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Learning Words Inside and Out Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey San Diego State University www.fisherandfrey.com Books.heinemann.com/wordwise Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Word wise and content rich: Five essential steps to teaching academic vocabulary. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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I’ll go back to school and learn more about the brain!
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400+ Page text “Somites are blocks of dorsal mesodermal cells adjacent to the notochord during vertebrate organogensis.” “Improved vascular definition in radiographs of the arterial phase or of the venous phase can be procured by a process of subtraction whereby positive and negative images of the overlying skull are superimposed on one another.”
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Skills Versus Strategies?
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I don’t know how you’re going to learn this, but it’s on the test.
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Quick, Build Background!
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Expand Understanding Through Reading
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Reading Increasingly Difficult Texts
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Read “Non-Traditional” Texts To date, over 100 YouTube videos! PBS (The Secret Life of the Brain) Internet quiz sites about neuroanatomy Talking with peers and others interested in the brain
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But, the midterm comes 17 pages, single spaced
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Besides Some Neuroanatomy, What Have I Learned? You can’t learn from books you can’t read (but you can learn) Reading widely builds background and vocabulary Interacting with others keeps me motivated and clarifies information and extends understanding I have choices and rely on strategies
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An Intentional Vocabulary Initiative Make it intentional through word selection and intentional instruction. Make it transparent through teacher modeling of word-solving and word learning. Make it useable with collaborative learning. Make it personal by fostering student ownership. Make it a priority with schoolwide practices. Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Word wise and content rich: Five essential steps to teaching academic vocabulary. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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Step 1: Make it Intentional: Selecting and Teaching Words
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TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY Focus Lesson Guided Instruction “I do it” “We do it” “You do it together” Collaborative Independent “You do it alone” A Structure for Instruction that Works
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But Which Words Do We Teach
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Influence of Background Knowledge Catherine the Great, a minor aristocrat from Germany, became Empress of Russia when her husband Peter, the grandson of Peter the Great, was killed.
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Types of Vocabulary Tier 1/General –Commonplace; learned from interactions with texts and people Tier 2/Specialized –Change meaning with context (“polysemic”) Tier 3/Technical –Specific to the discipline A starting point for selecting vocabulary
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General Vocabulary On an October day in 1753, Robert Dinwiddie, Royal Governor of His Majesty’s Colony in Virginia, sat in his office in Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, reading the latest reports from the frontier. The French were causing trouble again, pushing their way into British land. There was a whiff of war in the air. Dinwiddie must have realized that Virginia’s western boundary was fuzzy. Some Virginians even said that their colony stretched across the continent. But Dinwiddie knew that grand old claim was not realistic. He needed only turn to a map to see North America as it really was. (Allen, 2004, p. 1-2)
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Specialized Vocabulary On an October day in 1753, Robert Dinwiddie, Royal Governor of His Majesty’s Colony in Virginia, sat in his office in Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, reading the latest reports from the frontier. The French were causing trouble again, pushing their way into British land. There was a whiff of war in the air. Dinwiddie must have realized that Virginia’s western boundary was fuzzy. Some Virginians even said that their colony stretched across the continent. But Dinwiddie knew that grand old claim was not realistic. He needed only turn to a map to see North America as it really was. (Allen, 2004, p.1)
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Technical Vocabulary On an October day in 1753, Robert Dinwiddie, Royal Governor of His Majesty’s Colony in Virginia, sat in his office in Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, reading the latest reports from the frontier. The French were causing trouble again, pushing their way into British land. There was a whiff of war in the air. Dinwiddie must have realized that Virginia’s western boundary was fuzzy. Some Virginians even said that their colony stretched across the continent. But Dinwiddie knew that grand old claim was not realistic. He needed only turn to a map to see North America as it really was. (Allen, 2004, p.1)
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The Problem: Too Many Words! 17 words identified in 2 paragraphs Ideal is 8-10 a week for deep teaching (Scott, Jamieson-Noel, and Asselin, 2003) Must be narrowed, but how?
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Questions for Selecting Vocabulary 1.Representative 2.Repeatability 3.Transportable 4.Contextual Analysis 5.Structural Analysis 6.Cognitive Load Is it critical to understanding? Will it be used again? Is it needed for discussions or writing? Can they use context to figure it out? Can they use structure? Have I exceeded the number they can learn? Adapted from Graves, 2006; Nagy, 1988; Marzano & Pickering, 2005
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Step 2: Make it Transparent: Modeling
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Teacher Modeling Brief (5-10 minutes) think- alouds Identify unfamiliar words to learn procedures for discerning meaning Show students how to look inside (morphology and structure) and outside (context clues and resources) words
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What to Model? Comprehension Word Solving Text Structure Text Features
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Morphology and Word Parts Affixes Root words Derivations Cognates for English learners Beware of false cognates! (embarrassed/embarazada)
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Context Clues Definition/Explanation Access to clean water would ameliorate, and improve upon, living conditions within the village. Restatement/Synonym Access to clean water would ameliorate living conditions within the village such that life would be tolerable for the people who live there. Contrast/Antonym Access to clean water would ameliorate living conditions within the village whereas continued reliance on a polluted river will exacerbate a bad situation. Inference/General Context Access to clean water would ameliorate living conditions within the village. Clean water would make life tolerable as residents could focus on other pressing needs such as finding food and shelter. Punctuation Access to clean water would ameliorate--make tolerable--living conditions within the village.
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But Context Isn’t Always Enough… The documentary film March of the Penguins was a surprise hit in 2005. However, the movie neglected to point out that the population of emperor penguins is thinning. Since the 1970s, the penguins ’ neighborhood has become increasingly warm. The Southern Ocean experiences natural shifts in weather from one decade to the next, but this warm spell has continued, causing the thinning of sea ice. Less sea ice means fewer krill, the penguins ’ main food source. Also, the weakened ice is more likely to break apart and drift out to sea, carrying off the young penguin chicks, who often drown. Is global warming responsible for the thinning of penguin population? Scientists believe so. (Gore, 2007, p. 94) Think aloud to clear up confusions about skinny penguins!
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Resources Peer resources from productive group work Dictionaries Bookmark Internet resources Model how you use these (Phone a Friend, dictionary use on doc camera)
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Discussion Questions What might teacher modeling contribute to your students ’ learning? Describe word-solving approaches you can model for your students. What do you believe is necessary in order for students to begin to take on what is being modeled for them?
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Step 3: Make it Useable: Collaborating with Peers
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Tips for Productive Group Work Establish purpose (content, language, and social goals) Variety is the spice of life Integrate activities into content flow
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Fostering Collaboration Partner and small-group discussions Jigsaws Student think-alouds Reciprocal teaching Co-constructed graphic organizers Semantic feature analysis
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Contributions to Science Philosophers Major Wars Greek City-States Government Structures Gods and Goddesses Ancient Greeks
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Round in shape Orbits a star Large Concept Circles: “Planet” before August 2006 9
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Round in shape Orbits a star Concept Circles: “Planet” after August 2006 Sufficient gravity to sweep its orbit Size dominates its region of space PLUTO
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Victor’s Shades of Meaning in Sixth Grade English
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Step 4: Make it Personal: Individual Activities
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Challenges to Independent Work 28% of high school teachers “often or very often” run out of time in class and assign the content for homework (MetLife, 2008) Should follow modeling, guided practice, and collaborative work with peers (Fisher & Frey, 2008)
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Conditions that Support Independent Learning Choice Differentiation Relevance Goal is application of learning
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Bao’s Concept Open Sort in 8th Grade Algebra
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Tino’s Vocabulary Self-Awareness Chart in Physics
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Alphabet Vocabulary Chart A-BC-DE-FG-H I-JK-LM-NO-P Q-RS-TU-V-WX-Y-Z
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Alphabet Vocabulary Chart A-BC-D crater E-FG-H I-JK-L lava M-N magma O-P Q-RS-TU-V-W volcano X-Y-Z
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Alphabet Vocabulary Chart A-B ash C-D crater cinder cone E-F flow G-H I-JK-L lava M-N magma magnitude O-P Q-R Rim of Fire S-T shield volcano tremor U-V-W volcano vent volcanologist X-Y-Z
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Alphabet Vocabulary Chart A-B ash active balsat C-D crater cinder cone caldera E-F flow eruption extrusion G-H geothermal harmonic tremor I-J intrusion K-L lava lahar M-N magma magnitude mantle O-P obsidian pahoehoe pillow lava Q-R Rim of Fire S-T shield volcano tremor U-V-W volcano vent volcanologist X-Y-Z xenoliths
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Amy’s Vocabulary Card in Chemistry
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Step 5: Make it a Priority: Creating a Schoolwide Focus
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Why Go Schoolwide? Schoolwide focus is one of the most important actions a middle or high school can take to improve achievement (Langer, 2001; Reeves, 2000) Focus on literacy schoolwide leads to long-term improvement in climate, achievement (Fisher, Frey, & Williams, 2002)
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Two Schoolwide Initiatives Words of the Week (WOW Words) to focus on “SAT words” Wide reading to build background, increase exposure, and foster interest in reading
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Words of the Week Five words a week (Fid, Fi: to trust) –Affidavit, confidant, defiant, fidelity, infidel Grouped by affix or derivation Departments propose words Goal is to build vocabulary and teach patterns for unfamiliar words Introduced in English classes
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WOW at Northview (MI) High School Created by Tricia Erickson’s Art and Technology Students
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Incidental Learning Through Wide Reading Cumulative effect of reading: 60 minutes per day x 5 days a week= 2,250,000 words per year 2,250 words learned per year this way (Mason, Stahl, Au, & Herman, 2003) A bargain, considering that only 300- 500 words can be directly taught each year
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Who benefits? How? Text must be at independent level (you can’t learn from books you can’t read) Older readers learn more words than younger readers Stronger readers learn more words than struggling readers The words they are likely to learn are those they know a little bit about
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8 Factors for SSR Access Appeal Environment Encouragement Staff training Non-accountability Follow-up activities Distributed time to read Pilgreen, J. (2000). The sustained silent reading handbook. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
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Discussion Questions It ’ s not enough to list the Words of the Week; they need to be taught. How do you believe the vocabulary cards reinforce and expand word learning? Why does game playing reinforce learning? How does motivation play a role in learning? What can students learn about adult reading habits through SSR?
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Learning Words Inside and Outside When our teaching is at its best, our students learn take what they’ve learned inside our classrooms to their outside lives. Vocabulary doesn’t exist between the school bells—it is carried with each learner for the rest of their lives.
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