Vocabulary Strategies and Resources Gambrell, L. B., Morrow, L. M., & Pressley, M. (Eds.). (2007). Best practices in literacy instruction (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Chuck Branch A.G. Cox Middle School

Vocabulary Gambrell et al., (2007) cite research showing that students develop significantly higher levels of comprehension when they have at least six multiple exposures to a word in a variety of contexts. Gambrell, L. B., Morrow, L. M., & Pressley, M. (Eds.). (2007). Best practices in literacy instruction (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Vocabulary Teachers can model word learning through activities such as word of the day, mystery word, or personal word books and dictionaries (Gambrell et al., 2007). Gambrell, L. B., Morrow, L. M., & Pressley, M. (Eds.). (2007). Best practices in literacy instruction (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

http://new.wordsmyth.net http://new.wordsmyth.net Wordsmyth has beginner’s, children’s, and advanced dictionaries. Teachers can easily make glossaries for words they would like to teach or review. The site also gives synonyms and antonyms for troublesome vocabulary words. For words that are difficult to pronounce, the real audio pronunciations are helpful. There is a Word of the Week feature as well as a Glossary of the Week. Vocabulary cloze activities can be created in minutes, and there are numerous other vocabulary activities. http://new.wordsmyth.net

http://www.vocabulary.com http://www.vocabulary.com Vocabulary.com offers numerous features including the following: -Featured Vocabulary Lists, -Current Events Vocabulary, and -Vocabulary Word of the Day.

Vocabulary Vocabulary assessment should incorporate activities such as knowledge ratings, word walls, and vocabulary charts (Gambrell et al., 2007).

Knowledge Ratings Laura Robb (2006) suggests the INSERT method to help students pinpoint confusing parts of texts. Robb, L. (2006). Teaching reading: A complete resource for grades 4 and up. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. The INSERT knowledge rating system can help teachers assess students’ knowledge of words.

Knowledge Ratings: INSERT Interactive Notation System for Effective Reading and Thinking a = I agree r = I disagree + = That’s new s = I don’t understand * = That’s important *! = That’s awesome! To model this strategy, have students take the following steps: >Choose a rough paragraph from a current text. >Have students use the INSERT method by thinking aloud to one another. >Invite students to share Robb, L. (2006). Teaching reading: A complete resource for grades 4 and up. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Word Chart http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1042/game_chart.pdf Make-a-Word Game Chart has students interact with several websites to find word meanings for the prefixes, root words, and suffixes. The websites are listed below: http://www.betterendings.org/homeschool/words/root%20words.htm http://www.spelling.hemscott.net/prefix1.html http://www.spelling.hemscott.net/suffix1.html Online Etymology Dictionary: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php

Other Vocabulary Resources

http://www.freerice.com http://www.freerice.com FreeRice.com provides interactive vocabulary activities. For every correct answer, FreeRice.com donates ten grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. As students answer correctly, their virtual bowl of rice continues to increase. http://www.freerice.com

http://www.web-books.com/Language/Inter0/English.htm Interactive English Lessons can be especially helpful for ELLs. The following slides show examples of the main activities. Writing Test: Students choose from several pictures. They pick the picture that matches the writing. Basic Lesson: Student click the pictures to hear the pronunciation. Listening Test: Students choose the picture that matches the pronunciation. http://www.web-books.com/Language/Inter0/English.htm

Interactive English Lessons http://www.web-books.com/Language/Inter0/English.htm Writing Test: Students choose from several pictures. They pick the picture that matches the writing.

Interactive English Lessons http://www.web-books.com/Language/Inter0/English.htm Basic Lesson: Student click the pictures to hear the pronunciation.

Interactive English Lessons http://www.web-books.com/Language/Inter0/English.htm Listening Test: Students choose the picture that matches the pronunciation.

http://www.manythings.org http://www.manythings.org ManyThings.org provides numerous helpful resources for ELLs. The following slides share some examples.

http://www.manythings.org http://www.manythings.org The students listens to the practice sentences using both numbers. In the quiz sentence, the students must choose which word is being read aloud.

http://www.manythings.org http://www.manythings.org Students can click on the links, and the selections will be read aloud.

(Students can hear words pronounced.) Word Resources http://www.onelook.com http://dictionary.reference.com http://www.merriam-webster.com (Students can hear words pronounced.) http://thesaurus.com http://dictionary.cambridge.org