1. Plan direct instruction for the Vocabulary Terms of instruction using Marzano’s 6-Step Process.

2. Six Steps to Building Academic Vocabulary
Robert J. Marzano & Debra J. Pickering, 2005

3. The six-step process comes from the book Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher’s Manual

4. Direct Vocabulary Instruction Works! NO Vocabulary Instruction =
(Marzano & Pickering, 2005)
NO Vocabulary
Instruction =
pretend group is at
50th Percentile
12 Point Gain with a Little
Vocabulary Instruction =
62nd Percentile
Top
17%!
Explain that the research around direct, engaging vocabulary instruction increased student achievement.
Let’s say that group of students receives NO vocabulary instruction and they score at the 50th percentile. That means ½ the students taking the exam did worse and ½ the students did better. They are in the middle of the achievement “road.”
With just LITTLE vocabulary instruction, achievement has been improved by 12 percentile points.
However, with direct, engaging vocabulary instruction, student achievement has been improved by 33 percentile points!!!
Therefore, it is totally WORTH OUR TIME to directly teach those high yield, key vocabulary terms.
33 Point Gain with Academic
Vocabulary Instruction =
83rd Percentile

5. Building Academic Vocabulary
Most students do not just pick vocabulary up automatically.
Vocabulary MUST be taught!
Marzano’s Six-Step Process provides a process for addressing key academic vocabulary that is engaging and effective.
(Marzano & Pickering, 2005)

6. Term/Concept: __________________________ My Understanding: 1 2 3 4
Adapted from Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher’s Manual, by Marzano & Pickering, 2005
Term/Concept: __________________________
My Understanding:
Restate Description:
Illustrate:
Deeper Understanding:
This vocabulary template has been adapted from the Marzano vocabulary student notebook, but teachers can use whatever vocabulary cards, journals, notecards, or systems they already have in place as long as they include all 6 steps.

7. Building Academic Vocabulary
Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
Marzano tells us dictionary definitions are too complicated, too brief, and often cause more confusion than assistance to understanding. Instead, he suggests that we start with a description, as story, an example of the real thing in easy-to-understand language.
Describe

8. Think of the term/concept of “research-based strategy.”
Building Academic Vocabulary
Think of the term/concept of “research-based strategy.”

9. Building Academic Vocabulary
Non-example
Students, using the NCLB Guidance Document, find the definition of the concept “research-based strategy.” Copy the pronunciation and the full definition.
Old School
Method!
(Marzano & Pickering, 2005)

10. No Child Left Behind Guidance
“Research that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs" (NCLB, 2002).
Employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;
Involves rigorous data analysis that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions;
Relies on measurements of observational methods that provide valid data across evaluators and observers, and across multiple measurements and observations; and
Is accepted by peer reviewed journals or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparatively rigorous, objective, scientific review.
This is a great example of the old-school method. Some student would copy this in 2 minutes, and others would not be finished in 30 minutes…. Understanding very little.

11. Let me tell a story about “research-based strategies.
Building Academic Vocabulary
Let me tell a story about “research-based strategies.
Here’s a better example.

12. Assessment conducted; student understanding verified
Direct teach, teacher explanation, teacher modeling, expertise shared, teacher clarification
Assessment conducted; student understanding verified
Pretend these are your students.
We do a pretty good job of direct teaching, modeling, and sharing our expertise.
We also do a pretty good job of figuring out who understands and who does not understand.
Some students can fly across the canyon and prove they understand the material perfectly.
Others try to make that jump and fall into the pit of misunderstanding.

13. Assessment conducted, student understanding verified
Additional step #1, re-teach, tutorials, more direct instruction, more teacher explanation, additional practice opportunities
Direct teach, teacher explanation, teacher modeling, expertise shared, teacher clarification
Assessment conducted, student understanding verified
What do we usually do when kids don’t “get it?”
We do more of step one: more tutorial, more direct instruction, more practice. Sometimes we think if we say the SAME THING just LOUDER and SLOWER, the kids should understand the content, but often students make little or no progress.
This is driving us all crazy!!!!

14. Step 3. Assessment conducted, student understanding verified
Research-based
Strategies
Step Direct teach, teacher explanation, teacher modeling, expertise shared, teacher clarification
Step Assessment conducted, student understanding verified
Step 2. (examples)
Direct Vocabulary Instruction
Similarities & Differences
Cooperative Learning
Nonlinguistic Representations
Summarization Strategies
What if instead of making the students jump the cliff to prove they understand, we built them a bridge?
This bridge is kind of what research-based strategies do. They help bridge our instruction to the assessment of student learning, because we are providing students with opportunities to actually process and understand the content through engaging, proven, tried and true strategies.
A few examples of research-based strategies from Marzano’s Classroom instruction that Works: Direct Vocabulary Instruction, Identifying Similarities & Differences, Cooperative Learning, Nonlinguistic Representations, Summarization Strategies.
When we do this, MANY more students can cross that bridge and prove they understand the material.
We’ll still have some who fall into the pit, but digging a 2 or 3 out of the pit is much easier than diffing 17 out of the pit!

15. Step 3. Assessment conducted, student understanding verified
Research-based
Strategies
Step Direct teach, teacher explanation, teacher modeling, expertise shared, teacher clarification
Step Assessment conducted, student understanding verified
Step 2. (examples)
Direct Vocabulary Instruction
Similarities & Differences
Cooperative Learning
Nonlinguistic Representations
Summarization Strategies
This makes us very happy… and the students!

16. No Child Left Behind Guidance
“Research that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs" (NCLB, 2002).
Employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;
Involves rigorous data analysis that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions;
Relies on measurements of observational methods that provide valid data across evaluators and observers, and across multiple measurements and observations; and
Is accepted by peer reviewed journals or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparatively rigorous, objective, scientific review.
Based on observation or experiment
Data proves the strategies works
Multiple measurements
Let’s use a summarization strategy to further describe “research-based strategies.”
There are 4 criteria for a strategy being research-based:
Data is based on observation or experiment
Data proves the strategies work
Data is based on multiple measures an experiments
Strategy has been peer reviewed and is not just reviewed by the person trying to “sell” the strategy.
Peer reviewed

17. Write the term “research-based strategy”
Adapted from Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher’s Manual, by Marzano & Pickering, 2005
Term/Concept: __________________________
My Understanding:
Restate Description:
Illustrate:
Deeper Understanding:
Research-based Strategies