Dr. Sharon Faber Minnesota Middle School Association December 3, 2015—1:15-‐2:05
[email protected] c Academic Vocabulary is the Key to Student Success! “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein “Effective teachers intentionally focus on enriching and expanding students’ vocabulary knowledge and model inquisitiveness about words and their meanings; they also help students develop their own skills as independent word learners.” Nagy & Scott, 2000 “Research has shown that academic vocabulary, in particular, is one of the strongest indicators of how well students will learn subject area content when they come to school. The relationship between academic vocabulary and academic achievement is well established.” Robert Marzano “Building an effective vocabulary program requires collaboration among teachers in order to develop an effective implementation plan.” Feldman and Kinsella How Do We Currently Teach Academic Vocabulary? DIRECTIONS: Get with a partner you don’t know and take turns reading the following questions aloud to each other. When you finish reading all the questions aloud, answer the questions based on your own (teacher) or your school’s (administrator) instructional practices. Explain your thinking! 1. Is vocabulary instruction a planned part of each lesson? 2. How do teachers check for understanding when assessing vocabulary knowledge? 3. How frequently are students assessed on their vocabulary mastery? 4. Are students routinely given opportunities during class time to practice using new vocabulary through reading, writing, listening, speaking, and numeracy activities across the curriculum? 5. Do teachers collaborate to determine a consistent and familiar way to teach vocabulary across academic disciplines? Tiered Vocabulary 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 One: common, known words—Examples include: big, small, house, table, family • Tier One words are basic, everyday words that are a part of most children’s vocabulary. Most children are familiar with Tier I words. These words are especially important for English language learners who may not be familiar with them. Tier Two: high frequency words—Examples include: justify, explain, expand, predict, summarize, maintain • Tier Two words are frequently occurring words that appear in various contexts and all types of texts. They appear more frequently in written texts than in everyday speech. • Since these terms are necessary for understanding and comprehending in many areas, Beck suggests focusing instruction on Tier Two vocabulary. • Beck suggests a test to determine Tier Two words. First, think about whether 1 Faber, 2015
Dr. Sharon Faber Minnesota Middle School Association December 3, 2015—1:15-‐2:05
[email protected] c students already have ways to express the concepts represented by the words. • In other words, would students be able to explain these words using words that are already well known to them? • Tier Two words represent a more precise way to say simple things. Tier 3: low-‐frequency, specialized words—Examples include: oxymoron, tectonic plates, carcinogens, mitosis, lithosphere • Tier Three words are domain specific vocabulary. Words in this category are low frequency, specialized words that may appear in specific fields or content areas. • Students will be unfamiliar with Tier Three words. • Beck suggests teaching these words as the need arises for comprehension in specific content areas. • Front-‐loading vocabulary and creating glossaries of terms are appropriate strategies for Tier Three words. What Are the Critical Tier Two Words Your Students Must Know? According to Marilee Sprenger’s blog in 2014, there are high frequency nouns and verbs in CCSS and the exemplars provided in Appendix B. She states: • Researchers estimate 85% of achievement test scores are based on the vocabulary of the standards. • Students from poverty, ELL students, and other at-‐risk students are particularly in need of learning these words in ways that meet their specific learning needs. • Below are Sprenger’s list of high frequency words of the CCSS: Critical Verbs analyze contrast develop identify organize support articulate delineate distinguish infer paraphrase summarize cite demonstrate draw integrate refer synthesize compare describe evaluate interpret retell trace comprehend determine explain locate suggest Critical Nouns alliteration conclusions figurative point of view structures language analogy connotative interaction rhetoric theme language argument details metaphor simile tone central idea evidence mood stanza connections Critical Question for Content Teachers: How will I teach all these words they don’t know, and still have class time for all the other things we need to do? Simple Vocabulary Strategies to Try! 1. Pre-‐Reading Vocabulary Charts—Vocabulary Self-‐Awareness Charts: Rather than waste your time compiling vocabulary lists let the kids skim the text before the lesson and select their 2 Faber, 2015
Dr. Sharon Faber Minnesota Middle School Association December 3, 2015—1:15-‐2:05
[email protected] c own words or provide students a list of important words at the beginning of the reading/unit and have students write them in a vocabulary self-‐assessment chart. • Ask students to complete the chart before the lesson begins by rating each vocabulary word according to their level of familiarity and understanding. A plus sign (+) indicates a high degree of comfort and knowledge, a check mark (√) indicates uncertainty, and a minus sign (-‐-‐) indicates the word is brand new to them. • Also ask students to try to supply a definition and example for each word. For words with check marks or minus signs, students may have to make guesses about definitions and examples. • Ask each student (or pair of students) to create a chart where he/she writes down words of choice, and rates each one as "know it," "sort of know it," or "don't know it at all." • Be sure to emphasize this is not about "being right" but that they are providing you with information to guide next steps in class vocabulary instruction. • Read through them all and use the results as a formative assessment. This data will show you which words they know, those they have some understanding of, and those words that are completely foreign to them. • This awareness is valuable for students because it highlights their understanding of what they know, as well as what they still need to learn in order to fully comprehend the reading (Goodman, 2001). • Over the course of the reading or unit, allow time for students to revisit their self-‐ awareness charts to add new information and update their growing knowledge about key vocabulary. The goal is to bring all students to a comfortable level with the unit’s important content terminology. Because students continually revisit their vocabulary charts to revise their entries, they have multiple opportunities to practice and extend their growing understanding of the words. Example of a Vocabulary Self-‐Awareness Chart in Science Word + √ -‐ Example Definition density mass volume weight 2. Sorts to Increase Academic Vocabulary (Many of you already selected this strategy.) • Sorts enable students to look at the structure of words in print as they examine the patterns in each word to determine how to categorize it. • Students learn classification skills as they discover how sets of words, ideas or concepts are alike or different. • Sorts allow teachers to assess each student’s understanding of what is being taught. 3 Faber, 2015
Dr. Sharon Faber Minnesota Middle School Association December 3, 2015—1:15-‐2:05
[email protected] c Sorts are easy-‐to-‐check assessment tools that enable a teacher to quickly evaluate a student’s understanding of content without the usual paper/pencil format. • Sorts provide a multi-‐sensory experience as students read, sort, manipulate, and categorize in multiple ways. • Sorts allow students to look at words, concepts, and ideas from their various levels of knowledge. • Students are able to apply what they know in an organized and fun format. • Students are empowered to make their own decisions about categories based on their prior knowledge. • SORTS are useful for vocabulary, comprehension, introducing a topic or concept, reviewing for a test, nearly everything! How About A Sort on Word Parts? The Importance of Learning Word Parts • Students need to connect new words to words they already know and often that can be done by looking at word parts. • The more roots, prefixes, and suffixes that students know, the more they can independently analyze new words and increase their comprehension in all content areas. • Once students know the meanings of many roots, prefixes, and suffixes, they can use that knowledge to figure out new words in text where there are no context clues and in analogies when they don’t know the meanings of some of the choices. The Important “30”—Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes Brown and Cazden (1965) said that the following 30 root words, prefixes, and suffixes provide the basis for more than 14,000 commonly used words in the English language: Root Word, Example from Prefix, Suffix Meaning Your Content ab away from Ad to, toward co, con, com, col, cor together, with De away, down, out of Dis not, opposite Ex out of, formerly in, im, il, ir in, not Pre before Pro forward Re back, again Un not, opposite Able capable of, worthy of ance, ence, ancy, act or fact of doing, ency state, quality er, or person or thing connected with, agent Ful Full of, abounding in •
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Dr. Sharon Faber Minnesota Middle School Association December 3, 2015—1:15-‐2:05
[email protected] c Less Ly Ment tion, sion, xion Phon Tele Meter Cap
without, free from like, characteristic of state of, quality of action, state, result sound, speech distance measure to seize, take, or contain Audio to hear vid, vis to see or look at spect, spec, spic to observe, watch Inter between Sub under Mis wrong Trans across or beyond Math: bi, circum, dia, iso, mono, multi, per, peri, poly, quad, semi, super, tetra, trans, tri, uni, penta, octo/octa, deca, hexa, nona, cent Health/Science: ab, co, con, demi, dia, dys, epi, hetero, homo, hydro, hyper, hypo, infra, meta, micro, neo, para, per, peri, proto, photo, sub, trans, via, ology Social Studies: ab, ad, anti, arch, at, con, contra, countr, demi, epi, ethno, ex, il, im, multi, neo, ob, omni, para, poly, pro, trans, via, vice 3. Idea Completion or Sentence Stems: Graphic Organizers for the brain This activity is an alternative to the often-‐used method of having students write their own sentences using the target word. Sentence stems help students avoid common errors in their thinking. The teacher structures the sentences with a sentence stem which requires students to integrate what they know and understand about the word’s meaning in context to explain a situation. There are a number of variations that can be used easily in class. • Idea Completion: The tennis instructor said Sharon was a novice at the game because…The banker was considered a philanthropist because… • Questions, Reasons, Examples (What is something you could do to impress your teacher? Impress your mom?) (Which of these things might be extraordinary? A bright red shirt or a bright red shirt that dances across the floor?) • Making Choices (Say the word clutch if I mention something that you could clutch… purse, wallet, branches when you’re climbing a tree, bumblebee) • Comparing Terms and Summarizing: Alike (compare) ______and ________are similar because they both… Different (contrast) _____and _______ are different because_______is_________ but________is__________. 5 Faber, 2015
Dr. Sharon Faber Minnesota Middle School Association December 3, 2015—1:15-‐2:05
[email protected] c Problem/solution "_____ wanted _____ but ______ so ______." Cause/effect "_____ happens because ______." Resources: Allen, Janet. (2007). Inside Words: Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary in Grades 4-‐12. York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers. Beck, I., McKeown, M. & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Faber, Sharon. (2015). How to Teach Academic Vocabulary. Revised Ed. Chicago, IL: World Book Incentive Publications. When I need a new idea, I just google and great Web sites that share effective and engaging vocabulary activities pop up. Here are some I like but there are tons more! • edutopia.org—blogs, teacher strategies and activities • achievethecore.org—lesson plans, strategies, activities • ReadWriteThink.org-‐-‐NCTE • readingeducator.org • A.Word.A.Day, provides the definition of a daily word that is generally chosen based on a weekly theme • Merriam-‐Webster Online contains a dictionary and thesaurus as well as a number of links to sites such as Cool New Stuff, Word Game of the Day, Lighter Side of Language, and Words for the Wise. • Vocabulary.com • World Wide Words.org has fascinating bits and pieces of information about the English language. • Hypertext Webster Gateway is an impossibility finally made possible: a word search for those who aren't perfect spellers! In this dictionary, you may type in a word, then click to select an approximate match. If you misspell the word, the dictionary server may yield a list of close matches as alternatives. This site can be a real help to all students. • Hangman Games: I Love Learning provides a variety of hangman games for vocabulary study. Themes include weather, sports, astronomy, animals, countries, more • www.learnersdictionary.com • www.wordmagicsoft.com is a bilingual and bidirectional English-‐Spanish dictionary. Try it and see if it’s worth buying. • Wordle.net • www.quizlet.com. There are all kinds of flashcards available and teachers can make their own plus play whole group or small group games for review • Etymology Dictionary www.etymonline.com • www.freedict.com. Free translations in many languages for ESL kids. What are some of your favorites that I haven’t listed?
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