Jacqueline Ingram & Jacquelyn Rust – Sam Houston State University Demonstrating the importance of vocabulary engagement to pre-service Content area teachers Jacqueline Ingram & Jacquelyn Rust – Sam Houston State University TCTELA 2015

How can I convey this to Pre-service Teachers? Teaching and learning words well involves multiple opportunities to develop word meanings and learn how words are conceptually related within the subject being studied. Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011 How was vocabulary presented to you in your Math, Science, and Social Studies classes? Hands on Cooperative Visual Prior knowledge (structural analysis & morphemes) Unknown vocabulary Develop concepts Concept relationships Use/apply words in context Look up Define Memorize Use in a Sentence

Challenges faced by Pre-Service Content Teachers in Teaching Vocabulary Level of knowledge of strategies to teach vocabulary Level of literacy knowledge within their content area Time School, district, and state expectations “Isn’t teaching vocabulary the ELAR teacher’s job?” Others?

Social Constructivism Lev Vygotsky (1978) Learning is social Activate prior knowledge Provide supporting structures for learning

Research says… Blachowicz & Fisher (2000): Students should be active in developing their understanding of words and ways to learn them. Students should personalize word learning. Students should be immersed in words. Students should build on multiple sources of information to learn new words through repeated exposure. (p.504)

Research says… Johnson & Johnson (1999) - Cooperative learning outcomes include: retention application and transfer of principles and concepts verbal development problem-solving creativity divergent thinking productive controversy awareness and utilization of individual capabilities the ability to understand and take on others’ perspectives. Marzano (2009) – Use or create picture associations for concepts and definitions Nagy (1988) – Concepts are best learned through direct, concrete, and purposeful experiences Fisher & Frey (2014) – Prefixes, morphology, fluency, prosody, expression, context clues

Support for Teaching Content Specific Vocabulary Receptive Vocabulary-listening and reading Expressive Vocabulary-speaking and writing 3 Types of Vocabulary General- words used in everyday language (confirm, miscellaneous, determination) Content-Specific- specific meaning in content area (foot/math, culture/biology, current/science) Technical- used only in certain disciplines (iambic pentameter/poetry, dyslexia/reading, isotherm/science)

Support for Teaching Content Specific Vocabulary cont’d “Content area teachers cannot leave development of vocabulary to chance” (Greenwood, 2002; p. 258). “Students shouldn’t be left to their own devices or subjected to the vagaries of a look up-and-define strategy as their only access to understanding the language of an academic discipline” (Vacca & Vacca, 2011; p. 239)

Engaging Pre-Service Teachers “It’s how someone uses the strategy that determines whether it produces great results, mediocre results, or no results at all”(Marzano, 2009). Teach pre-service teachers several ways to teach a strategy. Search and read studies that show a gain in student achievement. Experiment with the strategies and see how it works in a given setting. Teach pre-service teachers through activities and strategies.

Learning Vocabulary Processes with Legos

Vocabulary Development Debrief Lego Activity Word Sort Visual Representation Cooperative Interaction Vocabulary Development Prior knowledge & Forming concepts Concept relationships & Context Applying newly learned vocabulary

References Blachowicz, C. L. Z., & Fisher, P. (2000). Vocabulary processes. In M. L. Kami, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.). Handbook of reading research (Vol. III, pp. 503-523). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2014). Content area vocabulary learning. The Reading Teacher, 67, 594- 599. doi: 10.1002/trtr.1258 Greenwood, S. C. (2002). Making words matter: Vocabulary study in the content areas. The Clearing House, 75, 258-263. Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1999). Making cooperative learning work. Theory to Practice, 38, 67-73. Kane, S. (2011). Literacy and learning in the content areas. Scottsdale, AZ: Holcomb Hathway. Marzano, R. (2009). Six steps to better vocabulary instruction. Teaching for 21st Century, 67, 83-84. Nagy, W. E. (1988). Teaching vocabulary to improve reading comprehension. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. L., & Mraz, M. (2011). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mental development of children and the process of learning. In M. Cole, V. John- Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds. and Trans.), Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.