Meaning Vocabulary Ch. 6
Closely related to comprehension
Interactive view of reading:
• Involves identifying words automatically
and attaching background knowledge to
construct meaning.
• Using structural features and syntax to
complete meaning.
Meaning vocabulary
• Word meanings are learned through
vicarious experiences, reading, viewing
films.
• Meaning vocabulary closely reflects the
real life and vicarious experiences.
• Understanding complex meaning of words.
Vocabulary Growth
• Definitional knowledge-word knowledge based
on definition (coming from a dictionary)
• Contextual knowledge is word meaning coming
from context (gist of the meaning).
• Knowing a meaning at a simple level has limited
potential use.
• Both of these degrees of knowledge can be part
of an effective program.
• Not all or nothing!
Tennyson and Cocchiarella:
• Two phases of learning concepts.
• 11. Formation of concepts in relationship to
attributes. (prototypes)
– May over generalize or under generalize: all animals
in the field are cows.
• 2. Classification skills of generalizing between
newly encountered instances of associated
concepts.
– Child can tell the difference between cows and horses.
Teacher directed Vocabulary
Instruction
• Teaching vocabulary vs. incidental learning of
vocabulary. These are not competing
philosophies.
• Students must be actively involved in discussion
of words.
• Students must encounter the words in meaningful
text in real stories that are functionally important
within a content area.
– Word walls with content vocabulary are a good
method for review and repetition.
Expanding Vocabularies
• 1. Choose words for vocabulary instruction that
come from contextual reading.
• 2. Use direct vocabulary instruction to make
mental pictures, etc.
• 3. Use analogies, characteristic, anything to tag
new meaning to old meaning.
• Give different opportunities to see these words.
• Use structural analysis
Semantic Mapping
Brain Research
• Visual organizers help to tag new meaning
to old word.
• Child understands and remembers the
relationships between the words.
• Students categorize the new word with
similar words.
• Can be used for preteaching vital concepts
of the lesson.
Procedure for Semantic Mapping
• Select the target word from a topic
• Write the word on the chart
• Brainstorm words that are related to this
word.
• Group the words into categories
• Add more essential words to the categories
as they come to mind.
Webbing
• Shows words and their connections.
• Present the entire web without the central
word.
• Use this to establish background
knowledge or to summarize the lesson.
• Design a web for overused words such as
said. This web will offer choices of words
when students are writing.
shouted
described
joked
whispered
yelled
Semantic Features Analysis
• Teaching relationships among words.
• Using a grid. Types go on the left. Qualifying
descriptors go across the top. Answer each type
to see if the descriptors apply. Example: p/ 219
Is an algae eater located at the bottom, middle or
top ? Put a + in the appropriate box.
• This technique builds bridges from old to new
words.
Word Sorts:
• Give students several words that are related
and ask them to sort the words into
categories.
• Word associations: Connect new words to
familiar ones. Use common suffixes,
prefixes.
Contextual approaches
• Modeling_the teacher talks out loud about how
she arrives at the meaning using context and
structural knowledge.If the sentence doesn’t give
clues, read further.
• Different meanings for the same word
(polysemous words) often interfere with
contextual meaning.
• Homonyms sound alike but are spelled
differently. Young readers confuse them.
• Lots of experience with language and print
eliminate this problem.
Language Based Approaches
• Encouraging free reading helps to build
vocabulary.
• Have students listen to good stories on tape.
• Predictable books have much repetition.
• Big books, poetry, story telling and creative
dramatics foster enjoyment of reading.
Poetry Writing
• Word choice is vital. Economy of words helps to
focus on meaning.
• Formula poems make writing poetry effortless.
• Diamante: Line 1 noun, line 2 two adjectives,
line 3 3 participles (ing words).
• Line 4 4 nouns or phrases, line 5 3 participles
noting change, line 6 2 adjectives. Line 7
contrasting noun.
Writing Journals, Diaries, and
Response Journals
• Students internalize meanings when they
write.They write best with a specific audience. If
the audience is the teacher, then the teacher
should respond with a comment or question.
• Student compiled dictionaries. Could have
pictures for young readers and complete with
graphs, charts, and examples for content reading.
Have the students make their dictionary very
complete by allowing them to use then to answer
quizzes over the topic. After the quiz, have them
add and amend so they will be correct for
studying for the test.
Summary
• Students add to their vocabularies by refining
word knowledge. Life experiences, and print
experiences help
• Student need both direct instruction and wide
reading opportunities for vocabulary growth.
• 1. Relate new words to familiar ones. 2. Provide
opportunities to encounter new words. 3. Focus
on key words for new concepts.
• Semantic mapping, word mapping, webbing, and
semantic features analysis are procedures for
learning content words.