Vocabulary Building
Strategies to use When
Working with ELL
Students
Dr. María Torres
Director of Diversity and ESOL
Ilona Olancin
Secondary ELL Curriculum Facilitator
Academic Development
• We require
q
English
g
learners to learn
enough of a second language to be
g level
able to function and do high
academic work in a new language.
Academic Development
• H
How can we help
h l ESOL
E L students
d
succeed?
• We know they will need supportBut where do we beg
begin?
n?
Academic Development
• E
ESOL
L students
d
need
d help
h l with
h
language in the content areas…..
of
f Language
L
Arts, R
Reading,
d
Math,
M h
Science, Social Studies, and
C
Computer
Literacy
Li
How Can You Help
• E
ESOL
L school
h l students
d
need
d to
maximize their time
• They have much to learn in a short
period of time
BICS
• Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
• Involves using language for social, face-toface and every day situations.
• Highly
Hi hl contextualized
li d and
d provides
id llots of
f
clues for comprehension.
• Takes
T k 0-2
0 2 years tto acquire
i
CALP
• Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
• Involves language skills and functions of an
academic or cognitive nature.
• Language
L
needed
d d to accomplish
li h academic
d i
tasks.
• Takes
T k about
b t 7-10
7 10 years tto acquire.
i
ESOL Students Differ
In Skills Acquired
Students
S
d
with
i h no
English, few skills
Students
S
d
with
i h no
English,
many skills
kill
Students with oral
English, few skills
Students with oral
English, many skills
Acquiring language
• Just because students are learning
ga
new language, doesn’t mean they lose
g g and knowledge.
g
content language
They can do both!
• Students
d
who
h have
h
acquired
d skills
k ll
and knowledge …..
DON’T lose that knowledge
THEY NEED TO BE CHALLENGED!
Who Presents Greatest
Challenge For You
• Students
d
who
h have
h
few
f
skills
k ll in
native language need a great deal
of
f support
• These students need to learn the
language AND build on limited skills
How we teach ESOL students who
are still acquiring Language
• SIOP
P
• Sheltered Instruction Observation
Protocol
• A means for making grade level
academic content more accessible to
ESOL students.
How is Content Made
Comprehensible?
• By
y highlighting
g g
g key
y language
g g features
and incorporating strategies that
enables students to understand the
material being presented
What are the Key
y
Components?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Preparation
Building Background
Comprehensible input
Strategies
Interaction
Practice and Application
Effectiveness of Lesson delivery
L
Lesson
Review/Assessment.
R i /A
t
SIOP Fosters and
Integrated Approach
• Instructionall methods
h d integrate
language and content.
• Materials developed/adapted to
integrate language and content.
Four Language Skills
•
•
•
•
Listening
g
Speaking
Reading
Writing
Preparation
• L
Lesson planning
l
i is
i critical
iti l tto student
t d t
and teacher success.
• Lesson planning must enable students
to make connections between their
own information
i f
ti and
d new k
knowledge
l d
Making Connections
• L
Lesson planning
l
must enable
bl students
d
to make connections between their
own information
f
and
d new k
knowledge
l d
Content Objectives
• Need to be stated
• These objectives may need to be
reduced for ESOL students
• Be on the lookout to fill in the gaps
Language Objectives
• L
Language objectives
b
need
d to b
be just
as important as content objectives
• Bend over backwards to state
g g objectives
j
clearly
y and simply
py
language
– students need to be informed as to
p
of them and be
what is expected
taught the skills in order to do that.
Your g
guides in planning
p
g of
course are:
•
•
•
•
Curriculum
C
l
guides
d
SSS
Benchmarks
TESOL Standards
Building Background
• P
Practice
i It
I
• Students learning English need the
opportunity
t it tto use E
English……
li h
• Hear it, see it, read it, write it, speak it!!!
within
i hi context of
f subject
bj
matter
• Caveat to this – it must be meaningful!
Presentation of
Information
• Information
f
must b
be presented
d in a
way that they understand, bearing in
mind
d llanguage d
development
l
needs
d and
d
gaps in educational experiences
Concepts
p linked to
Students’ Background.
• N
New information
i f
ti mustt be
b tied
ti d tto student’s
t d t’
background
• Teachers/Tutors may make explicit links
to student’s backgrounds by asking
questions that preview a topic such as,
“Have you ever seen ….?
“H
• Relate to the text by saying, “Well today
we are going to read about……
about
L nks Made between Past
Links
ast
Learning and New Concepts
• M
Mustt build
b ild a bridge
b id f
from previous
i
llessons
to new learning.
questions “How
How does that relate to
• Ask questions,
our story?”
graphic
p
organizers
g
or other
• Refer to g
written reminders about the information,
such as word banks, outlines, charts, and
maps
Importance
p
of
Background Experiences
• Wh
When readers
d
lack
l k knowledge
k
l d
necessary to read, 3 major
instructionall interventions need
d to be
b
considered:
3 Major
j Instructional
Interventions
11. T
Teach
h vocabulary
b l
as a prereading
di step
2. Provide experiences
3. Introduce a conceptual framework that
will enable students to build appropriate
background for themselves.
themselves
Ch i t & M
Christen
Murphy
h (1991)
Building
g Vocabulary
y
Creates Links
• Th
There are a myriad
i d of
f meaningful
i f l and
d
useful ways vocabulary can be taught.
• When
Wh used
d regularly,
l l they
th build
b ild
background
• Having
H i students
t d t understand
d
t daf
few
key terms well is more effective than
learning a list of words.
words
How do we do that?
• T
Teachers/tutors
h
/t t
select
l t words
d that
th t that
th t
are critical for understanding the text or
material.
• Provide a variety of ways for students to
learn, remember, and to use those words.
• In that way, students develop core
vocabulary over time. (Blachowicz & Fisher,
2000)
Active Learners
• Students should be active in
developing their understanding
of words and ways to learn them.
them
Word Web
• P
Preteach
t
h Vocabulary
V
b l
• A word web is used to organize
d t il about
details
b t a word.
d
• Write the word in the center
• In each outside circle, write a
meaning/characteristic of the word.
• Vocabulary handout #1
Word Web
Meaning/Characteristic
Word
Meaning/Characteristic
Meaning/Characteristic
Concept Definition Map
• Ag
great way
y to learn and remember
content vocabulary and concepts.
• Can be used to clarify concepts.
• Vocabulary handout #2
Concept Definition Map
Word
What
a is
s it?
What is it like?
Example
Example
4 – Corners Vocabulary
•
1.
2.
3.
4
4.
Enables
E
bl students
d
to contextualize
l
word by
creating a chart with an illustration
A sentence that includes the word
A definition of the word
The actual vocabulary word.
word
How ?
•
1.
2.
3.
4
4.
Fold
F
ld a piece
i
of
f chart
h t paper iin f
fourths
ths sso th
thatt
students can only see one corner at a time.
Start with the illustration
Definition
Contextualized sentence
Vocabulary word
Vocabulary
y handout #3
4-Corners Vocabulary
1 Ill
1.
Illustration
i
2 S
2.
Sentence
3 Definition
3.
4 Vocabulary Word
4.
Word.
Word Sorts
• Teacher/Tutors categorize
g
words or
phrases into groups.
Closed Word Sort
• T
Teacher/Tutor
h /T t provides
id a list
li t of
f
related vocabulary words
• Students
St d t di
discuss and
d create
t
categories.
• Students
St d t th
then place
l
vocabulary
b l
words under the correct category
heading .
Open Word Sort
• Teacher/Tutor
h /
provides
d related
l
d
words on cards.
• Students organize the categories.
• Students then place the correct
word under the appropriate category
head ng.
heading.
Vocabulary
y Match-up
p
Cards.
• Use Index cards.
cards
• The vocabulary word is written on one card
and the meaning
g is written on another.
• The students must find their match by
discussing words and meanings.
• The pair sits/stands together and
presents to the class.
• One student reads the word and the other
the definition.
Vocabulary
y Foldable
• C
Copy th
the blank
bl k foldable
f ld bl and
d duplicate
d li t for
f all
ll
students.
• Students fold the p
page
g in half hot-dog
g style
y and
then cut 5 "flaps" by snipping the 4 dotted lines.
• They should orient the folded page vertically and
write each vocabulary word in the top half of one
flap.
• Vocabulary
V c bul
handout
h nd ut #4
Vocabulary Foldable
• Th
They open the
th flap
fl and
d write
it the
th
definition of the word under it.
• Finally, on the front of the flap below the
word,, they
y draw a picture
p
or symbol
y
that
will help them remember the word. This
format allows them to study their words
by opening and closing the flaps.
flaps
KIM Strategy
•
Provide students with index cards or use
regular writing paper.
1. Students write the key
y word in the 1st
column.
2. Definition in the 2nd column
3 Memory cue or picture in the 3rd column.
3.
column
4. Have students use KIM as students
develop
p their vocabulary.
y
Vocabulary handout # 5
KIM
K
Key Word
I
Information
M
Memory Cue
Mad Three Minutes
• Th
The tutor
t t will
ill write
it all
ll th
the words
ds on th
the b
board
d
that have been the focus of the lesson.
• Have the students look at the words and study
y
them for a few minutes. Erase the words.
• Have the students write as many words as
possible in three minutes.
• They can also provide a picture or definition of
the word.
• The
Th stud
student
nt with
ith th
the most
m st words
ds gets
ts applause.
ppl us
Students should
personalize word learning
• Personal Dictionaries
Personal Dictionaries
• S
Supports
ts student
st d t'ss learning
l
i of
f key
k vocabulary.
b l
• Students create the dictionaries as individual
vocabulary
y and spelling
p
g resources.
• Add unknown words they come across as they
read.
• Tutors works with students to clarify meanings of
new words.
• Vocabulary handout #6
How?
• Th
The words
d in
i th
the dictionaries
di ti
i can be
b
categorized in:
• Alphabetical
Al h b ti l order
d
• Subject
• Sound
• Morphological
p
g
structure (past
p
tense)
• Content or topic
Secondary tutors
• Students
d
can create personall word
d
dictionaries that include content
specific
f vocabulary.
b l
Elementary
y and Beginning
g
g
ELLs
• E
Encouraged
d to use simple
l illustrations
ll
to represent words they are learning.
• K-1.
K 1. words can come from big books
through a shared reading experience.
Vocabulary
y games
g
and
activities
• P
Promote language
l
and
d vocabulary
b l
development.
The Fly Swatter Game
• T
Teacher
h writes
it s target
t
t vocabulary
b l
on board
b
d
• Divide class into teams of 4 or 5
• Teams
eams stand in
n lline
ne beh
behind
nd start
starting
ng lline
ne (5 -8
8 ft.
back)
• When teacher calls out a definition, 1st one to
swat answer gets a point
• After 1st round, swatter is handed to next person
• 1st team to get predetermined amount of points is
the
h winner!!
Blackboard Spin
p the
Bottle
• W
Write
it 5 vocabulary
b l
words
ds on th
the board,
b
d one
student under each word. These students are the
“bottles”
• Students at their seats “spin the bottles” by
calling out a definition
• When a “bottle”
bottle hears his definition, he spins
around once
• If the student fails to spin when his definition is
called he must give someone else his place at the
called,
board
I Have… Who has?
• The whole class can play this after studying
vocabulary of a lesson or chapter
• Vocabulary words and definitions on cards are all
mixed up.
up
• Each student is given 1 word and a different
definition
• The 1st student says “Who
Who has (and reads
definition)?
• The student who has the word says, “I have (and
reads the definition)
• Continue play in this manner. Go around the room.
For more information
contact
• Dr.
D María
M í Torres
T
• Director of Diversity and ESOL
• 377-0111
• Ilona Olancin
• Secondary ELL Curriculum Facilitator
• 377-0129