Effective Instruction for ELLs:
Vocabulary and Beyond
— María Elena Argüelles —
Plain Talk About Reading
February 9-11, 2015 | New Orleans
About the Presenter
María Elena Argüelles
María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D., is an educational consultant who provides support
to states, districts, and schools in their implementation of effective instruction for
struggling learners and English language learners. María Elena is the co-author of
several publications and a consultant to publishers that develop programs for struggling
readers and English language learners. In addition, she has teaching experience at
the public school level, the undergraduate, and the graduate level. Her primary areas
of interest are early vocabulary development, students with reading difficulties, and
reading instruction for English language learners.
About CDL
Founded in 1992, the Center for Development and Learning (CDL) is a results-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization. CDL’s mission is to improve the life chances of all children, especially those at high risk, by
increasing school success. We believe that all children, regardless of how they look, where they come
from, or how they learn, can and will achieve school success when provided with highly effective teachers
and positive, supportive learning environments.
CDL’s services fall into three silos:
1. Evidence-based professional development for teachers, principals, teacher leaders, related specialists, paraprofessionals, parents and caregivers
2. Direct services to students
3. Public engagement of stakeholders at all levels
CDL’s professional learning services comprise approximately 85% of our work. For over 18 years,
we have been a trusted source of specialized professional learning services for educators. CDL’s
professional learning is designed, facilitated, evaluated and adjusted to meet the needs of the learners.
In collaboration with school and district leaders and teachers, we examine student and teacher data
and build professional learning in response to student and teacher performance. We evaluate progress
frequently and adjust accordingly.
We have special expertise in literacy, building collaborative capacity, leadership and talent management,
high-yield teaching strategies and tactics, differentiated instruction, and learner-specific instruction. Call
us – we are ready to serve you.
One Galleria Blvd., Suite 903 | Metairie, LA 70001
Phone: (504) 840-9786 | Fax: (504) 840-9968 | Email: [email protected] | Web: www.cdl.org
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Who are English Language Learners?
Effective Instruction
for ELLs: Vocabulary
and Beyond
“Students who come from language
backgrounds other than English and
whose proficiency is not yet developed
to the point where they can profit fully
from English-only instruction”
María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
Plain Talk About Reading
(NRC Report, 1997)
New Orleans – February 2015
Types of Vocabulary
Receptive
Requires a reader or listener to
associate a specific meaning with a
given label as in reading or listening.
Listening
Words we understand when
others talk to us
Expressive
Requires a speaker or writer to
produce a specific label for a
particular meaning.
Speaking
Words we use when we talk
to others
Reading
Writing
Words we know when we see Words we use when we
them in print write
Instruction for ELL
• Make relationships among concepts overt
and emphasize distinctive features
– Errors of transfer
•
•
•
•
•
Vocabulary
Sounds
Spelling
Grammar
Stress
• New vocabulary
– Concept vs. Label
Baker, Gersten, Haager, Dingle, & Goldenberg (2005)
Contrastive Analysis:
English/Spanish
Consonants and
Consonant Blends
English/Spanish
c, p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, f,
s, w, ch, y, l, pl, pr, br,
bl, tr, dr, cl, cr, gl, gr,
fl, fr
Consonant and
Consonant Blends
English Only
h, j, r, v, x, qu, st, sp,
sk/sc, sm, sl, sn, sw,
tw, qu(kw), scr, spl,
str, squ(skw)
There are only five consonants that appear in the
final position in Spanish words: l, r, d, n, and s
Prosody and Intonation
invalid
object
Elkonin
Adapted from Helman (2004)
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
1
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Concept Board
Which are concepts? Which
are labels?
How are these dams different?
– meadow
– estimation
– alone
– pageant
– photosynthesis
– elated
Joe Robinson, 2005
Providing Feedback
Recasting
• Consistently provide meaningful feedback
– Recasting
• Pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary
– Changing the mode of response
• Productive vs. recognition
“She liky how she play ball”
• Refine the grammar and pronunciation.
She likes how he plays ball.
• Expand the meaning/vocabulary.
She admires how well he plays basketball.
Barbara Gaiser
Characteristics of
High Quality Instruction
Recasting
“Me talkee Spanish because English more
hard”
• Refine the pronunciation and grammar.
______________________________________________
•
•
•
•
•
Is explicit and systematic
Provides multiple opportunities for practice
Maximizes student engagement
Increases time on text/Increases time on task
Establishes a set routine of activities so that
students can make sense of what is happening
(Rueda & Garcia, 2001)
• Expand the vocabulary/meaning.
______________________________________________
• Models skills and strategies during lessons
• Lesson objective is clear
• Uses flexible grouping
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
2
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Characteristics of
High Quality Instruction
Alphabet Strips
A
B
E
C
F
D
• Provides scaffolds in how to use strategies, skills and
concepts (Gersten & Geva, 2003)
• Adjusts own use of English to make concepts
comprehensible (Gersten & Geva, 2003)
• Selects and incorporate students’ responses, ideas, examples,
and experiences into lesson (Gersten & Geva, 2003)
• Ensures quality of independent practice (Gersten & Geva, 2003)
• Asks questions to ensure comprehension (Gersten & Geva, 2003)
• Provides extra instruction, practice and review (Gersten & Geva, 2003)
• Activates and draw upon students’ background knowledge
in relation to the story (Saunders, 1998; Schifini, 1994; Ulanoff & Pucci, 1999).
• Provides explicit instruction in comprehension strategies
before, during, and after reading.
G
Vocabulary and ELLs
Right There Questions
•
•
•
•
Questions can be answered by looking in the text
Answers are located in one place in the story
Answers can be found word-for-word in the text
Questions can be answered in one sentence
1
• One major determinant of poor reading
comprehension for ELLs is low vocabulary. Lack of
knowledge of the lower frequency academic words
encountered in textbooks impedes reading
comprehension (Garcia, 1991; Nagy, 1997; Verhoeven, 1990).
Putting It Together
• Questions can be answered by looking in the text
• Answers are found in more than one place in the text and
then put together
• Answers require one or more sentences
• “Vocabulary must be explicitly taught to ELLs if they are to catch up
to grade-level standards. . . . This instruction must be part of a
comprehensive language/literacy program” (p. 131, Calderón, et al. 2005).
2
Making Connections
•
•
•
•
Questions cannot be answered by looking in the text
Think about the information in the text
Think about what you already know
Put these together to answer the question
3
• Focus on a small number of critical words and
provide multiple exposures of the word to build
depth of knowledge and emphasize words over time
(Gersten & Baker, 2000).
Vaughn, 2005
Vocabulary Gap
The Importance of Vocabulary
Vocabulary knowledge:
• is strongly linked to academic success (Becker, 1997; Anderson & Nagy,
1991).
• facilitates accurate word recognition.
• is critical to reading achievement and comprehension
• Average child from a welfare family hears about 3
million words a year vs. 11 million from a
professional family (Hart & Risley, 1995).
– By age 4, the gap in words heard grows to 13 vs. 45 million
(Stanovich, 1993).
• is the BEST predictor of reading comprehension. First
grade vocabulary predicts 11th grade reading
comprehension. (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997)
• Much of the failure to understand speech or writing
beyond an elementary level is due to deficiencies in
vocabulary knowledge (Carroll 1971)
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
Words heard . . .
per hour
100-hr week
5,200 hr year
3 years
Welfare
620
62,000
3 million
10 million
Working Class
1,250
125,000
6 million
20 million
Professional
2,150
215,000
11 million
30 million
3
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
“In fourth grade, poor children’s reading
comprehension scores starts a drastic
decline – and rarely recovers.”
THE CAUSE:
• “They hear millions fewer words at home than do their
advantaged peers – and since words represent knowledge,
they don’t gain the knowledge that underpins reading
comprehension.”
THE CURE:
• “Immerse these children, and the many others whose
comprehension is low, in words and the knowledge the words
represent – as early as possible.”
You Can’t Pre-teach Every Word
Choose words carefully
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Critical to the meaning of the story and main ideas
Not defined in context of story
Not part of the student’s prior knowledge
Likely to be seen again in other texts and content areas
Usefulness
Academic
unlikely to be learned independently through the use of
context and/or structural analysis
– Figurative speech or idiomatic expressions
(American Educator, American Federation of Teachers, Spring, 2003, Cover)
Tiers of Words
Tier 1- Basic, everyday words that students learn on
their own.
Tier 2- Are common enough that most mature
readers are familiar with them. They can be found
across various contexts and topics and
understanding the meaning of these words
promotes everyday reading and listening
comprehension.
Selecting Tier II Words
• Level II words taught before students read
include words:
– that will be frequently encountered in other texts
and content areas.
– crucial to understanding the main ideas.
– that are not a part of the students’ prior
knowledge.
– unlikely to be learned independently through the
use of context and/or structural analysis.
Tier 3- Low-frequency words; many of which are
domain specific.
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Choosing Words to Teach
• Why?
• Verbs are where the action is
K-2 Vocabulary Development
True or False
•
Literature and trade books read TO students
are excellent sources for vocabulary
instruction
•
Texts read by students in K, 1st and the
beginning of second grade are the best
source of rich vocabulary words
– Teach admire, admired, admires,….
– Likely to see it again in grade-level text
– Likely to see it on statewide assessments
• Why not eaves?
– Rarely seen in print
– Rarely used in stories or conversation or content-area
information
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
4
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Tiers of Words for ELL
Tier 2A Words
• High frequency, grade-level, and content
area words
• Less obvious cognates
Tier 2BWords
• Multiple meaning/polysemous words
– Need to be deliberately taught
– Students must learn how to use them in
various contexts
Multiple Meanings
• He sharpened the point of the knife (sharp end).
• He wasn’t sure of the point of the story (purpose).
• He made an interesting point (an important detail in his
argument).
• He walked to a point 10 ft. from the outhouse (specific
location).
• He made a point for his team (score).
• The decimal point is in the wrong place (a mathematical
punctuation).
(Adapted from Calderón, et al. 2003)
Word Maps
An example
for imitation
or emulation
1
model
Making the Match!
A miniature
representation
2
One who
displays clothes
or merchandise
3
ROCK
a stone
to move
back and
forth
a type of
music
Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
Polysemous Words
Context: military
Meaning: a division of the
military
Sentence: The four
branches of the military are
navy, marines, army, and
air force
Context: aspect
Meaning: part, field, area
Sentence: What branch
of medicine are you
interested in pursuing?
Context: tree
Meaning: limb of a
tree
Sentence: As a child,
we had a swing hanging
from one of the branches
of the tree in our yard
Context: business
Meaning: local office
Sentence: When my cell
phone wasn’t working, I took
it to a branch of Cingular in
Miami
BRANCH
Context: division
Meaning: separation;
division
Sentence: The river
branches off into three
smaller tributaries.
Context: government
Meaning: one of the three
divisions of the government
Sentence: The legislative
branch deals with creating
and upholding the laws of
our country
I have a
collection
with many
different
kinds of
rocks
My teenage
brother is
always
listening
MytoMom
rock on
the my
rocks
radio baby
brother to
sleep
Which are Tier II Words?
civilization
covenant
cataract
embalming
savanna
caste
monotheism
dynasty
hieroglyphics
Alkhenaton
Sanskrit
guru
deity
papyrus
tribute
Ahmose
raja
monsoon
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
5
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
The Frequency of English Words
• The 100 most frequent words account for
about 50% of the words in a typical text
• The 1,000 most frequent words account for
about 70% of the words
• The 5,000 most frequent words account for
about 80% of the words
* However, 95% of words must be
known to infer meaning (Liu & Nation 1985)
Graves, Sales, & Ruda (2008); Hiebert (2005)
How Many Words?
• In 1st and 2nd grade, children need to learn 800+
words per year, about 2 per day.
• Children need to learn 2,000 to 3,000 new words
each year from 3rd grade onward, about 6-8 per
day.
• Most typically developing children need to
encounter a word about 12 times before they
know it well enough to improve comprehension.
Biemiller; Nagy & Anderson
The First 4,000 Words
A list of the roughly 4,000 most frequent word families
listed in order of their frequency:
• Target Words - 3,541 (little, even, good, fundamental, dissolved)
• Function Words - 116 (such, before, anything, although)
• Proper Nouns - 148 (Richard, Willie, Hamilton)
• The 100 Most Frequent Words (the, of, and, to, that)
http://www.sewardreadingresources.com/i
mg/fourkw/4KW_Teaching_List.pdf
Graves, Sales, & Ruda (2008)
Dictionaries:
Proceed with Caution
Things to consider when asking students to look up
words in the dictionary
• Students must already have some knowledge of the word for
the definition to make sense.
• The definition does not explain how the word is different
from other analogous words.
• Definitions often use vague language with insufficient
information.
• When reading definitions, students have difficulty taking
syntax, structure, and part of speech into account.
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Miller & Gildea, 1987; Scott & Nagy, 1989, 1997; Vacca & Vacca, 1996.
Student-Friendly Explanations
• Characterize the word and explain how
it is regularly used
• Describe the meaning of the word in
everyday language. Include words like
something, someone, or describes.
These words assist students in attending
to the whole definition
Not All Definitions are The Same
Traditional Dictionary
1) the quality of or state of being delicate; fineness, weakness,
sensitivity, etc.
2) a choice food
Student Friendly Definition
1) something good to eat that is expensive or rare: Snails are
considered a delicacy in France.
2) a careful and sensitive way of speaking or behaving so that
you do not upset anyone; tact
He carried out his duties with great delicacy and understanding.
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
6
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Dictionaries with Student-Friendly
Explanations
• Oxford Elementary Learner’s Dictionary
• Collins Cobuild Student’s Dictionary
• Heinle’s Newbury House Dictionary of American English
(http://nhd.heinle.com/home.aspx)
• Longman Dictionary of American English
(http://www.ldoceonline.com)
• Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
Strategies for Using the
Dictionary
1. Locate the unknown word in the glossary or
dictionary
2. Tell yourself what the text is about
3. Read each definition and select the best one
4. Try the possible meaning in the sentence
5. Ask yourself, “Does this make sense?”
Archer, 2005
Indirect Learning
Indirect learning has
higher effects for
students with higher
levels of vocabulary
Direct/Explicit Instruction
“Direct teaching of vocabulary might be one of
the most underused activities in K-12
education. The lack of vocabulary instruction
might be a result of misconceptions about
what it means to teach vocabulary and its
potential effect on student learning. Perhaps
the biggest misconception is that teaching
vocabulary means teaching formal dictionary
definitions.”
-Marzano et al. 2002
Vocabulary Casserole
Ingredients Needed:
20 words no one has ever heard before in his life
1 dictionary with very confusing definitions
1 matching test to be distributed by Friday
1 group of very quiet students
Directions:
Pour 20 words on chalkboard. Have students copy each five times and
then look up in dictionary. Make students write all the definitions.
Have students write a sentence for each word. Leave alone all week.
Top with a boring test on Friday.
Perishable. This casserole will be forgotten by Saturday afternoon.
Serves: No one.
Adapted from When Kids Can’t Read, What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers
Knowing a Word
“Simply put, knowing a word is not an
all-or-nothing proposition.” (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002, p. 9).
• Level 1: Has never seen or heard the word before
• Level 2: Has seen or heard it, but doesn’t know what it means
• Level 3: Has a general sense of a word
• Level 4: Knows a word, but the word is not part of the
student’s speaking vocabulary.
• Level 5: Has a deep knowledge of word, its relationship to
other words, how it changes across contexts, and its
metaphorical uses. Can apply the term correctly to all
situations and can recognize inappropriate use.
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
7
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Vocabulary Instruction
Instructional Routine
• Actively involve students
• Provide multiple exposures (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986)
Introduce
– Discuss the meaning of the same word in different
sentences
• Encourage deep processing
–
–
–
–
–
Connect to prior knowledge
Provide opportunities for students to use the words
Discuss new word together with related words
Suggest when/how to use the word
Have students create sentences
• Answer 3 or 4 of these: what, where, when, how, who, why
(adapted from
Success for All)
• Provide practice over time
• Monitor students’ understanding
– Write and say the word
– Have students repeat it
Explain
– Use student friendly explanation
– Show picture/demonstrate
– Provide sample sentences and examples/non-examples
Practice
– Engage students in activities/elaboration
– Help students connect to self
– Monitor students’ understanding
– Revisit words over time
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Archer 2006; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
An Excellent Resource for
Vocabulary Instruction
Bringing
Words to
Life: Robust
Vocabulary
Instruction
Have You Ever?
• Describe a time when you might
urge/console/commend someone
• Describe an animal that is dangerous/gruesome
• Describe a time when you felt dread/scared/danger
Idea Completion
The audience asked the virtuoso to play another
piece of music because …
• The skiing teacher said Melanie was a novice on the
ski slopes because . . .
• Paul called Tim a coward when . . .
•
By Isabel Beck,
McKeown, and
Kucan (20)
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Overheard Conversations
unique
extraordinary
What Would It Mean?
What would the word responsible mean to
•
monotonous
•
•
•
•
peculiar
•
“There’s nothing like it in the world!”
“It’s fantastic! Better than I could have imagined”
“That was a weird one”
“What a drag!”
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
•
Your mom?
The president of the U.S.?
Mickey Mouse?
What would the word reluctant mean to
•
•
•
A young child?
A cat?
Aiko?
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
8
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Words Worth Chart
Opposites Attract
•
great
amazing
magnificent
irate
•
•
small
elated
terrified
•
Each student is given a card with a word
written on it.
On your cue, everyone walks around the room
SILENTLY looking for the opposite word.
Once the students have found the person with
the opposite word, they come up with a
sentence or situation in which both terms can
be used.
Call on several pairs to share their responses.
Copyright READINGRESOURCE.NET
Concept
Word
Map
Word Supports
What is it?
Example from: Thank You, M’am by Langston Hughes
Examples
WORD or CONCEPT
Nonexamples
The boy looked disheveled
Someone or something that is untidy,
messy or unkempt
Supporting Details
Page found
a) Roger’s face is dirty.
b) He looked frail and willow-wild.
c) Ms. Jones asked him to comb his hair.
What is it like?
p. 121
p. 123
p. 126
Adapted from Wood, Lapp, & Flood (1992)
Concept Word Map
Concept Character Map
What are some of
his actions?
Word: Adjacent
Definition: next to
Synonym: aside
Pablo provided his
medical services for
free
Sentence:
The beautiful oak tree is
adjacent to the house.
Picture:
Pablo stood up to the
unethical insurance
claims adjuster
Reading Selection: A
Antonym: distant
Christmas Memory by Truman
Capote (p. 152)
He saved the life of
the child
Who is he?
Doctor, husband, father
What is he like?
hard-working
serious
Pablo
Ruíz
loving
moral
Your description of the character:
Pablo Ruiz, a surgeon for the last 20 years, is a loving husband and father of three
young children. He is serious and hard-working, never missing work and treating each
patient as if he were the first. When faced with following the hospital rules or treating
a young patient, Pablo decides to offer his services free of charge and save the life of
his young patient.
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
9
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Concept Attainment
How Well Do You Know These Words?
Concept
freedom
Related Words
HIGH KNOWLEDGE
Unrelated Words
autonomy
self-determination
lack of restrictions
slavery, forced labor, cages, jails
3 = I am pretty sure what it means
1 = I have no clue what it means
Word
the condition of being free, having the power to act and speak without restrictions; a set of
legal rights protected by the government
freedom of speech
freedom of religion
2 = I recognize it but need a review
restraining order
Definition of concept
Examples of concept
LOW KNOWLEDGE
4 = I could teach it to the class
Sample Sentences
The boy has the freedom to go where he wants to go.
Our various freedoms are the foundation of our nation.
The jury found the suspect not guilty, and the judge gave
him his freedom.
Adapted from Janet Allen, 1999
Before Instruction After Instruction
serendipity
pedantic
miscreant
ribosome
eukaryotic
Word Scaling
How Well Do You Know These Words?
sobbing
mourning
crying
delight
tearing up
screaming
wailing
colossal
yowling
lamenting
weeping
howling
mighty
keening
How much energy does it take to . . .
Embrace a teddy bear?
Flex your little finger?
Thrust a heavy door shut?
Beckon to someone for five straight hours?
Seize a feather floating through the air?
Least energy ______________ Most energy
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
moaning
bawling
McKeown & Beck, 2004
Make a Match
Word Lines
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
sniveling
grieving
COLUMN A
report
exclaim
reply
describe
utter
urge
whisper
mumble
declare
COLUMN B
angry customer
mayor
witness
crying child
librarian
nosy neighbor
busy secretary
anxious mom
smartest student
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
10
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Yes/No – Why?
• Juxtapose 2 or more vocabulary words into a question
• Requires student to think relationally using the meaning of the words to
explain their answers
• Can be both a practice activity or an assessment tool
•
•
•
•
•
Can a hermit be gregarious?
Can a police officer be a criminal?
Can a villain be a philanthropist?
Can someone recover from a fatal injury?
Can toddlers avoid getting the cold?
Word Pair Analysis
Word Pair
Same
Opposite
Go
Together
No
Relation
admire/like
disappointed/
glad
coward/kind
villain/
accomplice
Stahl & Kapinus, 2001
Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982; Feldman, 2005
Example/Non-Example
A mother tells her children
that they should remember
to take their vitamins every
morning
urge
Children tell their mother
that they already took their
vitamins
The class makes plans for a
Flag Day assembly
chorus
The whole class says the
Pledge of Allegiance to the
flag
A child asks politely for a
band-aid after falling down
wail
Which One Doesn’t Belong?
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
My puppy is _________, _______, and ________.
A child screams after falling
down
Beck, McKeown,
& Kucan, 2002
Our neighbors once told us mention Our neighbors
are always
that they had lived in
talking about when they lived
Florida
in Florida
1.
Using Describing Words
The Florida Center for Reading Research, 2005
Word Monsters
n
Michael, Toby, Richardson, Lisa
time - mime, cat - hat, fold - bed, tent - rent
big house, blue napkin, sad clown, quickly walking
mom, playground, cowboy, draw
small-tiny, rough-smooth, happy-excited, run-jog
socialism, fascism, feminism, communism
AD 35, 05/05/2007, July 7, 2010, 6:15
bear-bare, torn-ripped, steal-steel, rain-reign
news broadcast, editorial, research paper, biography
Jo Robinson, 2005
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
11
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
High-Quality Oral Language
• Compare spoken language with literate
language
• Model good language use
–
–
–
–
–
Complete sentences
Precise language
Use native language strategically
Academic and testing language
Integrate target vocabulary into your language
High-Quality Oral Language
• Scaffold students oral language
– Use questions, prompts, and cues
– Recast students’ responses
– Ask for
clarification/justification/elaboration
– Engage students in retelling (narrative and
expository)
Adapted from Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
Adapted from Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
Word Consciousness
Retellings
1) Teacher reads
2) Teacher retells using props
3) Teacher retells while student uses props
4) Teacher and student retell using props
5) Student retells
Read good literature
Provide
scaffolded
opportunities to
experiment with
language
Engage students in both narrative
and expository retellings
The Teacher’s
Role
Talk about
language used by
good authors
Scott & Nagy, 2004
Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
Book Wall
Word Consciousness
“You used a million dollar word!”
“You’re a
great word
detective!”
“You have
your word
antenna on
today!”
Identify “gift of
words” in
context
reluctant
tresses
peer(ed)
colossal
enormous
enamored
reply
prance
admire
coincidence
improve
pouted
reluctant
enormous
admire
roar
conquer
hammock
soak
mightier
resistance
quotation
wiggle
scowl
stampeding
updates
tracking
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
12
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Content Wall
Self-Collection Strategy
Students are asked to bring in one word that is “good for our class to learn”
mitochondria
lava
Golgi apparatus
magma
evaporation
eruption
protoplasm
heat
nucleus
gas
cytoplasm
water
ribosome
condensation
erosion
photosynthesis
precipitation
chlorophyll
coastal
stomata
soil
(a) where they found the word
(b) the context
(c) why it was selected





Peer group usage
Strong emotion
Immediate usefulness
Adultness/sound/interesting
General usefulness
leaves
Haggard, 1986; Ruddell & Shearer, 2002
The Power of Wide Reading
With your neighbor, decide if following statements are
TRUE or FALSE:
1. Reading 14 minutes a day means reading over
1,000,000 words a year.
2. Preschool or children’s books expose you to
more challenging vocabulary than do primetime adult TV shows.
3. Vocabulary can be learned through reading and
talking.
Advantages of Wide Reading
Percentile
Rank
Min. of reading per
day
Words read per year
98
65.0
4,358,000
90
21.1
1,823,000
80
14.2
1,697,000
70
9.6
622,000
60
6.5
432,000
50
4.6
282,000
40
3.2
200,000
30
1.8
106,000
20
0.7
21,000
10
0.1
8,000
2
0.0
0
Adapted from Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding
(1988)
Wide Reading and Vocabulary
Major Sources
Rank of Median Word
Abstracts of scientific articles
4389
Newspapers
1690
Popular magazines
1399
Adult books
1058
Comic books
867
Children’s books
627
Preschool books
528
Popular prime-time adult shows
490
Popular prime-time children shows
543
Cartoon shows
598
Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street
413Adapted from Hayes & Ahrens (1988)
Expert witness testimony
1008
College graduates to friends/spouses
496
Printed
texts
Television
texts
Adult
Speech
SSR/DEAR Plus
1. Careful match of student to text
2. Structured book choices
3. Accountability
– quick writes, sentence frames
– random selection of 3-5 journals to read daily and
comment
Title of reading
Key quote
Brief casual summary
My original title
Why I chose this quote
Graphic representation
4. Purposeful and explicit mini-lessons
Adapted from Feldman, 2005
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
13
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Advantages of Wide Reading
TV Viewing
• If Ray, a
grader, reads for one hour per day, five
days a week, at a fairly conservative rate of 150
words per minute, he will encounter 2,250,000
words in his reading over a school year. If 2 to 5%
of the words Ray encounters are unknown to him,
he will encounter from 45,000 to 112,500 unknown
words. If, as research as shown, students can learn
between 5 and 10% of previously unknown words from a
single reading, Ray will learn, at a minimum, 2,250 new
words each year from his reading.
• The average U.S. household watched 8 hours and 11
minutes of television a day from September 2004 to
September 2005, according to Nielsen Media
Research.
• That’s the most since audience measurements began
in the 1950s.
• The average person ages 2 and up watched 4 hours
and 32 minutes a day last year.
5th
--USA Today (September 30, 2005)
Stahl, 1999
Reading Aloud
Reading aloud can provide a level of lexical difficulty that
extends beyond every conversational language. These benefits
persist beyond the age when children are capable of reading
independently.
• Teacher read-alouds should be roughly two or
three grade levels above the students
• Moreover, significant chunks of time (~ 20
minutes) should be devoted to discussion after
each read-aloud.
• Students who participate in read alouds
conducted in small groups, understand and recall
story elements better than when in large groups.
Prefix Activity
abdicate, cooperate, abduct,
coauthor, coincidence, absent
togetherness
separateness
Cornell, Senechal, & Broda, 1988; Cunningham, 2005; Walsh, 2003
Word Parts
• It is estimated that students can figure out
the meaning of about 60% of the new
words they encounter by analyzing word
parts (Nagy, Anderson, Schommer, Scott, & Stallman, 1989).
• Between first and fifth grade students
learn approximately 4,000 root words,
however, during the same period, the
number of derived words increases by
about 14,000
Teaching Word Parts
Beth took her camera out of its case and placed it on a tripod.
What does the underlined word tripod mean?
a. workbench
b. desk with two drawers
c. three-legged stand
d. round table
Mountain, 2005
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
14
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Teaching Word Parts
Teaching Word Parts
reBACK
prefixes
roots
AGAIN
suffixes
Prefix
Root
Suffix
New Word
Real Word
re-
appear
-ed
reappeared
Yes
Mountain, 2005
Sentence: The ghost in Mike’s closet reappeared in the evenings
Word Parts: Posters
Teaching Word Parts
If you know the word clear, you
also know:
clearest
clears
clearer
clearly
cleared
unclear
clearing
unclearly
1. Divide the unknown word into meaningful parts.
2. Think what each part means
OR
Think of other words that contain that part. From
those words formulate a meaning of the unknown
part.
3. Combine the meanings of the word.
4. Try the possible meaning in the sentence
5. Ask yourself, “Does it make sense?”
Archer, 2005
Mountain, 2005
Teaching Morphemes
tele- and -graph Web
bibliography
telephone
telecast
choreographer
choreographer
graphics
televis
televise
e
seismograph
teleconference
teleconference
TELEGRAPH
telethon
paragraph
telecommunication
telecommunication
geography
epigraph
telepathy
telepathy
telegra
telegram
m
telecourse
digraph
digraph
graphite
telephoto
telescop
telescope
e
orthography
cinematography
cinematography
• Spend ten minutes each day teaching one or
two new morphemes or reviewing prior
lessons.
– Teach the spelling, meaning, and usage or function of
each morpheme.
– Give numerous examples.
– Write a new morpheme on the board.
– Have students brainstorm words that are comprised of
that morpheme.
– Then, help them deduce what the morpheme means.
Ebbers (2004). Language Links to Latin and Greek
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
15
PLAIN TALK ABOUT READING AND LEARNING
New Orleans, LA |February 9-11, 2015
Teaching Morphemes
Teaching Morphemes
--ish
• The origin of a river might be a spring high up in the
mountains. An original story is completely new, not
copied or based on something else. The first or
native people of a place are aboriginal tribes.
childish, greenish, brutish, mannish, mulish
•
-spect-
– Latin root for beginning: __ __ __ __
spectator, spectacles, specter, introspection, circumspection.
hospit (Latin stem)
hospital, hospitality, hotel, host, hostess, hostel, and hospice
Ebbers (2004). Language Links to Latin and Greek
Greek suffix –ist
Latin suffixes –ian, -or
-or
Definition
-ist
Learning from Context
scienceor
scientist
sciencian
2. one who practices music
musicor
musicist
musician
3. one who practices biology
biologor
biologist
biologian
4. one who professes
professor
professist
professian
dietor
dietist
dietician
politicor
politicist
politician
educator
educatist
educatian
8. one who navigates
navigator
navigatist
navigatian
9. one who donates
donor
donatist
donatian
10. one who works in the Senate
senator
senatist
senatorian
6. one who practices politics
7. one who educates
– Latin root for no: __ __ __
-ian
1. one who practices science
5. one who studies diets
• A negative answer to a question is “no”. To renege
on a promise is to go back on your word and not do
what you promised to do. A renegade is someone
who chooses not to follow the laws and customs of a
group or society.
Of 100 familiar words met in
reading, a reader may
learn 3-15 using context
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Ebbers (2004). Language Links to Latin and Greek
1. Put your finger on the word. Reread the sentence without the
word. Think about what would make sense. Ask yourself, “Does
this make sense”
2. Read the sentence before and after looking for clues and remind
yourself what the text is about. Think about a meaning that
would make sense. Ask yourself, “Does this make sense”.
3. Divide the unknown word into meaningful parts. Think about
what each part means OR think of other words that contain that
part. Combine the meanings of the word. Try the possible
meaning in the sentence. Ask yourself, “Does this make sense?”
¡Gracias!
Thank You!
[email protected]
4. Reread the sentences. Look for key words. Ask yourself, “Does
this make sense?”
Klingner, Vaughn, Dimino, Schumm, & Bryant, 2001
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
The Center for Development and Learning
16