Chapter 12
Word Learning Strategies
By Rebecca Harker
Effective Word-Learning
Strategies
Dictionary Use
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Students need instruction in how to use
what they find in a dictionary entry.
Teacher should model how to look up
meanings of unfamiliar words and how
to choose appropriate definitions.
Students should be taught to use a
dictionary to further their knowledge of
a word.
Morphemic (word part)
Analysis
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Two basic types of morphemes
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Free – can stand alone as words
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Anglo-Saxon root words
Compound words
Bound – Cannot stand alone as words
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Prefixes
Suffixes
Greek roots
Latin roots
Anglo-Saxon Root Words
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Cannot be broken down into smaller
words or word parts
Knowing the meaning of one root word
helps the student learn the meaning of
other related words
Compound Words
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Contains two word parts.
The meaning of some compound words
is equal to the meaning of the two word
parts.
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Example: doghouse, bluebird
Other compound words have a meaning
different than their two parts.
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Example: butterfly, airline
Prefixes
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Affixes that come before root word.
Can alter the meaning of the word.
Reasons to teach prefixes.
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Small number of them
Used in a large number of words
Usually consistently spelled
Easy to identify
Have clear meaning
Suffixes
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Affixes that follow root words.
Can alter the meaning of the word.
Two types
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Inflectional (-s, -es, -ed, -ing)
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Change the form of the word but not its speech
part
Derivational (-ful, -less)
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Alter root meaning
Greek and Latin Roots
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Cannot stand alone as words in English.
Most appear in combination with each
other
Common Greek and Latin Roots (See
pg. 494)
Cognate Awareness
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Words in two languages that share similar
spelling, pronunciation and meaning.
Several categories of cognates
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Cognates that are spelled identically
Cognates that are spelled nearly the same
Cognates that are pronounced nearly the same
False Cognates
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Pairs of words that are spelled identically or nearly
identically but do NOT share the same meaning.
Contextual Analysis
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Understanding the meaning of a word by using the
surrounding text.
Helpful context clues (see pg. 499)
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Definition
Synonym
Antonym
Example
General
Unhelpful context clues
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Misdirective
Nondirective
Word-Learning Strategies
Students will learn words
independently if they are taught
strategies for determining meaning.
Word-Learning Strategies
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Sequence of Instruction
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Contextual Analysis
1st – Context clues in read-alouds
2nd – Context clues in independently read texts
3rd – Types of context clues
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Morphemic Analysis
1st – Compound words
2nd – Prefixes and derivational suffixes with Anglo-Saxon root
words
3rd – Greek words
4th – Latin roots
5th – Greek and Latin roots plus affixes
Teaching Word-Learning
Strategies
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Using the Dictionary
Pave Procedure
Concept of Definition Map
Compound Words
Word Familes
Word-Part Clues
Context Clues
Vocabulary Strategy
Using the Dictionary
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Direct Explanation
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Use dictionaries to
define, clarify and
confirm meaning of
words
Display Guidelines
for Using Dictionary
(see pg. 507)
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Teach/ Model
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Read all the entries
Read all the different
meaning in an entry
Choose the meaning
that makes the most
sense
Using the Dictionary Cont.
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Guided Practice
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Practice “Guidelines
for Using the
Dictionary” with the
class.
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Independent
Practice
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Allow class time for
independent practice
PAVE Procedure
Stands for:
Prediction, Association,
Verification and Evaluation
PAVE Procedure
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Direct Explanation
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Explain to student that PAVE can help
them determine meaning to unfamiliar
words.
Teach/Model
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PAVE Map (see pg 512)
PAVE Procedure Map
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1. Copy the Context
Sentence
2. Print the Target
Word
3. Predict the
Word’s Meaning
4. Write a Sentence
Using the Word’s
Predicted Meaning
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5. Use Dictionary to
Verify the Word’s
Meaning
6. Revise the
Sentence Using the
Word’s Verified
Definition
7. Draw a Picture to
Associate the Word’s
Meaning
PAVE Procedure Cont.
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Guided Practice
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Give student copy of PAVE map.
Guide students through the steps
Independent Practice
Concept of Definition Map
Three Elements
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1. What is it?
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2. What is it like?
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Category the word belongs to.
Characteristics of the word.
3. What are Some Examples?
Concept of Definition Map
Cont.
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Direct Explanation
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Teach/Model
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Explain this map will help them understand
three elements of good definition
Complete the map (See pg. 517)
Guided Practice
Independent Practice
Compound Words
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Direct Explanation
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Teach/Model
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Meaning can sometimes be understood by
the smaller two word parts of compound
word.
For ideas see pg 522
Guided Practice
Independent Practice
Word Familes
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Direct Explanation
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Remind student root word cannot be broken into smaller
words
Group of words with same root word is called Word Family
Teach/Model
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Display examples of word families
Explain meaning of root word
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Guided Practice
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Independent Practice
Word-Part Clues
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Prefixes
Suffixes
Roots