Bridging the Gap through
Vocabulary Instruction
A summary of Dr. Rick DuVall’s
presentation @ Title 1 Summer
Institute 2008.
www.drrickduvall.com
Table Tent Activity:“How you doin?”
Directions: Write one of these words that best describes
you right now.
Awesome
Astonishing
Brilliant
Breath Taking
Blood Thirsty
Exceptional
Fabulous
On the Edge
Nearly Illegal
Soul Stirring
The Walking Dead
Passionate
Powerful
Tremendous
Incomparable
Shocking
Unbelievable
Wonderful
Electrifying
Extraordinary
Vastly
Inspiring
Magnificent
Amazing
Unstoppable
Provocative
Mind Boggling
Splendid
Sensational
Exquisite
Table Tent Activity:“How you doin?”
• Have laminated table tents.
• When students come in each morning, they write a
word, with a dry erasable marker, from the list that
best describes their feelings for that day.
• Students partner up and explain their choice.
• Teacher walks around and gets a feel on students’
mood.
• Every Monday morning 3 new words are added to list.
(First Monday of the year, only 3 words to choose
from…next week, 6 words…etc.)
Dr. Rick DuVall’s Focus. . .
• ____Research_____ on Vocabulary
• ____Direct___ Vocabulary Instruction
Conceptual Model of the Factors That Mediate the
Influence of
Vocabulary on Reading Comprehension
(adapted from a model by Lubliner, 2005)
Socioeconomic
Factors
Background
Knowledge
English
Language
Proficiency
Vocabulary
Instruction
Vocabulary
Knowledge
Reading
_________
Volume
Reading
Comprehension
______________
Did you know?
• “Direct teaching of vocabulary might be one of the
most _____underused ______activities in K – 12
education. The lack of vocabulary instruction
might be a result of misconceptions about what it
means to teach vocabulary and its potential effect
on student learning. Perhaps the biggest
misconception is that teaching vocabulary means
teaching formal dictionary definitions.”
Marzano, et al., 2002
According to the National
Reading Panel. . .
• The larger the reader’s vocabulary
(either oral or print), the easier it is to
__Make__ __Sense____ of the text.
A rich vocabulary…
•
•
•
•
Boosts ____Comprehension_____
Improves ___Achievement_____
Enhances __Communication_____
Shapes ____Thinking_________
What Research Says…
Meaningful Differences in the Everyday
Experience of Young American Children
Hart and Risley (1995)
Behind the Vocabulary
Gap…
Doesn’t Matter: Race/Ethnicity, Gender,
Order of Birth, Where Born
Matters: Socio-Economic Status
Meaningful Difference in Early Language Experiences
(Study of 42 Families for 2.5 years. Observed every month for 1 hour starting when the child was 7-9 months old.)
By Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley
SES= Socio-economic Status
Low SES
Middle SES
High SES
Cumulative Words used per
hour
616
1251
2153
Different words used per
hour
149
216
297
Differences in vocabulary
at 36 months of age
580 words
800 words
1200 words
Utterances to a child per
hour
178
301
487
Affirmations per hour
5
12
32
Prohibitions per hour
11
7
5
Minutes interacting with
child per hour
18
26
42
Cumulative words heard
per week
62,000
125,000
215,000
Cumulative Language
Experience at age 4
13,000,000 words
125,000 more
instances of
negative feedback
26,000,000 words
100,000 more instances
of encouraging feedback
45,000,000 words
560,000 more
instances of
encouraging
feedback
A Model for
Direct Word Learning
• There are 4 underlying assumptions that
guide successful word learning (Bromley,
2002).
– It is ____personal (something I care about).
– It is ____active (able to use in conversation).
– It is ____flexible (use it many ways; i.e.
“cheesy”- lots of cheese or funny).
– It is ___ strategic (when to use it).
Key Word Strategy
•
The teacher preselects words and phrases that students will be
expected to understand from the reading. Most of these
words should already be known.
•
In cooperative groups or with a partner, students connect words
that fit together meaningfully (they can only use each others
previous knowledge).
•
The whole class discusses how the words connect. This sets a
purpose for reading and acts to motivate readers with a desire
to find out the meaning of unknown words.
•
The students are given a few more minutes to see if they can
uncover the meanings of the unknown words in their cooperative
groups (use glossary, index, skim pages of text, etc).
•
The whole class discusses what was discovered about unknown
words.
Example of Key Word Strategy
Volcano
Rock
Earth
Blast
Extinct
Ground
Magma
Steam
Erupts
Fire
Ocean
Dormant
Active
Lava
• Talk about it:
– What words go
together?
– What words don’t you
know?
• Read and see if you
can figure out what
the unknown words
mean.
• Discuss what you’ve
learned
Key Word Strategy —You Do!
With a partner, pair these words together:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Satellite
Faxes
Antennae
Dish
Space Shuttle
Internet
Microwave Land Link
22,300 miles
Radio Waves
Comsat
Orbit
Email
Enrich Our
Students’ Vocabulary
positive
• When _____________
emotions
are associated with a learning
task, the knowledge is more
likely to be retained.
Game
• _______________
formats for
vocabulary help create that
positive connection.
Kinesthetic Vocabulary
Create movement/motions for
words that correlate with meaning
Kinesthetic Vocabulary- You Do!
Today’s Science Vocabulary:
• Ichthyology
• Exfoliate
• Sublimation
• Detritus
• Cephalothorax
There will be a QUIZ today!!!!!!!
How to do Kinesthetic Vocabulary
•
•
•
No definitions given!!!...Till the quiz!!!
Present/Show all the words.
Tell students to: “Track with your eyes…as I say the word” (say three times
alone), “Let me hear you say it while you track it with your eyes.”--Say it loud,
whine the word, whisper the word, sing the word…etc.
• Next, use hand motions to describe the words—have them watch a few times
(use funny voices with motions to word, i.e. Detritus—use Dirty Harry Voice…).
• Have them do motion after you and say word (three times); do for each word.
• Partner with someone – one does the hand motions, other identifies the word,
switch.)
• Have students get a sheet of paper and pencil and number paper
• QUIZ!!!
• Read Definitions
Example:
• 1. To give off scales or body cells
(exfoliate)
• 2. Dead organic matter
(Detritus)
• 3. A fused head and abdomen
(Cephalothorax)
• 4. The process by which a solid turns directly into a gas (sublimation)
• 5. The scientific study of fishes (Ichthyyology)
• Check and discuss!
Word Continuum
(evaluating nuances of
word meanings to build rich descriptive
vocabulary)
• Teacher selects antonyms that he/she is confident the students
know other words for (cold/hot; big/little; pretty/ugly;
nice/mean; happy/sad)
• Teacher asks students to name synonyms for each word.
• Teacher introduces additional synonyms and explains them.
• Students create a linear array of the words by intensity of the
particular characteristic.
More Ideas
from
Dr. Rick DuVall
• Attitude Menu
• Said is Dead Cemetery
(or put said to bed, on vacation, recycled…)
• Word Worth Chart (i.e. said-1 cent word; explain-25
cent word)
• Paint Chips (descriptive language)
• Crayon Box (words put on large crayons, i.e. red
crayon: crimson, cinnamon, ruby, etc)
• Naming your students tables
(i.e. brilliant, intelligent,
clever, sharp, quick, brainy)