Action Research: Vocabulary 2nd grade Ashley Lyon Action Research: Vocabulary 2nd grade

Research Question What are the most effective strategies for broadening and deepening students knowledge of vocabulary?

Initial Meeting with Teacher Mrs. Phieffer Concentrate on higher more advanced students Process of selecting students (four student) Greatest need  vocabulary Pull out during silent reading time Challenge Engage Interest

Research Regarding Best Practice 1. Creating an interest in words (Beck, 2002) A. Word Consciousness- enjoyment in words and discovering the power they hold. - Wide reading and extensive writing - Reading book call attention to authors use of words (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008) B. Investigate words in conversation and during the day to day C. Create a fascination with word relationships (Sweeny & Mason, 2011 ) 2. Positives for expanding students vocabulary A. “Great Predictor” B. Fluency C. Beneficial for all areas (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008) D. Increased Comprehension (Beck, 2002)

Research Regarding Best Practice Wisely selecting words - Meaningful - Content/domain related (DeCesear, 2014) - Word walls (Sweeny & Mason, 2011) - Listening, speaking, reading, and writing vocabulary (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008) Introduce/ Preteach words - Kid friendly definition - Clear expectation of word knowledge Instruction - Multidimensional - Intentional (Sweeny & Mason, 2011) Expand definition - Provide experiences - Multitude of examples - Non examples

Research Regarding Best Practice Instruction 1. Indirect vs. Direct - Direct explicitly - Indirect conversations, everyday experiences, and reading (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008) 2. Presentation - Lively & enthusiastic approach (Beck, 2002) - Rote teaching will not cut it Opportunities with words - BINGO - Drawing Pictures - Semantic word map (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008)

Research Regarding Best Practice Connections with vocabulary words - Word Webs - Discussion - Semantic Maps - Concept Maps - Frayer Model (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008) Non-linguistic examples Self to text connections (Beck, 2002)

Research Regarding Best Practice Catching at Risk Student - Tier 1 instruction whole class and Tier 2 small group intervention over time improvement (Sweeny & Mason, 2011) Screening assessment - Knowledge based rating scale (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008) Diagnostic assessments - Flash cards

Progress Monitoring & Interest Inventory Present Participated Learned

First Assessment Starting place Used randomly selected 8 words from the list of expected second grade words.

Instructional Changes Thoughts after knowledge rating scale - Process of selecting words - Narrow focus - Starting place - Assist where needed

Opening Assessment Separate by words known and unknown Laid out all card and picked the 25 most frequent Student J  2 Student C  4 Student M  3 Student D  8 2nd Grade Vocabulary Flash card- 139 words

Bingo Example Played multiple games Experience manipulating and practice knowing words through engaging activity.

Word Webs Enemy one of the words they had the hardest time with Time consuming Beneficial

Midpoint Assessment Student J  17 Student C  20 Student M  23 Student D  25

Cloze passage Vocabulary words in context Experience their words in literature. Using context

Final Assessment Student J  23 Student C  25 Student M  24 Student D  25

Graph Results

Data Conclusions Largest improvement from opening to midpoint Collectively students had above a 92% accuracy on the final assessment Student J  Showed significant growth/ not complete mastery of all words Student C  Made improvement showed mastery Student M  Did not improve greatly from midpoint to final/ absent Student D  Midpoint and final assessment student knew all words with complete accuracy

Reflection Conducting this research and study again I would… - Include more literature - Selecting words Proven to improve students learning best practice  multidimensional and intentional (Sweeny & Mason, 2011) Rewarding Flexible Vocabulary is not rote teaching Ex: Light bulb Students desire to learn Advice for the future?

Work Cited Beck, I., & McKeown, M. (2002). Rationale For Robust Vocab Instruction. In Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (Second ed., pp. 1-19). New York: Guilford Press. DeCesare, A. (Director) (2014, November 13). Rev up your Center Time Using Rigor & Relevance, Complex Literacy and Powerful Instruction. Alabama Reading Association. Lecture conducted from, Birmingham  Reutzel, D., & Cooter, R. (2008). Increasing Reading Vocabulary. In Teaching children to read: The teacher makes the difference (6th ed., pp. 214-248). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. Sweeny, S. & Mason, P. (2011). Prepared by the Studies & Research Committee of the Massachusetts Reading Association. In Research-based Practices in Vocabulary Instruction: An Analysis of What Works in Grades PreK-12(pp. 1-15). Templeton, S., & Bear, D. (2009). Vocabulary Assessment and Organization. In Vocabulary their way: Word study with middle and secondary students (pp. 235-249). Allyn & Bacon.