Meaning Vocabulary Ch. 6 Closely related to comprehension

Interactive view of reading: Involves identifying words automatically and attaching background knowledge to construct meaning. Using structural features and syntax to complete meaning.

Meaning vocabulary Word meanings are learned through vicarious experiences, reading, viewing films. Meaning vocabulary closely reflects the real life and vicarious experiences. Understanding complex meaning of words.

Vocabulary Growth Definitional knowledge-word knowledge based on definition (coming from a dictionary) Contextual knowledge is word meaning coming from context (gist of the meaning). Knowing a meaning at a simple level has limited potential use. Both of these degrees of knowledge can be part of an effective program. Not all or nothing!

Tennyson and Cocchiarella: Two phases of learning concepts. 11. Formation of concepts in relationship to attributes. (prototypes) – May over generalize or under generalize: all animals in the field are cows. 2. Classification skills of generalizing between newly encountered instances of associated concepts. –Child can tell the difference between cows and horses.

Teacher directed Vocabulary Instruction Teaching vocabulary vs. incidental learning of vocabulary. These are not competing philosophies. Students must be actively involved in discussion of words. Students must encounter the words in meaningful text in real stories that are functionally important within a content area. –Word walls with content vocabulary are a good method for review and repetition.

Expanding Vocabularies 1. Choose words for vocabulary instruction that come from contextual reading. 2. Use direct vocabulary instruction to make mental pictures, etc. 3. Use analogies, characteristic, anything to tag new meaning to old meaning. Give different opportunities to see these words. Use structural analysis

Semantic Mapping Brain Research Visual organizers help to tag new meaning to old word. Child understands and remembers the relationships between the words. Students categorize the new word with similar words. Can be used for preteaching vital concepts of the lesson.

Procedure for Semantic Mapping Select the target word from a topic Write the word on the chart Brainstorm words that are related to this word. Group the words into categories Add more essential words to the categories as they come to mind.

Webbing Shows words and their connections. Present the entire web without the central word. Use this to establish background knowledge or to summarize the lesson. Design a web for overused words such as said. This web will offer choices of words when students are writing.

described yelled joked whispered shouted

Semantic Features Analysis Teaching relationships among words. Using a grid. Types go on the left. Qualifying descriptors go across the top. Answer each type to see if the descriptors apply. Example: p/ 219 Is an algae eater located at the bottom, middle or top ? Put a + in the appropriate box. This technique builds bridges from old to new words.

Word Sorts: Give students several words that are related and ask them to sort the words into categories. Word associations: Connect new words to familiar ones. Use common suffixes, prefixes.

Contextual approaches Modeling_the teacher talks out loud about how she arrives at the meaning using context and structural knowledge.If the sentence doesn’t give clues, read further. Different meanings for the same word (polysemous words) often interfere with contextual meaning. Homonyms sound alike but are spelled differently. Young readers confuse them. Lots of experience with language and print eliminate this problem.

Language Based Approaches Encouraging free reading helps to build vocabulary. Have students listen to good stories on tape. Predictable books have much repetition. Big books, poetry, story telling and creative dramatics foster enjoyment of reading.

Poetry Writing Word choice is vital. Economy of words helps to focus on meaning. Formula poems make writing poetry effortless. Diamante: Line 1 noun, line 2 two adjectives, line 3 3 participles (ing words). Line 4 4 nouns or phrases, line 5 3 participles noting change, line 6 2 adjectives. Line 7 contrasting noun.

Writing Journals, Diaries, and Response Journals Students internalize meanings when they write.They write best with a specific audience. If the audience is the teacher, then the teacher should respond with a comment or question. Student compiled dictionaries. Could have pictures for young readers and complete with graphs, charts, and examples for content reading. Have the students make their dictionary very complete by allowing them to use then to answer quizzes over the topic. After the quiz, have them add and amend so they will be correct for studying for the test.

Summary Students add to their vocabularies by refining word knowledge. Life experiences, and print experiences help Student need both direct instruction and wide reading opportunities for vocabulary growth. 1. Relate new words to familiar ones. 2. Provide opportunities to encounter new words. 3. Focus on key words for new concepts. Semantic mapping, word mapping, webbing, and semantic features analysis are procedures for learning content words.