Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Teacher What Does That Mean?
Joneen Lowman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Bloomsburg University
Department of Audiology and
Speech-Language Pathology
[email protected]
• Why is vocabulary instruction an issue?
• What semantic skills do my students
need?
• What vocabulary should I use to teach the
semantic skill?
• How should I teach the semantic skill?
• How should I assess semantic
knowledge?
Why is vocabulary instruction
an issue?
Strong Vocabularies can Move
Mountains
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Children’s vocabulary size approximately doubles between grades 3 and 7.
Students need to encounter a word about 12 times before they know it well
enough to improve their comprehension (McKeown, Beck, Omanson, & Pople,
1985).
300-400 new word meanings can be taught per year through direct instruction.
(Stahl & Shiel, 1999)
Between grades 1 and 3, it is estimated that economically disadvantaged
students’ vocabularies increase by about 3,000 words per year and middleclass students’ vocabularies increase by about 5,000 words per year.
Children who read even ten minutes a day outside of school experience
substantially higher rates of vocabulary growth between second and fifth
grade then children who do little or no reading (Anderson & Nagy, 1992).
Children’s books contain approximately 31 rare words, preschool books
contain approximately 16 rare words.
Vocabulary in grade 1 predicts more than 30% of grade 11 reading
comprehension, much more than reading mechanics in grade 1 (Cunningham
& Stanovich, 1997).
Vocabulary development can influence phonological development ( Lonigan,
2007)
What semantic skills do my
students need?
Vocabulary and Concept
Development Targets
Kindergarten
• Identify and sort into basic categories
• Descriptions
First Grade
• Categorization
Second Grade
• Antonyms and synonyms
• Compound words
• Simple prefixes and suffixes
Root Words
• Multiple meaning words
Vocabulary and Concept
Development Targets
Third Grade
• Identify specificity among grade-appropriate
words (dog/mammal/animal/living things)
• Dictionary instruction
Fourth Grade and above
• Root words
• Figurative and metaphoric
use of words in context
Root Words
http://reading.uoregon.edu/voc/voc_cm.php
What vocabulary should I use
to teach the semantic skill?
Start SMALL
• Grade level with most
students
• Teachers you collaborate
with
• Subject with which you
feel most comfortable
• Children with greatest
needs
• School’s goals for AYP
What does it mean to know
a word?
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Generalization
Application
Breadth
Precision
Availability
Least
Most
• Combat (1942)
You Try It
Can
Have
Can
explain relate it to seen or
and use situation heard
it
tyranny
grapnel
sensitive
dubious
DNK
Selecting Words to Teach
1st Tier
most basic words rarely requiring instruction to their
meanings in school; clock, baby, happy, walk
2nd Tier
high frequency words found across a variety of
domains and used by mature language users:
coincidence, absurd, industrious, fortunate
3rd Tier
frequency of use is quite low and often
limited to specific domains:
lathe, peninsula, refinery
Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002
How do I select Tier 2 Words?
• If you can answer, “yes” to all three
criteria than it’s a Tier 2 word…
1. Conceptual understanding
2. Importance and utility
3. Instructional potential
Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002
• Tier 2 words are not just synonyms for
familiar words, instead they represent
more precise or more complex forms of
the familiar words.
• E.g. Maintain – not only “keep going” but
also “to continue something in its present
condition or at its present level.”
“Morning Girl”
I was close enough to shore now for my feet to
touch bottom, and quickly I made my way to
dry land. The air was warm against my
shoulders and there was a slight breeze that
disturbed palm frawns strewn on the ground. I
squeezed my hair, ran my hands over my
arms and legs to push off the water, and then
stamped my feet on the sand.
http://www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/cwp/view.asp?a=108&q=105283
• Daryl asked his friends how many games they
played during their soccer season. His results
are shown below.
Susan- 8
Horace – 7
Magi – 10
Bret - 9
• Which bar graph correctly shows the data?
Data Analysis and Probability (M3.E.1)
• Elaina worked 57 hours in March, 62 hours in
April, and 59 hours in May. Which of these is the
BEST estimate of the total number of hours she
worked for the three months?
Numbers and Operations (M3.A.3.2)
http://www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/cwp/view.asp?a=108&q=105283
Where Do I Find Tier 2 Words?
• Classroom curriculum
• Instructional Vocabulary
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Demonstrate – 24 times
Identify – 51 times
Recognize – 19 times
Describe – 18 times
• Children’s literature
How should I teach the
semantic skill?
Start SMALL
• Grade level with most
students
• Teachers you collaborate
with
• Subject with which you
feel most comfortable
• Children with greatest
needs
• School’s goals for AYP
Critical Features of Vocabulary
Instruction
reading.uoregon.edu/voc/voc_features.php
DEPTH OF
UNDERSTADNING
INSTRUCTIONAL
STRATEGIES
Verbal
Partial Concept
Knowledge
Full Concept
Knowledge
Depth of Knowledge
Association
-Key Word
-Definition
-Computer Assisted
-Contextual Analysis
-SFA
-Semantic Mapping
-Enriched Training
-Rich Instruction
Baker et al., 1998
General Tenets of Instruction
1. Build on experiential or prior knowledge base
and establish links to new words
2. Teach in meaningful context
Breadth
(N. Nelson, 1986; Nagy & Herman, 1987)
General Tenets of Instruction
3. Provide multiple exposures
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Prototype
Synonyms/Antonyms
Homonyms
Pre/suffix
Syllabication
(N. Nelson, 1986; Nagy & Herman, 1987)
Keyword Method
• Student constructs a visual image that
connects the target word and a familiar,
concrete word (similar auditorially) that
shares some common feature.
• For example:
carlin – old woman
(Baumann & Kameenui, 1991)
Modifications of Keyword
Method
• Ranid means frog
• Interactive pictures (Masropieri et al., 1985)
• “Rain is the word clue for ranid”.
• “Ranid means frog.”
• “Draw a picture of a frog and rain doing
something together.”
Dictionary definitions alone…
• Fail to differentiate how the target word is different from other
similar words
conspicuous
“easily seen”
• Rely on vague language
typical
“being a type”
• Utilize familiar words in unfamiliar ways leading to a concrete
interpretation
devious
“straying from the right course; not straight forward”
• Provide multiple pieces of information but offer no guidance
in how they should be integrated
exotic
“ foreign, strange, not native”
Developing Student-Friendly
Explanations
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Characterize the word and how it is typically
used
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Ask yourself: “When do I use this word
particularly?” “Why do we have such a word?”
Start with a strong focused concept of what the
word means rather than identifying multiple
meanings
Explain the meaning in everyday language
Get students actively involved with thinking
about and using the meanings right away.
Definition Map
What it is?
What is it like?
Percussion instrument
Musical instrument
Has a shell
Has drumhead
Hollow cylinder
DRUM
Played by striking
with hands or
sticks
Bass
tom-tom
bongo
snare
What are some examples?
timpani
Synonym Web
find
smudge
notice
mark
see
stain
SPOT
marking
patch
place
location
area
Teaching Vocabulary Using
Maps/Webs
GEOGRAPHY
WATER
LANDFORMS
Ocean
Continent
River
Island
Gulf
Mountain
Bay lake
Cape
waterfall
Peninsula
plateau
Semantic Features Analysis
Animals flies walks feathers
llama
X
bat
X
X
swan
X
X
cow
X
seal
X
skin
X
X
X
X
X
Teaching Vocabulary Using
Storybooks
• Critical Features of Instruction
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Repeated readings of story
Quality stories
Performance reading style
3 target words per story
Scaffolding
Simmons, Kame’enui, Harn, Edwards et al., (2002);
reading.uoregon.edu/voc/voc_features.php
Performance Reading Style
• Cloze technique
• Read story inserting definition of word
• Word Games
So the cows went on strike. They left a note on the
barn door.
"Sorry.
We're closed.
No milk today."
"No milk today!" cried Farmer Brown.
In the background, he heard the cows busy at work:
Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety,
clack, moo.
From "Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type"
by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Betsy Lewis
http://pbskids.org/lions/clickety/
Duck was a neutral party, so he brought
the ultimatum to the cows. The cows
held an emergency meeting. All the
animals gathered around the barn to
snoop, but none of them could
understand Moo. All night long, Farmer
Brown waited for an answer.
Performance Reading Style
• Cloze technique
• Read story inserting definition of word
• Word Games
Remember we had 3 magic words that you
listened for in the story: strike, neutral, and
ultimatum.
The first word was
strike. So the cows went on
__________.
Performance Reading Style
• Cloze technique
• Read story inserting definition of word
• Define word
• What is ______?
• Insert definition after reading word
• Word Games
Strike means to stop working until you get
what you want.
What does strike mean?
So the cows went on strike, they stopped
working until they got what they wanted,
electric blankets.
Neutral ___________________.
What is neutral?
Duck was a neutral party,
Performance Reading Style
• Cloze technique
• Read story inserting definition of word
• Word Games
• Guess the word
• What’s the magic word?
Guess the Word Game
SLP: “You are going to tell me which
word goes with another word. If you
get it right, I will give the group a
star.”
SLP: “Which words go with strike? To
keep working until you get what you
want or to stop working until you get
what you want?”
SLP: “Which words go with neutral?”
reading.uoregon.edu/voc/voc_features.php
What is the Magic Word? Game
SLP: “See if you can tell me what I am
talking about. I will give you a star each
time you are right.”
SLP: “The garbage men stopped working
until they got more pay. What is our magic
word for stop working until you get what
you want?” (strike)
If incorrect or no response ask, “Was it strike?
Yes, strike. The garbage men stopped
working until they got more pay. Say that.”
reading.uoregon.edu/voc/voc_features.php
Metalinguistic Aspects of
Word Learning
• Metalinguistic knowledge of term “word”
• Definitions are meta• Meta- vocabulary instruction = improved
reading comprehension
• Instruction can occur in connected text
and individual words
Meta- Strategies
• Text Talk (Beck & McKeown, 2001,2003)
• Promote comprehension and language
development
• Text selection critical
• Open-ended questions
• Salient features
• Background knowledge
• Vocabulary
Example of Text Talk
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(Beck & McKeown, 2003, p. 165)
Absurd: In the story, when the fly told Arthur he could have
three wishes if he didn’t kill him, Arthur said he thought he was
absurd. That means Arthur thought it was silly to believe a fly
could grant wishes. When something is absurd, it is ridiculous
and hard to believe.
• If I told you that I would stand on my head to teach that would be
absurd. If someone told you that dogs could fly, that would be
absurd.
• I’ll say some things, and if you think they are absurd, say:
“That’s absurd”. If you think they are not absurd, say: That
makes sense.”
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I have a singing cow for a pet.
I saw a tall building that was made of green cheese.
Who can think of an absurd idea?
Metalingusitic – cont.
Word Wizard (Beck, Perfetti & McKeown, 1982)
• Child finds examples of target words
outside of context taught.
• Incentives
• Improved selection of sophisticated
words
Metalingusitic – cont.
The Gift of Words Bank
• Descriptive phrases
• Categorize
• Model modifying phrases
to fit writing
• Utilize texts with poor descriptors to
discuss how it could be improved
(Henry et al., 1999; Scott et al., 1997)
Let’s smile
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warmest of smiles
her best asset was her smile
swaggered across the room
bare feet sending up little clouds of dust
• http://www.sybrina.com/categories.html
Sniglets
• Words that do not exist in the dictionary but
should.
• Bathquake – n. The violent quake that rattles
the entire house when the water faucet is
turned to a certain point.
• Shoefly – n. The aeronautical terminology for
a football player who misses the punt and
launches his shoe instead.
(Atkinson & Longman, 1985; Hall, 1984)
How should I assess semantic
knowledge?
Assess on Two Levels
• Semantic Level
• Word definitions
• Identifying stated word
• Drawing pictures
• Phonemic Level
• Providing name
• Selecting correct production from four
choices
• DIBELS
Putting It All Together
• Identify Target Skills
• Identify Vocabulary Needs
• Identify Level of Knowledge Needed
• Identify Appropriate Strategy
• Assess Student’s Learning
• What receptive and expressive
semantic skills are you currently
addressing in TX?
• How WILL you select your client’s
semantic targets?
• How WILL you select target vocabulary
for TX?
• How WILL you teach the target
semantic skill during TX?
• What role WILL pragmatics, syntax and
morphology play in your semantic TX?
Resources
Specific ideas for all 5 areas of reading. Related to
DIBELS
• http://reading.uoregon.edu/
• PA Academic Standards
• http://www.pde.state.pa.us/stateboard_ed/cwp/view.a
sp?a=3&Q=76716
• http://www.pde.state.pa.us/early_childhood/lib/early_
childhood/October_2006_KINDERGARTEN_STAND
ARDS.pdf
Specific strategies for assessing and treating word
finding problems
• http://www.wordfinding.com/materials.html
Resources
Allows you to generate a list of words based on
specific parameters (part of speech, number
of phonemes, number of syllables)
• http://www.psych.rl.ac.uk/MRC_Psych_Db.ht
ml
Moats, L. & Smith, C. (1992). Derivational
morphology: Why it should be included in
language assessment and instruction.
LSHSS, 23, 312-319.
• Provides specific sequence for teaching
derivational suffixes along with a step-by-step
intervention plan.
Resources
• Link to all state standards
• http://www.educationworld.com/standards/state/toc/index.shtml
• Songs with Tier 2 words
• http://www.princetonreview.com/vocabminute/default.
asp
• Handout of activities and websites
• http://www.libraryvideo.com/guides/K6811.pdf
• List of phrases and categories
• http://www.sybrina.com/
Acquisition order for English
conjunctions
Data from studies are very variable, and this list is only a rough
guide.
• And
• And then
• But, or
• Because
• So, if when,
• Until, before-after
• Although, while, as
• Unless
• Therefore, however
Owens, R. (1999)