Phonics and Vocabulary Instruction –
Word Study that Works! (K-3)
Timothy Rasinski
Kent State University
[email protected]
www.timrasinski.com “Resources”
Twittter @timrasinski1
330-672-0649
A Model of Reading Instruction
Words
Accuracy in:
Phonics (Word Recognition)
Spelling
Vocabulary
Word Study
Fluency
Automaticity
Prosody
Fluency Instruction
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comprehension
Background Knowledge
Comprehension Strategies
Guided Reading
1
You Think English is Easy???
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French
fries in France Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We
take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work
slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
2
Rasinski Informal Vocabulary Inventory
(from Harris & Jacobson)
Primer
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
father
hen
high
bird
people
thank
youth
seed
night
open
grow
zoo
train
smell
quiet
money
letter
guess
draw
bone
beautiful
always
wink
sharp
possum
perfect
overhead
breeze
hospital
meadow
apartment
captain
coyote
wobble
worst
reward
stalk
presto
manager
lantern
hoof
ghastly
eager
cactus
tingle
vacuum
sturdy
yam
skull
raw
pioneer
grocer
drought
crimson
confidence
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
rodent
violent
plumber
labor
holly
revenge
pursue
fabric
chat
blurt
astronomer
visor
vague
theft
rotate
rabies
plankton
overcast
habitat
fiend
ecology
employ
tutor
tardy
sphere
saliva
pedestal
peril
motto
jackhammer
khaki
camouflage
abacus
scant
phony
rapport
trivial
violation
transmit
foreground
merge
joust
doctrine
amputate
Say 10 of the 11 words to the student. Begin at student’s grade placement. Ask student to define or use in sentence
in a way that describes the word. Give 10 points if correct, 0 for incorrect, and 5 points if you feel answer is
partially correct.
Vocabulary Levels
90%
70%-80%
< 50%
=
=
=
Independent
Instructional
Frustration
(Technical note – Words taken from Harris & Jacobson (1982). Basic Reading Vocabularies. Macmillan.)
3
Selected Statistics for Major Sources of
Spoken and Written Language
Text
Percentage of Rare (uncommon) words
Adult Speech, Expert Witness Testimony
2.8%
Adult Speech, College Graduates to Friends
1.7%
Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street
.2%
Children’s Books -- Preschoolers
1.6%
Children’s Books -- Elementary
3.1%
Comic Books
5.4%
Adult Books
5.3%
Abstracts of Scientific Articles
12.8%
Adapted from Hayes & Ahrens (1988). Journal of Child Language, 15, 395-410.
Source: Cunningham, A.E. & Stanovich, K.E. (1998, Spring-Summer). What reading does for the mind. American
Educator, 22, 8-15.
4
Word Harvesting
Whenever reading to your students, reciting a poem, singing a song, or playing a word game in
your class if you or your students notice any interesting words, have them call out the words at the
end of the read aloud or word game. Write the word on a daily word wall and talk about the
meaning of the words and begin to use the words in your own oral language over the next several
days. Encourage your students also to use the words in their oral and written language.
If you read to your students every day of the school year and harvest 5-6 words after each read
aloud you will have exposed your students to 900-1180 new words over the course of a school year.
That alone will have a significant impact on your students’ word knowledge. Since authors
purposefully use interesting words in their writing, students will find a treasure trove of words in the
materials that are read to them or that they read on their own.
Today’s Word Wall 5
Word Ladders
girl
gill
grill
thrill
till
Bill
ball
bay
boy
dog
dig
big
bit
bat
rat
cat
black
block
lock
lick
lice
slice
slide
lid
lit
wit
white
short
shore
sore
more
mire
wire
tire
tile
till
tall
snow
show
shoe
hoe
hole
mole
male
ale
ail
mail
main
rain
leaf
lean
mean
man
main
mane
made
trade
tread
tree
mean
lean
Len
men
mad
made
trade
tirade
key
donkey
monkey
monk
honk
Hank
rank
rack
rock
lock
walk
first
run
last
1. Anagrams: See www.wordsmith.org/anagram/ Select the “advanced”setting and then select “Print
candidate words only” See also www.wordles.com (words in words)
2. For Making and Writing Words article by Tim Rasinski go to www.readingonline.org and search in “articles”
under my name Rasinski, or for my 2 articles Making and Writing Words and Making and Writing Words Using
Letter Patterns. Both articles have the forms you can download and print out and use for yourself.
3. For more on Word Ladders see – Scholastic, (Tel: 800-242-7737, choose option #3)
Daily Word Ladders for Teaching phonics and vocabulary, Gr 2-3
Daily Word Ladders for Teaching phonics and vocabulary, Gr 4+
4. More Making and Writing Words -- Teacher Created Materials
www.teachercreatedmaterials.com (search for “Rasinski”)
Tel: 800-858-7339
Texts for Fluency Practice: Grade 1
Texts for Fluency Practice: Grades 2 and 3
Texts for Fluency Practice: Grades 4 and Up
Making and Writing Words, Gr 1
Making and Writing Words, Grs. 2-3
5. You can also find my Making and Writing Words book from Carson Dellosa at 800-321-0943, ask for Item Number CD-2600.
6
7
8
The Most Common Word Families (Phonograms)
By adding a beginning letter(s) to these word families, students can spell and read 654 one syllable words!
-ab
-ack
-ag
-ail
-ain
-am
-an
-ank
-ap
-at
-ay
-ell
-est
-ew
-ed
-eed
-ick
-ing
-ink
-ip
-ight
-ill
-im
-in
-ine
-ob
-ock
-ore
-unk
-ot
-y
-out
-ow (how, chow)
-ow (bow, throw)
-op
-uck
-ug
-um
Word Family (Phonogram) Poems
Source: Fry, E. (1998). The most common phonograms. The Reading Teacher.
-ank and –ad
Happy Hank played a prank
On his mom and dad.
They didn’t like it.
He got spanked.
Now Happy Hank is sad.
TR
-ob
-ay
Bikes are to ride
All of the day.
Places to go
So far away.
Sidewalks and paths
Places to stray.
Riding a bike
What a great way to play
Greg
Diddle diddle dumpling
My son Bob.
Skinned his knee
And began to sob.
Gave him a pickle
And corn on the cob
Diddle diddle dumpling
My son Bob.
TR
For more information see Poems for Building Reading Skills. Shell Educational
Publishing.http://www.shelleducation.com/rasinski.php or Call: 877-777-3450
9
Patterned Words -­‐-­‐ Essential Latin and Greek Derivations Worth Teaching Prefixes
Ante
Anti
Auto
Bi
Centi
Co (m,n)
Extra
Mega
Micro
Mid
Mono
Multi
Pre
Re
Semi, hemi
Super
Tele
Tri
Ultra
Un
Uni
before
against
self
two
hundred
with, together
more, beyond
large
small
middle
one
many
before
again
half
over
distant
three
beyond
not
one
Meet the Root Bases
Aero
Scop
Aud
Biblio
Bio
Chron
Dem
Gram
Graph
Hydr
Lab
Mand
Max
Pod
Phob
Phon
Photo
Polis
Port
Psych
air
see
hear
book
life
time
people
write
write
water
work
order
greatest
foot
fear
sound
light
City
carry
mind
Struct
Terr(a)
Therm
Volv
Vor
build
land
heat
roll
eat
Also: Rasinski, et al. (2008). Greek and Latin Roots: Keys to Building Vocabulary. Huntington
Beach, CA: Shell Educatonal Publishing.
10
If Shakespeare can do it - -why shouldn’t students?
“Be The Bard”
Making Words with Cognates
What to you think the following words, invented by students at the Kent State University, Reading
Clinic mean?
• Autophile
• Matermand
• Bibliophobe
• Triopolis
• Teleterra
• Semiaud
• Convore
• Chronovolve
For the gifted Lexiphiles
• Psuedophilopolisodem
Invent a word or two on your own --
11
Making and Writing Words
Vowels
1
Consonants
5
2
6
3
7
8
4
Transfer
T-1
T-3
T-2
T-4
Fr: Rasinski, T. (1999). Making and writing words. Reading Online. Available at http://www.readingonline.org/articles/rasinski/. Permission to
photocopy for educational use is granted.
See. Making and Writing Words. Rasinski and Heym. http://www.shelleducation.com/rasinski.php
12
Making and Writing Words
Vowels
1
Consonants
5
2
6
3
7
8
4
Transfer
T-1
T-3
T-2
T-4
Fr: Rasinski, T. (1999). Making and writing words. Reading Online. Available at http://www.readingonline.org/articles/rasinski/. Permission to
photocopy for educational use is granted.
See. Making and Writing Words. Rasinski and Heym. http://www.shelleducation.com/rasinski.php
13
Making and Writing Words
Vowels
Consonants
11
1
6
2
7
12
3
8
13
4
9
14
5
10
15
T-1
T-2
T-3
T-4
T-5
T-6
Transfer
Fr: Rasinski, T. (1999). Making and writing words. Reading Online. Available at
http://www.readingonline.org/articles/rasinski/. Permission to photocopy for educational use is granted.
14
WORDO!
Triangle
Biplane
Tricycle
Trickle
Trip
Bright
Trifocals
Biceps
Triple
Trickle
FREE!!!!!
Triathlete
Bifocals
Bipod
Triceps
Triceratops
15
WORDO!
Words:
1.FREE
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
16
MORE VOCABULARY!
Vocabulary Time Lines
Make appropriate additions to the following vocabulary time lines. List are synonymous vertically, on top of one
another.
Told
Said
Hot
Cold
Beautiful
Ugly
Tall
Short
Young
Old
Odiferous
Old Man
17
Figurative Language
e
Choose a category below (or another category if you like) and brainstorm idioms and other
common expressions that make reference in some way to the chosen category
Ducks and Geese
Nautical/Water
Stars/Space
Farms
Baseball
Football
Football
Church
Horses
Factory Word
School
Basketball
Fish
Dogs
Seasons
Theater
Colors
Food/Kitchen
Cats
Weather
Numbers
Cars/Trucks
Plants/Flowers/Trees
Track and Field
Written Composition Using Figurative Language
Romeo and Juliet Told Through Sports Idioms
Right off of the bat, Romeo knew he was in love with Juliet. The problem was that
across the board, the Capulets hated the Montagues. Romeo was behind the eight ball before
he even had a chance to get the ball rolling. He knew it would be tough to score points with
Juliet’s parents, but he didn’t throw in the towel quite yet. He danced with her at the Capulet’s
ball, and their relationship was off and running. When Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, saw them
together, he blew the whistle on Romeo. Juliet’s father said that he would call the shots
because it was his party, and Romeo was allowed to stay.
Romeo and Juliet dove right into a relationship and got married. It was smooth sailing
for them until Tybalt threw Romeo a curve by killing Romeo’s friend Mercutio. Romeo had to
level the playing field and get back at Tybalt, so he played hard ball and killed him. Romeo
was down for the count when the Prince banished him. No one was in his corner except his
love, Juliet. Defeated, he rolled with the punches and moved to Mantua.
His friend, Balthasar, wanted to touch base with him, but ended up throwing him a
curve. Balthasar mistakenly thought Juliet was dead. Romeo couldn’t believe this was
happening at this stage of the game; he was supposed to go get Juliet, and they were going to
run away together. Romeo really dropped the ball after that. He lay down next to Juliet and
took his own life. When Juliet awoke and saw her husband dead, she thought, “That’s the way
the ball bounces,” and stabbed herself. The parents of the young lovers were shocked by what
had happened. The announcement of their children’s deaths had come out of left field. They
decided to tackle the problem of their long feud and built statues in memory of their lost
children.
For more see: Leedy, Lorreen (Illustrator) and Street, Pat (author). (2003). There’s a Frog in My Throat.
New York: Holiday House
Also: www.idiomconnection.com
Rasinski, T. V. (2008). Understanding Idioms and Other English Expressions Grades 4-6 (Understanding
Idioms and Other English Expressions). Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Educational Publishing.
18
CONCEPT MAP
CATEGORY OR CLASS
IMAGE OR ICON
SYNONYMS
IMPORTANT
CHARACTERISTICS
CONTRASTING
IDEA
EXAMPLE
OR TYPE
EXAMPLE
OR TYPE
EXAMPLE
OR TYPE
19
Vocabulary Development: Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA)
Purpose:
Provides students with practice in analyzing words and concepts along various defining
dimensions, characteristics, or features.
Procedure:
1. Obtain a blank grid (see template).
2. Identify a topic or theme from which to draw words to analyze.
3. Choose or invite students to choose a set of items, objects, or concepts that fit within
the topic of theme (e.g. Topic = Texas Cities, Concepts = Dallas, Houston, Wichita Falls,
etc.; Topic = American Leaders, Concepts = Washington, JFK, FDR, LBJ, etc.). The
concepts are listed in the left hand column.
4. Brainstorm, alone or with students, features or characteristics that one or more of the
concepts possess (e.g. Topic = Texas Cities, Features = Population over 500,000; Major
sea port, southern half of state, state capital, contains military base). List the features
along the top row of the grid.
5. Students use the features to analyze the concepts. Initially students can place a yes or
no in each box to indicate the presence or absence of the feature. As students become
more adept at using SFA, they can rate the degree to which each concept contains such a
feature (e.g. 1 = does not possess the feature at all, 2 = possess the feature to some
degree, 3 = possesses the feature to a very high degree -- very descriptive of the concept).
6. Students should discuss their reasoning with their classmates after completing the grid
analysis.
7. After completing the analysis, students can write definitions for each concept using
the various features or attributes that were the basis for the analysis (e.g. Houston is a
large Texas city located in the southern part of the state; it is a major sea port but is not
the state capital...).
20
Semantic Feature Analysis
Topic: ______________________
Columns = attributes
Rows = exemplars
21
CLOZE PROCEDURE
22