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INCLUDES
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VOCABULARY
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• Vocabulary Instruction Research • Tiered Vocabulary • Powerful Words to Teach • Vocabulary Instruction • Vocabulary Strategies
Vocabulary at a Glance is a guide on how to identify which words to teach, powerful word parts that are essential in enhancing vocabulary knowledge, cognates that jumpstart ELLs in English learning, and a plethora of vocabulary strategies. Includes steps to research-based vocabulary instruction!
Also
STEPS
EXAMPLES 1
Teacher can either introduce Total Physical Response (TPR) and have students do the motions with him/her or allow students to create the hand motions.
The teacher asks the student to explain the meaning of the new term using his or her own words.
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Students complete a four box vocabulary and provide an explanation and an example.
The student is asked to give a visual representation of the term.
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Student includes a representation in the four box vocabulary.
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Pronounce and explain a new term. (This is to ensure that the students hear the correct pronunciation and a working definition of the term. The word can be demonstrated using real life situations, pictures, or video.)
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The student actively engages in activities that provide more use of the newly learned term.
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In pairs find the root word for capture and research to find three more words that share the root word.
The student will have conversations with others about each term.
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Pairs of students discuss the term capture as it relates to a news article, book, or movie they have read or seen.
The student will actively play games that support the learning of the new terms.
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Students play Draw Me to practice all of the new vocabulary terms.
VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION
WORDS TO TEACH
TIER CHARACTERISTICS
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A key factor in effective instruction is deliberate decision making regarding which words fit the characteristics of a specific tier and the resulting instruction that follows. Tiers offer an approach to categorize words by level of exposure, complexity, and application, thus guiding vocabulary instruction according to Beck (1987). • Words that belong to specific domains (academic/content areas) and can be organized under a category list or heading. • Words that are low frequency and exclusive to a particular discipline.
TIER 2
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• Words not encountered on an everyday basis, yet appear frequently across subject areas and in written texts. • Words that carry an abundance of variations which allow for word and concept building. • Words that are limited to their function in the English language i.e. idioms, connectors, cognates, false cognates, and polysemous cognates.
TIER 3
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• Words are basic and commonly used fundamental nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. • Words designated as sight words or high frequency.
• Words are often found in glossaries, highlighted in textbooks, and addressed by teachers. • Words that are crucial to understanding a concept. • False cognates that appear across contents. • Words that express cause and effect, contrast, additional information, comparison, or giving examples. • Words that allow students to participate in academic conversations about the topic at hand. • Words are acquired through explicit vocabulary instruction.
TIER 1
* Some Tier 1 words may be treated as Tier 2 words for ELLs and may require direct instruction.
• Words that are needed for academic conversations to understand complex texts. • Words are frequently encountered through personal experiences socially and academically usually without formal instruction.
MORE WORDS/WORD PARTS TO TEACH Many studies indicate that learning prefixes, suffixes and roots and their use will unlock the meaning of many words. The first four prefixes listed below account for 58% of the prefixed words in English. Focusing on the meanings of suffixes starting with -s/-es, -ed, and -ing in middle elementary grades account for 65% of prefixed words in English.
Prefixes -ion action, process of
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un- not, opposite
Suffixes
unable
unheated
unkind
action
attraction
collision
unafraid
unbroken
unknown
celebration
collection
communication
re- again, back
-er comparative
reappear
remove
rearrange
bomber
catcher
defender
rearm
rename
remember
commander
dancer
designer
-able capable of, susceptible of
in- not, without indispensable
incapable
innumerable
dis- not, opposite disappear
disarm
disconnect
inopportune
immobile
agreeable
believable
approachable
avoidable
breakable
-ful full of armful
careful
delightful
dislike
cheerful
colorful
grateful
im- not, opposite imperfect
admirable
dishonest
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disagree
incoherent
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inactive
-ment action, process of
impolite
immortal
excitement
enjoyment
argument
imprecise
impoverish
employment
department
treatment
Cognates Language Arts autograph
autográfo
directions
direcciones
introduction
introducción
version
versión
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Cognates are words sharing a common derivation or word family having similar meanings, pronunciation, and spelling. It is particularly important to include cognate instruction for students who speak Latin-based languages because more words are shared with English among these languages than with other language backgrounds.
Math area
área
centimeters
centímetros
graph
gráfica
table
tabla
Science
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How should cognates be taught? Cognates act as a bridge from the heritage language to the target language. When students approach an unknown word in their reading they can be guided to think of a Spanish word that looks or sounds like the unknown vocabulary. They can insert the known Spanish word to see if it makes the passage comprehensible. Cognates can be added to a word wall that students refer to during reading. Students can match English and Spanish cognates as part of their word play tasks.
cell
sopa
America
América
embarrassed
embarazada
archeology
arqueología
bald
balde
celebration
celebración
recordar
culture
cultura
* There are false cognates which share a root, but do not have the same meaning. Check comprehension of overall meaning of text.
soap
record
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False Cognates
celula
pharmacy
famacía
metamorphosis
metamorfosis
organism
organísmo
Social Studies
MORE WORDS/WORD PARTS TO TEACH
VOCABULARY STRATEGIES Contextual Redefinition - Draws attention to contextual value. Students are given words from a text, especially that are multi meaning. Students are asked to provide definitions and then redirected to context to determine which meaning pertained to the given text.
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Alphaboxes - Expands vocabulary and supports critical thinking on a given topic. It may be used before, during, or after reading. Students compile words for each letter of the alphabet related to selected topic or reading selection. Key words related to the idea in the reading are highlighted in this activity. Class Procedure - Students read a passage that has contextual words omitted and replaced with a blank. Students are to use context clues, background knowledge, word structure and relationships to fill in the blanks with the new vocabulary. Classifying Terms - Students group words in accordance to descriptive attributes.
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Comparing Terms - Using graphic organizers such as, Venn diagram or a matrix, terms are compared according to characteristics, meanings, and relationships.
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Context Clues - Expands word meaning. Students use surrounding context to determine word meaning. Teaching the different clue types (definition or explanation, example, restatement or synonym, contrast or antonym, inference, and internal) will enable students to have a keenness to the role of surrounding context. Concept Definition Map - (Schwartz & Raphael, 1985; Schwartz, 1988) Develops concepts in a lesson. The map is designed with the vocabulary term in the middle surrounded by 3-4 boxes that could explain characteristics such as a description and examples. The map may be extended to include a purpose or an application of the concept as well.
Creating Metaphors - Students produce statements that compare abstract concepts to a more concrete example. Dictionary Game - The students race in teams to look up a given word. As a team they decide which meaning best fits the context. Points are scored for correct answers and for challenges to incorrect answers. Draw Me - Students are grouped into opposing teams. A player on the team is given a word and draws it according to its attributes while the remaining team members attempt to guess the word in one minute. If the word is guessed the team receives points. Four Box Vocabulary - Is a strategy used for word study. It is a type of word map that involves four areas of a definition. The vocabulary word in question is in the middle of the page with four boxes around it. These boxes ask for information such as the word’s meaning which may be stated in student’s own words; a student made sentence using the word; a word that means the same or opposite; and a drawing of what the word means. Free Association - Students are asked to say words that come to mind when presented with a specified term. Explanations are given individually or in a group setting on how words are related to the term at hand.