Addressing Hallmark 4 Vocabulary in Our Daily Instruction

Addressing Hallmark #4: Vocabulary in Our Daily Instruction P. S. 360 M. Langan, C. Gilsinger

You are encouraged to jump in with comments, questions, and connections throughout today’s session. PLEASE! It makes the conversation richer when your

What is the “achievement gap”? The “achievement gap” in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, among other success measures. It is most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between Black and Hispanic students, at the lower end of the performance scale, and their non-Hispanic White and Asian peers, and the similar academic disparity between students from low-income families and those who are better off. Source: Education Weekly

How is the “achievement gap” relevant when we discuss vocabulary acquisition?

The Word Gap Landmark study done in 2003 by Betty Hart and Todd Risley Socio-economic status Word (SES) / Parent Education Exposure Level Per Hour Word Exposure Per Year Word Exposure by Age 4 Upper (“professional”) 2, 153 11 million 45 million Middle (“working class”) 1, 251 6 million 26 million Lower (“welfare”) 616 3 million 13 million Difference of about 30 million words

The Word Gap • Landmark study done in 2003 by Betty Hart and Todd Risley When studying the use of vocabulary among toddlers, Hart & Risley found that: children from professional families spoke 2 new words daily children from working class families spoke 1 new word daily children from “welfare” class families spoke. 5 new words daily 86 -98% of words children used by age 3 were derived from parents’ vocabularies

The Word Gap • Hart & Risley also found that: After following up with 29 of 42 families involved in initial study, they found that the measures of Landmark study done in 2003 by Betty Hart and Todd Risley Depressing but True Fact A first grader from a high SES group knows accomplishment at age 3 were highly indicative of about double the words performance on assessments with vocabulary and a first grader from a reading comprehension at ages 9 and 10 low SES group knows.

The Word Gap Landmark study done in 2003 by Betty Hart and Todd Risley One fault with the study is that it placed little emphasis on the responsibility of the educational system with regards to how to address the “word gap”, ultimately concluding that certain “disadvantaged” groups of society would thus have difficulty with achievement because of the gap in language and vocabulary acquisition.

Our Own Data SES / Parent Education Level Data on Vocabulary / Language Acquisition • 85% of our students qualify for free lunch • 7% of our students qualify for reduced lunch • We don’t have the data on parent educational level, but we know that a minority of our parents hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher. • The lowest proficiency level among all i-Ready ELA subcategories is vocabulary in 2018 baseline data. • Although our scores in proficiency for ELA have increased in the past few years, only 44% of our students are meeting or exceeding standards as indicated by the ELA state exam scores from last year.

i-Ready Diagnostic Results by Domain

Link between Reading Scores & Language/Vocabulary Acquisition As the texts get more complex, the vocabulary and language demands also increase. • If you can’t understand vocabulary within the text, it impacts comprehension. • If you can’t understand vocabulary within the questions on the assessment, it impacts your ability to answer them accurately. • If you can’t use academic vocabulary appropriately when writing responses about text, it impacts your ability to answer the questions sufficiently. You won’t see complex language in emergent or early reading texts, but vocabulary still should be developed and acquired at these ages. Hence, why rich read-alouds with above level text is so important early on.

• What are your thoughts on this research? • What were you thinking of as the data was presented? • How does hearing this research and data make you feel?

Taken from “Rethinking the Word Gap: A new study finds word gap acceptance among teachers has consequences for low-income Latino students” by Jenny Muniz (Oct. 2017) As advocates, we should not abandon efforts to encourage parents to interact more with their young kids; that is a noble and worthwhile ambition. But we do have a responsibility to prevent any future unintended consequences of a well-intentioned movement. We have to fully abandon deficit perspectives and paternalistic strategies that sell a simple solution to marginalized parents. The solution to educational inequity is not as simple as getting low-income parents to talk more to their children; it involves a commitment to supporting educators and dismantling the systemic inequities that disenfranchised communities face.

It is our responsibility as educators to give our children the greatest opportunity for success now and later. With that said, we must address the word gap and do everything in our power to close it in order to allow our students the greatest opportunity for success. We know that the ability to understand use higher level vocabulary directly impacts achievement.

Brainstorm & Discuss: -How do we address the “word gap”? -What are some methods you have used that have worked? -What do you think the research says?

Time Check 1: 35 Professional Reading & Share 1) Read article, 2) record following individually, 3) discuss, & 4) prepare to share with group. • Quick overview • 3 points that were most interesting or important • 2 implications for our practice • 1 question to continue to think about

What are the 3 biggest barriers to becoming a proficient reader? 1. Vocabulary 2. Knowledge 3. Fluency Relationship b/w two Think: How does reading proficiency become linked to socioeconomic status? Source: David Liben (Speech, 2014 Educator Conference – Albany, NY)

Other Key Notes from Liben’s Speech What the Research Says… • Curriculum that broadens child’s knowledge base supports vocabulary development & thus reading comprehension (John Guthrie, 2011) • Experiences can’t give students trips to Japan but can expose to rich topics and content learning in the classroom • Reading complex text is key to expanding vocabulary and broadening knowledge base

#1 Exposure to Reading Complex Text is Key Although we learn new vocabulary from listening and speaking, we learn complex vocabulary through reading. Conversation cannot make up the difference (Frey & Fisher, 2007). Need to give students frequent experiences interacting with complex text Can’t omit complex vocabulary from text because then it would not be complex Let’s talk about what it means to “engage in a productive struggle”. MAKES YOU THINK…. A very intelligent person’s oral vocabulary typically caps out at around 5 th grade level, whereas their vocabulary when applied within reading and writing is much higher.

Students must learn 4000 -5000 words per year to make adequate progress, and it cannot be done through oral language alone. How?

When in your day can you give students the opportunity to engage in independent reading of grade-level texts?

How can you scaffold or support struggling readers in reading complex, grade-level text?

Popular Scaffolds for Close Reading 1. Providing background knowledge before reading 2. Previewing vocabulary or providing a glossary 3. Partner reading, rereading, or reading with a teacher all provide different levels of support 4. Chunking text and discussing/summarizing with partner, group, or teacher

#2 Is it a vocabulary problem or a knowledge problem? Or both? Expanding the Knowledge Base • Engage students in content-based, thematic units of study on a range of topics including rich, engaging texts & other modalities of learning • Opportunities to hear, read, and apply the vocabulary connected to this topic/theme will be repeated

Implicit vs. Explicit Instruction • Through reading experiences Read-alouds Independent reading • Through conversation • Embedded in learning experiences (units) with frequent interaction • Word maps • Finding or constructing definitions • Analyzing word structure (i. e. , prefixes) • Words of the week or of the day • Vocabulary games

Implicit vs. Explicit Instruction • Most new words must be learned through context (Sternberg, 1987) • Words of the week or words in isolation tends to be ineffective • Students do not learn words based on age/grade; they learn them by experience (Beck,

Who may need more explicit instruction to support indirect exposure to new vocabulary? • Students with disabilities • English Language learners

The research ultimately points to two main things we need to do in order to develop vocabulary. • Time spent engaging in independent reading with complex, grade-level text • Engaging in thematic, content-based units of study

Principal Proposal: Time Check – 1: 10 -Based on what you have learned about how to effectively address vocabulary development in children, develop a plan for using this information in our practice as a grade or school. Create a chart with your ideas. (Where does it fit? ) We will present ideas, discuss, and create a document/chart collecting them for review at our PD and Leadership Meetings.

Principal Proposal: Time Check – 1: 05 Include: -Teacher/student “musts” (high leverage) and how/when -Other ideas that could support (not sure they will work but possibly could make difference) – school wide or across grade We will present ideas, discuss, and create a document/chart collecting them for review at our PD and Leadership Meetings.

Resources to Look At While You Draft Your Proposal Access on Google Drive • https: //www. cde. state. co. us/sites/default/files/documents/coloradoliteracy/crf/do wnloads/resources/presentations/pg_crfvocabk_1. pdf • file: ///C: /Users/Teacher/Downloads/0972_Montgomery_Judith. pdf • http: //www. nysed. gov/common/nysed/files/nov-8 -nys_brief-6 -of-8_-summer 2017_-hallmark-4 -vocab_final_2. pdf-a. pdf • http: //www. readingrockets. org/blogs/common-core-classroom/55272

Other Ideas • Previewing or defining vocabulary within context of read-aloud or close reading is helpful • Strategic, repeated use of vocabulary words learned within thematic units or within context reading/discussion assists all students, but especially SWDs • Charts with thematic vocabulary and pictures next to word to support application during a unit • Labeling vocabulary within the room at a primary level

Bringing Closure to Today • Listen to the video – take it in. down anything POWERFUL or anything that you LOVED so you can remember it for your reflection & our closing discussion • Jot • After the video finishes, write a quick reflection: -What stood out? What did you connect with? How does this impact you today and moving forward? How does this connect to what we discussed today?