vocabulary Collocation pelmanism Quick revision games Word association recitation The revision box

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Collocations are word pairings. This page is about teaching appropriate collocations to students, because proper use of the word is part of learning vocabulary in a meaningful way - as the article suggests, "if learners fail to use a correct collocation, even if their utterance is grammatically and contextually correct, their English will still sound unnatural and ‘foreign’, to the extent that their addressee may not understand them at all." I think this would be particularly useful for students with autism and other language disorders who may not have absorbed the "natural" use of English and for whom understanding and using vocabulary correctly might be a problem.

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This is an article that addresses useful and useless strategies for improving vocabulary, ways to teach students to deconstruct difficult words, and ideas for assessment. Some particularly useful ideas contained here include a succinct clarification of context vs. meaningful use (looking blindly at the surrounding text won't necessarily create meaning) and ways to assess that don't encourage rote memorization.

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This article contains a list of important strategic words CCSS says students should know (such as "paraphrase," "determine") and eleven ideas for teaching them. The glove idea might be impractical (who's going to buy all these gloves?) but a similar organizer in the shape of a hand is an idea I'll keep in mind.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.