Meaningful and Effective
Vocabulary Instruction
Think About It…
n Think about the vocabulary
instruction taking place in the
classrooms in your school.
n Jot down a description or list of
these instructional strategies and
activities.
n Discuss with a shoulder partner.
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Rationale for Vocabulary
Instruction
n Beginning readers use their oral vocabulary
to make sense of the words they see in print.
n Readers must know what most of the words
mean before they can understand what they
are reading.
n As students learn to read more advanced
texts, they must learn the meaning of new
words that are not part of their oral
vocabulary.
n Multiple encounters are required before a
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word is really known.
Goals of Vocabulary Instruction
n To build interest in words
n To connect words found in texts to students’
life experiences
n To clarify and extend word meanings across
multiple curriculum areas
n To develop strategies for learning new words
n To give students many opportunities to use
and receive feedback on correct and incorrect
word use
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What We Know from Research
The scientific research on vocabulary
instruction reveals that most vocabulary
is learned indirectly and that some
vocabulary must be taught directly.
(National Reading Panel, 2001)
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Indirect Vocabulary Learning
Students learn vocabulary indirectly when
they hear and see words used in many
different contexts – for example, through
conversations with adults, through being read
to, and through reading extensively on their
own.
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Direct Vocabulary Learning
Students learn vocabulary directly when
they are explicitly taught both individual
words and word-learning strategies.
Direct vocabulary instruction aids
reading comprehension.
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Four Stages of Word Knowledge
Stage 1: No knowledge ~ never saw it before (example:
Radeon).
Stage 2: Vague familiarity ~ Heard it, but
doesn’t know what it means (example: cache).
Stage 3: Contextualized knowledge ~
Recognizes it in context as having something to do
with __________.
(example: microprocessor).
Stage 4: Rich and flexible ~ knows it well
(example: keyboard).
(Adapted from Dale, 1965)
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Did you know?
High vocabulary people not only
know more words, they know more
about the words they know.
(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
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Think About It…
nHow do your teachers select
words for vocabulary
instruction?
nJot down your ideas.
nShare with a shoulder partner.
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Vocabulary Instruction
n Choose interesting words with mileage
n Create student-friendly explanations
n Decontextualize the words; provide
examples
n Create follow-up activities that prompt
children to interact with meanings
n Create ways to maintain the words over
time
(Adapted from Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
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What words should I teach?
n Directly teach those words that are
important for understanding a concept
or the text (CCRP, SRP, authentic
literature, etc).
n Teach words that students are likely to
see again and again.
n Provide some instruction for words that
are particularly difficult for your students.
(Adapted from National Reading Panel Report, 2001)
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Choosing Words to Teach:
Three Tiers
n Tier One: Most basic words ~ rarely require
instructional attention to their meanings in school
(clock, baby, happy, walk).
n Tier Two: High frequency words that are found
across a variety of domains ~ instruction toward tier
two words is most productive (coincidence, absurd,
industrious, fortunate).
n Tier Three: Words whose frequency use is quite low
and often limited to specific domains ~ probably best
learned when needed in content area (isotope, lathe,
peninsula, and refiner).
(Adapted from Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002))
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Identifying Tier Two Words
n Importance and utility: Words that are used by
more mature language users and are frequently
found in a variety of texts.
n Instructional potential: Words that can be used in a
variety of ways so that students can build deep
understandings and representations of them and
make connections to other words and concepts.
n Conceptual understanding: Words that deepen a
student’s understanding of a general concept by
providing precise and specific words for describing
that concept.
(Adapted from Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
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Name That Tier
forlorn
triumphant
absurd
hostile
colonial
ceiling
oboe
hungry
corner
break
(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
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Your turn…
n Read the following excerpt from Harcourt Trophies.
n With a partner, list all the words that are likely to be
unfamiliar to students.
n Analyze the word list:
n
n
n
Which words are tier two words?
Which of the tier two words are most necessary for
comprehension?
Are there other words needed for comprehension? Which
ones?
n On the basis of your analysis, which words would you
teach?
n
n
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Which will need only brief attention?
Which will you give more elaborate attention?
Look What Came From China
By Miles Harvey
Sports and Exercise
Many of China’s physical arts have made their way to the United States.
One very famous Chinese sport is a special type of boxing known as
kung fu. This sport is very difficult. To become good at it, you have to
practice for many years.
A popular kind of exercise in China is known as tai chi. It is very good
for you. It is also very interesting to watch. People who do tai chi
sometimes look as if they are dancing in slow motion.
For more than 2,000 years, people in China have been doing a sport
called acrobatics. People who are acrobats perform amazing tricks.
Some of them juggle things in the air. Others pile objects up very high
and then balance themselves on top of these objects. No wonder
people love to go see acrobats at the circus!
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What words would you teach?
n Analyze the word list:
n Which words are tier two words?
n Which of the tier two words are most necessary for
comprehension?
n Are there other words needed for comprehension?
Which ones?
n On the basis of your analysis, which words would you
teach?
n
n
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Which will need only brief attention?
Which will you give more elaborate attention?
Dictionary Definitions
Looking up dictionary definitions ~ Not an
effective strategy.
- Studies that provided dictionary definitions and asked
students to create sentences or answer brief
questions about the words showed:
ß 63% of students’ sentences were judged to be “odd” (Miller
& Gildea, 1985).
ß 60% of students’ responses were unacceptable (McKeown,
1993).
ß Students frequently interpreted one or two words from a
definition as the entire meaning (Scott & Nagy, 1989).
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(From Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
Student-Friendly Explanations
n Provide student-friendly explanations that tell
what a word means in everyday connected
language.
Example: Unexpected
Dictionary:
Friendly:
Not expected,
surprising
If something is
unexpected you are
surprised about it.
(Adapted from Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
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Questions, Reasons, Examples
n If you are walking around a dark room, you
need to do it cautiously. Why? What are
some other things that need to be done
cautiously?
n What is something you could do to impress
your teacher?
n Which of these things might be extraordinary?
Why or why not?
n
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A shirt that was comfortable or a shirt that danced
across the room?
Sentence stems
n The
newspaper called Mr. Brown a
philanthropist because…
nI
told my teacher I wanted to be a
spectator at the play because…
nI
scrutinized my mom’s face because…
(Adapted from Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
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Word Lines
How surprised would you be if…
1. you saw your friend vault over the moon?
2. your teacher commended you for doing
good work?
3. a dog started bantering with you?
4. the mayor urged everyone to leave town?
5. a rabbit trudged through school?
(Adapted from Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
least
surprised
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most
surprised
Relationships Among Words
n If
someone were arguing vehemently, why
might it make sense that he was using wild
gesticulations?
n
Could an acute sense cause derision? Why?
n If
someone introduces herself with suavity,
would she likely have the audacity to insult her
guest? Why?
(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
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Put into students’ own world
n
Why might a new male student in school
introduce himself with suavity to all the
females?
n
Why might a student speak to a principal with
suavity?
n As
Melinda prepared for her final exam, she
sensed a feeling of acute anxiety. Why?
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(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
Make a plan…
n Look back at the list of instructional strategies
and activities happening in your schools that
you made earlier.
n Think about the ideas shared today.
n What kinds of professional development
activities and coaching do you need to plan to
meet the needs of your teachers?
n Use the planning tool in your handouts to
make a plan.
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Planning tool
Vocabulary Activities Already Effective Vocabulary Activities Prof. Development Needs
Implemented Effectively
to be Implemented
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Bringing Words to Life: Robust
Vocabulary Instruction
Most of the ideas and
strategies in this presentation
were adapted from this
research-based book.
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References
Beck, I. L; McKeown, M.G. & Kucan, L. (2002).
Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction.
NY: The Guilford Press.
Dale, E. (1965). Vocabulary measurement:
Techniques and major findings. Elementary English,
42, 82-88.
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to
read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific
research literature on reading and its implications for
reading instruction. Washington, DC: National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
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Contact Us!
Reading First Professional Development
University of Central Florida
4000 Central Florida Blvd
Teaching Academy/Rm 403
Orlando, FL 32816
www.justreadflorida.com
[email protected]
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