Vocabulary

Vocabulary is kind of a big deal and there is a lot of conflict about how best to approach it. Ultimately it seems that there needs to be a combination of teacher-guided instruction and student discovery of words in context. In many of your classes they have words that they need to know and I am sure that we all approach that differently. However, I would suggest that having some area where students are guided by the teacher in learning the words, building relationships between the words and other words, etc paired with the students using those words in there text reading is probably essential to having kids learn and maintain those words for future use.

I have books with strategies and practices for teaching vocabulary. Some of them are time consuming and possibly more work than even the kids need to do. So, I am posting here some ideas that I have seen be pretty effective time and again while not weighing down everything else that needs to be done.

Some ideas:


 * This [[file:Concept Definition Map.doc]] is actually sort of related to identifying the main idea, but I am including it here because sometime the important words are also the main idea of what the students are learning. It will ask them to identify characteristics, properties, and examples that relate to the word. Possibly not practical if you are addressing a list of words.


 * Contextual Redefinition is a practice that we all engage in. Out of context we see words that we don't know and make mini-predictions about what they mean. When we see the word in context, we are forced to replace the old meaning with this new one. Through the practice students are not only more likely to remember the meaning of the words but are also building an important communication skill called contextual redefinition.


 * The Frayer Model is probably an organizer that you have seen before. In some versions it includes pretty picture and other graphic representations of the words being studied. At its most basic form, though, it is simply a quartered box in which students identify the relationships of a word to connect it to their existing schema. First, a simple explanation of the [[file:Frayer Model.doc]] Then an oversized[[file:FrayerModel.pdf]]example. Finally an example that could be used for an entire unit[[file:FRayerhandout.doc]].


 * [[file:Listgrouplabel.doc]] cool pre-reading strategy more about the reading than any particular vocabulary, but it does force students to use words.


 * [[file:Word analogies.doc]] are an oldie, but a goodie. Few things make us really think about words as ideas and concepts like analogies. If you have the stomach for it, use these for vocabulary and concepts. Be prepared, though, your students may have a hard time at first, so cut them some slack along the way.

As I said I have a lot more locked away in books and other resources. So, if none of these seem like a good fit, let me know and I will find you something.