Chapter 11: Best Practices in Oral Vocabulary Instruction Deborah Murillo RDG 692 September 19, 2016

Guiding Questions How can we accelerate children’s oral vocabulary development in the early years of instruction? What are the most beneficial instructional principles to support oral vocabulary development?

Agenda Research Instruction

30 Million Word Catastrophe 42 Families Observed language interactions of 1 to 3 year olds in their homes every month for 2+ years Observed families from affluence, middle and working-class, and poverty

The Research Base for Teaching Oral Vocabulary Instruction

The Research Says… Explicit selection of words Opportunities to give meaning Practice Review Strategies to determine children’s progress in word learning (p. 193) Which interventions are effective, for whom, and under what conditions? It turns out that certain pedagogical features support OL more than others.

Two Different Views Coyne and Colleagues Beck and McKeown Introduce words before a story Build word consciousness Provide child-friendly definitions “Rich instruction” Words are introduced in context first and then definitions are offered Although varying in approach, each of these programs provides explicit definitions or descriptions of target words. Words that are taught need intentional stopping Implicit Instruction: might include hearing a word in an activity Programs that use explicit and implicit instruction are more effective than using just one

Word Consciousness

Which Words? Unfamiliar words in a story? No. Breadth of work knowledge (Biemiller, 2011) High utility (Beck and Mckeown, 2007) Focusing on state standards in four content areas (Neuman et al., 2011)

Building Oral Vocabulary Instruction into the Early Literacy Classroom

Word Selection Teach word meaning and concepts together Make sure the words you teach are challenging Teach many words if vocabulary instruction is to enhance childrens word knowledge it needs to produce knowledge of high utility for additional learning p 194 receptive vocab is much larger than productive vocab (NRP) children need active engagement and multiple repititions in multiple setting The only way for young children to be exposed to a new word is if an adult says it or reads it aloud (198)

Gradient Select a pair of polar opposite words Generate at least five synonyms for each of the opposite words Arrange the words in a way that makes a bridge from one opposite word to the other Have students discuss their rationale http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/semantic_gradients

Semantic Mapping Create meaningful structures of words Allows for additional learning https://www.pinterest.com/pin/60 728294948100352/ It is generally believed that receptive vocabulary is much larger than productive vocabulary <NRP, 2000. Another difficulty with the measurement of vocabulary is that interventions teach only a relatively small number of words, yet standardized assessments are designed to evaluate a broader cross-section of vocabulary (not equal).

List-Label-Group See the research that supports this strategy Select a concept Students brainstorm words related to the topic Divide class into small groups and have them place word into categories Label the groups of words http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/list_group_label See the research that supports this strategy Lenski, S. D., Wham, M. A., & Johns, J. L. (1999). Reading and learning strategies for middle and high school students. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. Taba, H. (1967).Teacher's handbook for elementary social studies. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Tierney, R.J., & Readence, J.E. (2000). Reading strategies and practices: A compendium (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Explicit Instruction Use pictures Use Media Build categorical knowledge Relate words to key concepts or “Big Ideas” repeat connect to something kids know pictures videos can help kids visualize what the word is knowledge networks link new words to the big ideas that are being taught (life cycle)

Student Friendly Pictures

Practice and Review Interactive read-alouds Every pupil response techniques “Brains On” Small group activities Picture sorts with explanations Discovery centers Developmental writing brain on: children pantomime growing from a seed to a plant discovery centers: explore ideas related to their learning in a center developmental writing: draw and write about learning

Paired Texts Fiction Nonfiction

Turn and Talk Purposeful Question Stems Focused on specific information Develop oral language

Picture Sorts name pictures and sort them into different categories and articulate the reasoning

Progress Monitoring Brief anecdotal notes Keep track of a list of vocabulary words being taught Developmental writing (“drite) Helps to tailor instruction

What it should look like Vocabulary assessments should match the instructional goal Assess for what you want to know about your students’ learning If straightforward knowledge is the goal, then multiple choice items can be appropriate If deeper knowledge is the goal, then more complex formats may be necessary Bringing Words to Life Bringing Words to Life When considering what kinds of assessments are appropriate, it is important to first consider the kind of learning that is the goal. The type of assessment selected will differ if, for example , you want to know whether students have developed an initial association to a word versus deep understanding that will serve students’ comprehension and composition.

References Allen, S., & Lane, H. (2010). The vocabulary-rich classroom: Modeling sophisticated word use to promote word consciousness and vocabulary growth. The Reading Teacher, 65(5). 362-370. DOI: 10.1598/RT.63.5.2. Barone, D., & Mallette, M. (2013). Best practice in early literacy instruction. New York: The Guilford Press. Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing Words to Life. New York: Guilford Press. Hart, B., & Risley, T. (2003). The early catastrophe: The 20 million word gap by age 3. American Educator. 4-9. Reading Rockets vocabulary development is foundational for learning to read. it is the entry to concepts and comprehension. we cannot leave it to chance. engage children in planned sequential instruction giving them the opportunity to discuss describe and develop word knowledge and concepts they will need to be successful when they begin to read complex text.