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Implementing the Practice Guide’s
Recommendations in the Classroom:
Focus on Academic Vocabulary
Joan Morris, MA
Practice Guide Panel Member, Teacher Specialist, Retired
Pasadena Unified School District, CA
Joseph Dimino, PhD
Instructional Research Group
relsouthwest.sedl.org | @RELSouthwest
#SWEL
This presentation was prepared under Contract ED-IES-12-C-0012 by Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest administered by SEDL.
The content of the presentation does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IES or the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of
trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Recommendation 1 (p. 13)
Teach a set of academic vocabulary words
intensively across several days using a
variety of instructional activities.
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How-to Step 2 (p.16)
Choose a small set of
academic vocabulary for
in-depth instruction.
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Criteria for Choosing Words (pp. 16−17)
•  Words central to understanding the text
•  Words frequently used in the text
•  Words that might appear in other
content areas
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Criteria for Choosing Words (pp. 16−17)
•  Words with multiple meanings
•  Words with affixes
•  Words with cross-language potential
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Academic Vocabulary Selected for
In-Depth Instruction (p. 17, Exhibit 1.3)
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Environment
Exhibit
Investigation
Impact
Pursuit
Options
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How-to
Step 3 (p. 18)
Teach academic vocabulary in depth
using multiple modalities
(writing, speaking, listening).
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Student-Friendly Definitions
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Dictionary Definitions (p. 18)
•  Definitions alone tell little about how a
word is actually used.
•  Definitions do not effectively convey
new concepts.
•  Denotation vs. Connotation
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Dictionary Definitions
•  ally: one associated with another
(denotation)
•  ally: Someone who helps you with what
you are trying to do, especially when there
are other people who are against you
(connotation)
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Student-Friendly Definitions
Contain two important elements.
1. Characterize the word:
•  Student-friendly definitions describe the word by
focusing on specific aspects of its meaning rather
than on a general description.
•  Characterize the word by asking yourself:
Why do we have this word particularly?
Why do we have such a word?
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Student-Friendly Definitions
2. Explain the word’s meaning in everyday language:
•  The definition is crafted using words that
are part of the students’ vocabulary and that
convey the connotation of the word.
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Activity: Friendly or Unfriendly?
Unfriendly
Friendly
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Friendly or Unfriendly?
reluctant: unwilling; with hesitation
Vote in poll.
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Friendly Definition
Reluctant
If you are reluctant to do something, you do
not want to do it and hesitate before doing it,
or do it slowly and without enthusiasm.
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Friendly or Unfriendly?
protest: If you protest against something or
about something, you say or show publicly
that you object to it.
Vote in poll.
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Developing Examples, Non-examples,
and Concrete Representations of Words
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Non-examples (pp. 18−19)
•  Non-examples, or contrasting examples, help
pinpoint the meaning of a word by providing
instances where the definition does not apply.
•  Non-examples help solidify meanings and
prevent misconceptions by explicitly telling
students the attributes that are not part of the
word’s connotation.
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Non-examples Vs. Antonyms
•  Non-examples are words that illustrate
instances where the definition does not apply.
•  Antonyms are words that mean the opposite.
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Non-examples Vs. Antonyms
Enormous
•  Non-examples: ant, pinhead, speck of dust
(provide instances where the definition does
not apply)
•  Antonyms: tiny, small, miniscule
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Activity:
Non-example or
Antonym?
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Non-example or Antonym?
Word: precious
Non-example or antonym: worthless
Vote in poll.
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Precious: Antonym and Non-example
Word: precious
Antonym: worthless
Non-example: a bag of sand
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Non-example or Antonym?
Word: ridiculous
Non-example or antonym: eating healthy
food
Vote in poll.
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Ridiculous: Antonym and Non-example
Word: ridiculous
Antonym: reasonable
Non-example: eating healthy food
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Concrete Representations
(pp. 18−19)
Concrete representations of
words include pictures,
diagrams, gestures, facial
expressions, demonstrations,
objects, and so on.
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Video
Pre-teaching Vocabulary:
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grade
Newcomer Class
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Video: Reflection Questions
1.  What was the goal of this teacher’s lesson?
2.  Describe how the lesson was taught explicitly.
Respond to the questions in the chat pod.
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Recommendation 2 (p. 31)
Integrate oral and written English language
instruction into content-area teaching.
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How-to Step 2 (p. 37)
Explicitly teach the content-specific
academic vocabulary, as well as the general
academic vocabulary that supports it,
during content-area instruction.
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General Academic Vocabulary (p. 37)
General academic vocabulary words are
used across many academic disciplines
(for example, environment, factor, exhibit,
investigate, transition).
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Content-Specific Academic Vocabulary (p. 37)
Content-specific academic vocabulary words
are unique to a particular academic discipline
(for example, commutative, prime numbers).
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Activity:
Content-Specific or
General Academic
Vocabulary
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Content-Specific or General Academic Vocabulary?
Word: surround
Vote in poll.
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Content-Specific or General Academic Vocabulary?
Word: pi
Vote in poll.
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Student-Friendly Definitions Online
•  Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
http://www.ldoceonline.com
•  Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary
http://www.learnersdictionary.com
•  Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/englishcobuild-learners
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Questions
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