Academic Vocabulary How have you seen vocabulary taught

Academic Vocabulary

How have you seen vocabulary taught?

Why do we need to teach academic vocabulary?

Vocabulary Research • Vocabulary knowledge is one of the best indicators of verbal ability. • Vocabulary difficulty strongly influences the readability of text. • Teaching vocabulary of a selection can improve students’ comprehension of that selection.

Findings of the National Reading Panel Report • Children learned the meanings of most words indirectly through everyday experiences with oral and written language. • Some vocabulary, particularly technical and very subject-specific words, was learned through direct instruction.

• Frequently, secondary school content-area textbooks’ readability levels are even higher than the assigned grade levels. For example, Kinder, Bursuck and Epstein (1992) reported readability levels ranging from ninth grade to third year of college. • Readability is based on length of sentences and the number of syllables in the words that are most often used.

Research and Theory Generalizations: 1. Students must encounter words in context more than once to learn them. 2. Instruction of new words enhances learning those words in context. 3. One of the best ways to learn a new word is to associate an image with it. 4. Direct vocabulary instruction works. 5. Direct instruction on words that are critical to new content produces the most powerful learning. Robert Marzano – Classroom Instruction That Works

Types of Vocabulary • Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing

What should students know and be able to do with a word? • • • Define Pronounce Draw Give examples Use in writing Use verbally Recognize as sight words Identify in real-life Compare/contrast Integrate into conversation

Some vocabulary practices… Unreliable Practices �Asking students, “Does anyone know what _____ means? ” �Assigning numerous independent activities without guidance or immediate feedback �Directing students to “look it up” then use it in a sentence �Relying on context-based guessing as a primary strategy

Math Textbook Study • Study of all the words in 7 th grade math textbooks produced by three different publishers • Removed words shown to be known even by lowest performing readers and analyzed remaining ‘challenge’ words Nair, 2005 & 2007

Findings • 25% of the text in 7 th grade math textbooks is made up of approximately 3, 000 ‘challenge’ words • Most are low frequency words and few are in the glossary • Glossary definitions are typically made up of a high proportion of ‘challenge’ words (20% in one textbook)

Glossary Example • Significant digits: All of the digits of a measurement that you know for sure, plus one estimated digit.

Glossary Example • _____: All of the ______ of a ______ that you know for sure, plus one _____.

Sample of Most Frequently Occurring Words Across Textbooks • • Source Determine Skill, Skills Strategies, Strategy Mixed Numbers Perimeter Amount Factor Polygon Information Results Median Original, Origins Reasonable Function Prism Words in red are high-frequency math words that are NOT typically taught by math teachers.

Where can we find vocabulary activities?

Visual & Verbal Word Association Word Visual Representation triangle Definition A triangle is a geometric shape with 3 sides and 3 angles. Personal Association or Characteristic I watched a movie about the Bermuda Triangle.

Time to Explore Teach 21 Strategy Bank Vocabulary

Time to Explore Interactive CSOs Math – K-7 Reading – K-6 Science – K-3 Social Studies - K

Vocabulary acquisition is crucial to academic development. Not only do students need a rich body of word knowledge to succeed in basic skill areas, they also need a specialized vocabulary to learn content area material. (Baker, Simmons, and Kameenui, 1995)

Questions?