2. Olympia High School SIP Day – January 12, 2007 Background Knowledge and Vocabulary Acquisition

3. School Improvement Team  Chris Embry Mohr  Ruth McCartney  Susan Mullen  Connie Schroeder  Beth Smith  Robin Staudenmeier  Lance Thurman

4. 2003/2004  Articles on improving reading in high schools have been distributed and discussed.  Round table discussions on reading, reading strategies being used currently, and how to improve reading at OHS. A reading research committee was developed to make recommendations to OHS faculty as to the steps to be taken to improve reading at OHS.

5. The recommendation of three initiatives to implement: Sustained Silent Reading Program Enhance library of non-textbook, content related reading materials Training for reading strategies

6. 2004/2005  Who: All sophomores and juniors  What: Sustained Silent Reading twice per week  When: Program begins on Monday, Sept. 13 th taking place on Monday and Wednesday during advisory time.  How: Reading materials driven by student choice – brought from home or from the OHS library.  Why: To develop greater motivation and an appreciation for reading.

7. 2005/2006  Sustained Silent Reading All grades once a week  Development of book clubs  Restructuring of NCA Team and process  Begin Research of reading in content areas

8. 2006/2007  Rewrite SIP plan to focus only on reading  Focus of research leads to information on background knowledge and essential vocabulary  SIP training on essential vocabulary  Site visit from NCA

9. Cause for Alarm  Approximately 32 percent of high school graduates are not ready for college level English composition courses (ACT, 2005).  Approximately 40 percent of high school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek (Achieve, Inc., 2005).  Between 1996 and 2006, the average literacy required for all American occupations is projected to rise by 14 percent.  Both dropouts and high school graduates are demonstrating significantly worse reading skills than ten years ago (NCES, 2005).

10. A Student’s ability to learn new content is dependent on:  The skill of the teacher  The interest of the student  The complexity of the content  The student’s Background Knowledge

11. The Importance of Background Knowledge There is a strong correlation between a person’s background knowledge of a topic and the extent to which a person learns new information on the topic. Knowledge is power! The research strongly suggests that teaching vocabulary is synonymous with teaching background knowledge.

12. Why teach vocabulary?  Increasing demands for higher levels of literacy in the workforce require that we do better than we have ever done before in teaching all children to read.  Perhaps the biggest misconception is that teaching vocabulary means teaching dictionary definitions.

13. So Many Words, So Little Time!  Vocabulary knowledge accounts for over 80% of the variance in reading comprehension scores at grade level.  Research shows that most students need to encounter a word at least 12 times before they know it well enough to improve comprehension.  Researchers estimate that students learn an average of 3,000 words per year, or 8 words a day, but some learn as few as 2 a day.  Adequate reading comprehension depends on a student already knowing 90-95% of the words in a text.  Another study found that children from advantaged homes knew five times the amount of words as children from disadvantaged homes. High School Seniors near the top of their class knew about four times as many words as their low performing classmates.

14. What is a word? Idea The words we know, are tags or labels for our packets of knowledge. Idea The Traditional concept of vocabulary has been artificially limited in its scope. Idea The more words we have, the more packets of knowledge, and the more background knowledge we have. Idea A word does not refer to a single object, but to a group or to a class of objects.

15. School Improvement Timeline  2007Background Knowledge/Vocabulary  2007-08 Summarizing  2008-09 Connecting  2009-2010 Inferring

16. Which list of words or phrases is most likely to help students at Olympia be successful?  honor, responsibility, loyalty  mass, endothermic reaction, ecosystem  government, geography, music  sex, sex, MySpace.com

17. Impact of Direct Vocabulary Instruction

18. Do you agree with this statement?  The best way to improve vocabulary is through wide reading.

19. A textbook example…

20. What the research supports  To learn a word requires anywhere from 6 to 10 exposures to the word in context.  Low density texts provide a 30% chance of students learning words in context  High density texts provide a 7% chance of learning words in context.  A student with a high degree of background knowledge has a greater chance of learning a new word in context then a student with a lower degree.

21. Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction 1. Effective vocabulary instruction does not rely on definitions

22. How do you typically teach new vocabulary?  Teacher provides or has students look up a definition in a dictionary.  Student writes the definition  Student uses the new word in a sentence to demonstrate the understanding

23. Base: The expression that is used as a factor in repeated multiplication.

24. Does this description of the term help?

25. Pictures can demonstrate deep understanding.

26. Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction 1. Effective vocabulary instruction does not rely on definitions 2. Students must represent their knowledge of words in linguistic and non-linguistic ways

27. What the research shows  For information to be placed in permanent memory, it must be dual-coded: linguistic and non-linguistic  Non-linguistic approaches produce a gain of –37 percentile points higher than by having students review definitions –21 percentile points higher than having students generate their own sentences

28. Types of Non-linguistic Representations

29. Draw the actual thing

30. Draw a symbol

31. Draw an example

32. Represent with graphics

33. Dramatize the term

34. Teaching Students to Write Descriptions and Draw Images It’s going to be slow at first…..

35. Pick one of these terms and try describe it and draw it  English: context clue  Science: control  Business: compound interest  Math: variable expression  PE: range of motion  Health: osteoporosis  Music: pitch  Visual Arts: negative space  Civics: self-evident truths

36. Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction 1. Effective vocabulary instruction does not rely on definitions 2. Students must represent their knowledge of words in linguistic and non-linguistic ways 3. Effective Vocabulary instruction involves the gradual shaping of meanings through multiple exposures

37. What the research shows  Multiple exposures => full and flexible knowledge  During repeated exposures learning is enhanced if the students interact with vocabulary in a variety of ways –Description –Non-linguistic representation –Identify similarities and differences

38. Ways to Identify Similarities and Differences  Compare (and contrast)  Classify  Create Metaphors  Create Analogies

39. Compare and Contrast

40. Classifying Helps students better understand the content that is classified and helps them see the content in different ways

41. Talk a Mile-a-Minute

42. Things Associated with Outer Space Sun Orbits Mars Venus Saturn Galaxy Meteors Star Trek

43. Artists Vincent Van Gogh Michelangelo Picasso Leonardo da Vinci Monet Rembrandt Andy Warhol Charles Schultz

44. Parts of Speech Noun Verb Adjective Preposition Conjunction Adverb Pronoun Expletives

45. Creating Metaphors Metaphor activities help students better understand the abstract features of a concept by identifying the general principles or basic patterns that are shared between terms that are not related literally.

46. Creating Metaphors Components of the Cell TermGeneral Description Metaphor Components of the Cell Factory Nucleuscontains the DNA and the coded instructions Supervisor RibosomesAssemble proteinsWorkers on the line

47. Components of the Cell TermGeneral DescriptionMetaphor Components of the Cell Factory Golgi ApparatusModify, sort, and package substances for storage or export Mail sorter LysosomesFilled with enzymes that digest substances Garbage man or janitor

48. Analogies (a is to b as c is to d) Analogical thinking is perhaps the most complex activity involving similarities and differences and requires in-depth analysis of the content.

49. One term missing  Bone is to skeleton as word is to _______.  Inch is to foot as millimeter is to _______.  Martin Luther King Jr. is to civil rights as ______ is to women’s rights.

50. Two Terms Missing  Harry Truman is to World War II as _____ is to _____.  Rhythm is to music as _____ is to _____.  Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is to Native Americans as ______ is to _____.

51. Analogy Graphic

52. Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction 4. Teaching Word parts enhances student’s understanding of terms –Helps students figure out words for themselves –Not the best strategy for new learners

53. Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction 4. Teaching Word parts enhances student’s understanding of terms 5. Different types of words require different types of instructions 6. Students should discuss the terms they are using 7. Students should play with words

54. Word Play  Use as sponge activities  Research –Games provide manageable challenges –Arouse curiosity –Arouse fantasy

55. Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction 4. Teaching Word parts enhances student’s understanding of terms 5. Different types of words require different types of instructions 6. Students should discuss the terms they are using 7. Students should play with words 8. Instruction should focus on terms that have a high probability of enhancing academic success – word frequency is not the guide

56. Where Do We Go From Here?  Identification of 25 – 30 essential terms per course especially in grade 9 and 10 courses  Spring semester –Classroom goals –Department goals  Faculty meeting updates  Next years’ goals