Vocabulary & Reading Comprehension Helping students understand By Vicki Boman

Goals To explain how vocabulary affects reading comprehension and fluency To help teachers identify ways they can offer more access to vocabulary in their classroom

References  Hirsch, Jr. E.D.(2003, Spring) Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge-of Words and the World: Scientific Insights into the Fourth-Grade Slump and Stagnant Reading Comprehension. American Educator. American Federation of Teachers.  Lehr, F., Osbourne, J. & Dr. Hiebert, E. (2004). A Focus on Vocabulary.  Blachowicz, C. & Fischer, P. (2004). Vocabulary Lessons. Educational Leadership. Vol. 61 (6), p  Juel, C. & Defies, R. (2004). Making Words Stick. Educational Leadership. Vol. 61(6), p

Schedule Welcome and brief introduction (1 min) Ice breaker (5 mins) - Put a text on the screen and read it out loud to the group. The text will include several non-sense words that will make it hard for the group to understand the story. After ask questions about the story. Then have the group talk about why they could not understand the text. Define vocabulary and its importance in reading comprehension (2-3 minutes) Show video “Vocabulary: Building Excitement about Words” __Building_Excitement_about_Words and brief discussion of what did you notice in the video (7 minutes) __Building_Excitement_about_Words Brainstorm and present ways to include vocabulary in your classroom and lessons (10 minutes) Introduce the STAR strategy from Blachowicz & Fischer: select (the best words), teach (definition, context, usage), activate (use in class discussions), revisit (games, writing, review). (5 minutes) Break into groups and give each group a word that they need to present to the rest of the groups. They can invent a game, song or activity to reinforce the word. (15 minutes)

Schedule Cont. Summary and questions (5 minutes) Give everyone a paper to write 1 thing they will do in the next week to add more vocabulary in their lessons, 1 thing they want to do in one month and one thing they want to do in 1 year (3 minutes) Evaluation form for the workshop in the format of 2 stars and 1 wish

Details  The workshop should be offered to no more than teachers at a time so that there is enough time for discussion and participations  They should be seated at round tables to make it easier to talk  The room will need to be equipped with a screen, projector, speakers, and internet  Coffee/tea and fruit will be available as a light snack  A one-page (double-sided) handout will be distributed including a reading list and vocabulary tips

Strategies Take Home Reading Include a write up about the importance of vocabulary in the weekly or monthly newsletter for parents Along with the nightly take home reading books, include a list of vocabulary for parents to review with their child. These will be words found in the book they will read. For children that do not have access to an adult that can go over the vocabulary or help them read, send home an audio version with the book and introduce the vocabulary before the story begins. Solicit donations of old tape recorders, cd players or mp3 players that you can use for children that don’t have an electronic device they can use at home.