Ms. Barker - Kdg by Rubio, Adriana

Model Sophisticated Language Uses

arubio2_12 — 2024-10-29 15:29:58 UTC

Ms. Barker started off using vocabulary the students knew.
- weather watcher
- Zookeeper “feeds the hamsters”
Ms. Barker then moved on to using vocabulary that had the same meaning but in advanced forms.
- Meteorologist
- Animal nutrition specialist “provides nutritional sustenance to our rodent friends.”
This took time, through modeling and meaningful practice. From the beginning of the school year until February.
She made lists, and chose words carefully to cater to her students.

What does it mean to be a word-conscious teacher?

2024-10-29 15:30:40 UTC

A word-conscious teacher helps kids get excited about words. In the article, Ms. Barker made learning fun by filling the classroom with new words and encouraging students to ask what they meant. Her students loved finding and using new words, which helped them grow their vocabulary and enjoy learning even more. Instead of sticking to common terms in her class, she renames class jobs with more descriptive titles, such as calling the weather watcher a "meteorologist" and the cleanup helper a "custodian."

Avoiding "Dumbing Down" your language

2024-10-29 15:39:32 UTC

Even though these students were kindergarteners, they did not shy away from using more advanced words than usual. Ms. Barker was also not afraid to incorporate higher level thinking/ words. Not that the previous words were exactly "dumb", but Ms. Barker changed the names of the classroom jobs. At a young age like this, avoiding dumbing down the language is important because they are young and still have a lot of vocabulary left to learn, and it doesn't hurt to be more advanced in the words you know.

Selecting words to teach

2024-10-29 15:40:46 UTC

-Students were eager to learn new words that were related to their familiar concepts

-noticed unfamiliar words when peers used them and asked what the meant

-learned new words by reading different contexts

What does it mean to Know a Word?

2024-10-29 15:41:54 UTC

Vocabulary is defined as “knowledge of words and word meaninings.” By Honig, Diamond, Cole & Gutlohn in 2008.

According to Kamil and Hiebert in 2005, there are four types of vocabulary: oral, words we understand when something is being read to us or communicated orally; print, words we find when read or write; receptive, words we know when we listen or read; and productive, words learned during speaking and writing.