1. How Words Get Learned and Stay Learned
Amy Benjamin

10. William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by
Explicit Instruction
“Decent Exposure” (
Forms:
N: usurper, usurpation
V: usurp, usurps
usurped, usurping
Adj: 00 Adv: 00
Syn: commandeer,
appropriate
Ant: yield, surrender
usurp:
seize political power undeservedly
William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
--Lewis Carroll
the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who
wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to
and conquest
The history of the present King of Great Britain is
The Declaration of Independence
--Thomas Jefferson, et. al.
a history of repeated injuries and
This is a format that I devised. I call it “Decent Exposure” and you can find 100 of these models on my website, What we’re doing is marching the target word out in four different literary contexts. So the students are getting not only a full view of the word, but also model sentences and a little bit of cultural literacy on a wide range of literature.
Let’s look at another one.
The ghosts were returning; they filled Italy, they
were even
the places she had known
as a child.
A Room with a View
--E.M. Forster
usurpations.
This was a shocking thing; that the slime of the pit
Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
--Robert Louis Stevenson
seemed to utter cries and voices; that the amorphous
dust gesticulated and sinned; that what was dead,
and had no shape, should
the offices of life.
usurping
usurpation
usurp
Frequency: 658

13. Explicit
Implicit

14. Exceed Brief Definitions
Examples
Etymology
Visuals
Synonyms, near-synonyms
Morphology (word forms)
Stories

15. nostalgia Explicit Teaching: Etymology Illuminates Meaning algia: pain
neuralgia
Gr: nostos: return home
Visuals illuminate meaning

16. Explicit Teaching: Teaching morphology facilitates use
nostalgia, nostalgic
Have you ever felt nostalgic for elementary school?
Teaching collocation facilitates use:
I’m nostalgic for…
I’m nostalgic about…
feel nostalgic….
Connecting to related words facilitates use:
sentimental, memories, forgotten, reminds me of, evokative,
deja vu

18. Engagement

19. 13 Words
PRE
VERSE DE
SCRIBE
CON
TRANS RE
PORT
GRESSIVE
VERT A

20. Answers: prescribe ascribe describe report deport avert transport
revert
regressive
convert
converse
retract
contract
detract
You can find more of these games on my website. They are free and ready to use.

21. How Words Get Learned and Stay Learned

22. Getting to Know the Words We Meet in Reading:
The word I would like to get to know is:
Dictionary Definition:
(Use vocabulary.com, preferably)
My guess:
Visual:
Draw a very quick picture:
Definition in my own words:
Complete sentence of at least 10 words:
Must contain an action verb and a visual image.

23. Incidental
Exposure
Explicit
Instruction
Latin Word
Roots

25. Latin Root:
specere: to see
SPEC, SPIC- to see

26. Sp. Cognates: espectador, inspeccionar, respeto Latin Root
specere: to see
SPEC, SPIC- to see
subset 2: aspect
subset 1: specify
spectator, spectacular, spectacle
inspect, inspector, inspection
respect, disrespect
suspect, suspicion, suspicious
spectrum
aspect
prospect, prospector
perspective, retrospect
Sp. Cognates:
espectador,
inspeccionar,
respeto

27. Swiss cheese soup, the soup de jour, Is chronically elusive.
Attempts to twist it on a spoon
Have proven inconclusive.
Swiss cheese soup is slimy goop.
Its contents are elastic.
It consists of bacon bits,
And tastes like melted plastic.
The slurping up of Swiss cheese soup
Results in much chagrin.
One cannot help but notice
Stubborn strands around one’s chin.
The act of eating Swiss cheese soup
Is whimsical and scary.
It’s not for the fastidious
And not for the unwary.

28. Swiss cheese soup, the soup de jour, Is chronically elusive.
Attempts to twist it on a spoon
Have proven inconclusive.
Swiss cheese soup is slimy goop.
Its contents are elastic.
It consists of bacon bits,
And tastes like melted plastic.
The slurping up of Swiss cheese soup
Results in much chagrin.
One cannot help but notice
Stubborn strands around one’s chin.
The act of eating Swiss cheese soup
Is whimsical and scary.
It’s not for the fastidious
And not for the unwary.

29. Knowing a word is not an “all or nothing” thing.
Strangers?
Friends?
Acquaintances?
Knowing a word is like knowing a person. Not an all-or-nothing thing.
Some words are strangers, meaning that
they are completely unfamiliar. Others
are acquaintances, meaning that we have
some familiarity with them. Others are
friends, meaning that we know them and
use them. <go to chat>
How does a word acquaintance become a word friend?
Three ways: (same as a person goes from being an
acquaintance to being a friend)
1. Spend time (repeated exposure)
2. Get to know (word components: prefixes, roots)
3. Have fun: word games and puzzles
fastidious
chagrin
inconclusive
elusive
soup du jour
elastic

30. Should I spend time teaching this word explicitly?
inconclusive
unwary
fastidious
Three Questions:
How useful is this word? Will students be likely to encounter it again
soon? Is it necessary for comprehension?
Will teaching this word explicitly equip the students with word-learning
skills that can be applied to other words?
3. Am I enthusiastic about this word? Can I make it interesting?
To comprehend text, the reader needs to know 95% of the words.
Next, we’re going to look at two models for explicit instruction that results in durable learning of the target word.

31. inconclusive
unwary
fastidious
wary
conclusive

32. Morphology Chart NOUNS: VERBS: ADJECTIVES: ADVERBS:
They will fit into this frame: The_____.
VERBS:
They will fit into this frame: To____ or
Can____
ADJECTIVES:
They will fit into this frame:
The ________truck
ADVERBS:
They will fit into this frame:
Do it ___________.
Nouns answer the question: What? or Who?
Verbs answer the question: What is it doing, having, feeling, or being?
Adjectives answer the question: What kind? (They may also answer the questions Which one? and
How many? but those kinds of adjectives do not fit into
the frame of The______truck.
Adverbs answer any of these questions: Where? When? Why? To what extent? How?

33. Recommendations for Teaching
Vocabulary Tricycle
AWL (Academic Word List):
Recommendations for Teaching
Vocabulary Thoroughly and Effectively
Literary Words:
Simply use the words in
the subset that your school
will be focussing on for a
two-week period (see calendar).
Use the words repeatedly, within an
understandable context, in your
speech, written directions
and notes on the board.
2. “Soup de Jour”: Present students
with a handful of words and have
them write sentences about recent
learning (ex., reading). This works
well when students work together
and a few students read their
sentences aloud to the class.
3. “Upgrades”: When students have
rough drafts handy, direct their
attention to the subset and have
them replace one or two words
in their rough draft, thus upgrading
their diction. Share with class.
4. vocabulary.com has all of the
subsets pre-loaded, searchable
as “Academic Word List Subset 1,”
et. al. (Don’t forget the quotation
marks when doing the search.”
Students can practice independently.
Type a: Literary Terms
(metaphor, point of view,
alliteration, et. al.)
Type B: Words Encountered in Literature
(“Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket
of whitewash and a long-handled brush.
He surveyed the fence, and all gladness
left him and a deep melancholy settled down
upon his spirit.”)
These “big wheel” words and phrases
may be taught in detail or by quickly
giving oral definitions in the context of reading.
You might consider which words deserve
detailed instruction according to these criteria:
1. Relevance: Is this word important to
comprehension of the text? Are students
likely to encounter this word again? Is
an educated person expected to know
this word? Does this word seem age-
appropriate?
2. Leverage: Can I use this word teach other,
related words, such as synonyms, antonyms,
degrees of intensity, etymology, et. al.?
3. Enthusiasm: Is this a word that I find interesting?
Academic
Word List
Literary Words
Latin Roots
Latin Word Roots:
Suggestions for explicit instruction of literary words:
Use visuals
Explain the etymology
Give an example or description first, and give students a
chance to observe the salient features of the concept.
Then, name the concept. (“Naming a known concept.”)
Using Amy Benjamin’s
list (
of 40 Must Know Latin Word Roots,
decide on grade levels to address
at least 32 of the roots. Each root
may be presented as a Monday
“kick-off.”
2. vocabulary.com: You will find many
of these (and other) roots by looking up
“Latin Love.” Students can practice
independently.
Independent Learning Suggestion: Use the graphic organizer entitled “Getting to Know the Words We Meet in Reading.”
II. vocabulary.com probably already has word lists pre-loaded for any work of literature
students are reading for class.