1. Cindy Gwinn Staff Development
Building Vocabulary
Cindy Gwinn
Staff Development

2. Fun With Words!
The man who recently fell into an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.

3. Dictionary Definition for “Vocabulary”
A list or collection of words or of words and phrases usually alphabetically arranged and explained or defined
a. A sum or stock of words employed by a language, group, individual, or work or in a field of knowledge b. A list or collection of terms or codes available for use (as in an indexing system)
A supply of expressive techniques or devices (as of an art form)

4. Are Dictionary Definitions Always Effective?
Using a Dictionary is Not Enough:
Reading a definition does not tell us how a word is actually used
We need examples in context
Dictionary definitions can be incomplete
Being able to define a word is an end result of knowing the word very well

5. Reinforce Definitions With:
Gestures
Pictures
Objects
Examples and non-examples

6. What is vocabulary instruction?
Process that continues throughout life
Includes the development of receptive (listening and reading) and expressive (speaking and writing) vocabularies
Includes both direct and indirect methods of instruction

7. Research-based components of effective instruction:
High-quality oral language experiences that develop word consciousness, the knowledge of and interest in words
Explicit instruction of specific words
Modeling and instruction in independent word-learning strategies (ex: CPR & OPIN)
Time and support for wide reading
Texas Reading Initiative (TRI), 2000

8. Fun With Words! What did the triangle say to the circle?
You’re so pointless!

9. Why build vocabulary?
The meanings of individual words contribute to the meanings of sentences and therefore to understanding.
After the age of five, oral conversation is a much less effective way of developing vocabulary knowledge.
As students increase their reading skills, text becomes the vehicle for learning many new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

10. How do our students feel about vocabulary?
What is the author saying?
Discuss with your neighbor:
“Paula put down her pirn, wrapped herself in a
paduasoy, and entered puerperium.”
Story about birthing
Pirn – tool for weaving
Paduasoy – Japanese style silken robe
Puerperium – the time of beginning labor to birth
We have no access to meaning because we didn’t get the vocabulary!

11. Five Components of Reading
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Fluency

12. Framework for Reading Vocabulary Automaticity DECODING COMPREHENSION
Word
Recognition
Strategies
Fluency
Academic
Language
Comprehension
MOTIVATION
Background Knowledge
Syntax & Text Structure
Comprehension Monitoring
(Re)organizing Text
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Automaticity
Sight Words
Concepts of Print
Vocabulary
• John Shefelbine/Developmental Studies Center [See p. 20 of the CA Reading/ELA Framework]

13. He didn't tell his mother that he had eaten the glue.
Fun With Words!
He didn't tell his mother that he had eaten the glue.
His lips were sealed.

14. Research about Vocabulary
Kindergarten students’ vocabulary size is a predictor of comprehension in middle school. (Scarborough, 1998)
A single book reading improved significantly children’s expressive vocabulary. (Senechal and Cornell, 1993)
Vocabulary instruction has a strong connection to comprehension. (McKeown, Beck, Omanson and Perfetti, 1983)
Children with weaker vocabularies are less likely to learn new words from incidental exposure than children with larger vocabularies. (Nicholson & Whyte, 1992; Penno et al., 2002; Robbins & Ehri, 1994)

15. Something to Think About
Words Heard in an Hour
Poverty: 615 words
Middle Class: 1,251 words
Professional: 2,153 words
Hart and Risley, 2003

16. How Do Children Learn Vocabulary?
NRP (National Reading Panel)
Recommendations:
Teach directly and indirectly
Repetitions
Rich Context
Incidental Learning
Computer Technology
Use multiple vocabulary instruction methods
NPR, 2000

17. Model for Choosing Vocabulary From Text “3-Tier Model”
Low-frequency words;
Technical words
Developed by Isabel Beck
Tier 3
Words to Teach
high frequency, high utility
Tier 2
Tier 1
Known, common words

18. Words to Teach Directly
Words critical to understanding the text
Words that are likely to be encountered many times
Difficult words that need interpretation
metaphorical, abstract, nuanced
Beck & McKeown, 2002

19. Fun With Words!
I couldn't quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but I knew eventually it would come back to me.

20. How to Select Vocabulary Words
Pick 3-5 words for direct teaching
Select words that are:
unfamiliar to the students
big ideas of the author
words used to summarize the text
words that “travel well” (Tier Two words)

21. Direct Teaching Vocabulary-What Does It Look Like?
Refer to your folder for a detailed lesson example:
“Example of a Vocabulary Direct Teach”
“Explicit Instruction of Specific Words”

22. Practicing Vocabulary
Synonym Race
You have 30 seconds.
Think of as many alternative words as you can for…
look

23. Practicing Vocabulary
“Articulate”
Take a noun card.
Describe it to your partner without naming it. Use descriptive language to help your partner visualize.
Can your partner guess your word?

24. Repeated Read-Aloud
Use literature to maximize children’s vocabulary growth.
Pre-reading discussion focused on key vocabulary and concepts that may be unfamiliar
During first reading allow children to follow the story thread without frequent interruptions.
During repeated reading sessions, stop to discuss vocabulary and concepts
Read each story at least 3 times
Provide repeated exposures to new words in the classroom in different contexts

25. Fun With Words!
Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'

26. Practicing Vocabulary
Refer to your folder for more vocabulary practice ideas:
Vocabulary “War” Card Game
Vocabulary Circles
Vocabulary Swat Game
Vocabulary “I Have – Who Has?”

27. Summing Up Building Vocabulary
Vocabulary is important because
readers use their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print.
readers must know what most of the words mean before they can understand what they are reading.
Vocabulary can be developed
indirectly, when students engage daily in oral language, listen to adults read to them, and read extensively on their own.
directly, when students are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies.
Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, 2001

28. Bibliography
Beck, Isabel. & McKeown, Margaret G. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press.
Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (2003, Spring). The early catastrophe: The 30 million word gap by age 3. Ameridcan Educator, 27 (1), 4-9.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (2002). Vocabulary. Retreived April 25, 2010 from
Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, 2001
Shefelbine, John. Developmental Studies Center. CA Reading/ELA Framework.
Texas Reading Initiative. (2000). Promoting vocabulary development: Components of effective vocabulary instruction. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.