F ALLING I N L OVE W ITH W ORDS :
V OCABULARY A CQUISITION
By Linda Avendano
Southern Nevada Writing Project
Summer 2012
7/3/2012
Falling In Love With Words:
Vocabulary Acquisition
What is the Importance of a Robust Vocabulary?
Vocabulary acquisition can assist our students in many ways. Others perceive those with a
vast vocabulary as an educated person, knowledge of words assists with reading
comprehension, increases academic success, helps with reading proficiency and also assists
in creating a better writing piece.
Background
I have been teaching 1st grade in a Title I school for three years. Our school is 82% Hispanic,
6 % White, 7% African American. 92% of the children receive free and reduced lunch.
In teaching my first graders I was successful in teaching the students the 200 sight words
that they should know by the end of the first grade. My goal was to extend my students’
vocabulary with sophisticated words. I not only wanted to extend their vocabulary, I wanted
them to assimilate these words in such a way that they used these sophisticated words in
their conversations and in their writing. I wanted them to recognize these words when
hearing conversations or in print outside of the classroom. I knew that if I could extend their
vocabulary that this knowledge would impact their lives in many ways. My classroom is rich
in environmental print. Everything is
labeled, there is a word wall which we
use throughout the day and I have an
extensive classroom library. I also use
“Promoting incidental learning
sophisticated vocabulary when speaking
and word consciousness through
to the children and point out vocabulary
frequent and deliberate
in the books that we read. Yet, my
students were not attaining a more
modeling of sophisticated
extensive vocabulary. I realize that
vocabulary can add substantial
many of my students do not have the
exposure to sophisticated words from
breadth to students’
birth or in their preschool years yet I felt
vocabulary.” (Lane, 2010, p 362.)
sure that the students were capable of
and would enjoy learning vocabulary
beyond what was in their basal or on the
word wall.
I asked the other first grade teachers
what they were doing to teach vocabulary explicitly and I was the only one that was even
attempting to try.
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What Does Research Say?
Isabel Beck, PhD, Professor of Education and Senior Scientist, Margaret McKeown, PhD,
Research Scientist, and Linda Kucan, PhD Assistant Professor, along with many others
conducted research on the importance of a robust vocabulary. They found that



First graders from higher SES group knew about twice as many words as children
from a lower SES.
High school seniors near the top of their class knew about four times as many words
as their lower-performing classmates
High-knowledge third graders had vocabularies about equal to the lowest-performing
12th graders.
During the last trimester of my third year of teaching I tried something new. I wrote a
vocabulary word on the corner of my whiteboard and surrounded it with stars. The students
immediately noticed it. I read the word to them and then read the definition out of the
dictionary. Throughout the week I used the word constantly in my conversations with the
children or just used it in a silly sentence to make them laugh. Soon, they were coming to me
and using the vocabulary word. After the week was completed, I placed the word on the word
wall and put up a second word. The children began to use the words in their writing and a
few days later a parent came up to me and told me her child was saying words at home that
they have never used in their family. Once, I observed one of my students repeating
‘fortuitous’ over and over again, giggling to herself. This is when I realized that the students
were beginning to fall in love with words! The downside: It was the end of the year and I only
increased their vocabulary by eight words.
Teachers Know That…..
But….
 Words are learned from
context.
 Text is far less effective for
learning new vocabulary
than oral language.
 School age children are
learning new words.
 Amount of words learned
by various groups of
children varies greatly.
 There are too many words
to teach.
 We need to set reasonable
goals. Concentrate on Tier
II words.
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Tier One: Basic words that rarely require instructional focus (door, house,
book).
Tier Two: Words that appear with high frequency, across a variety of
domains, and are crucial when using mature, academic language
(coincidence, reluctant, analysis).
Tier Three: Frequency of these words is quite low and often limited to
specific fields of study (isotope, Reconstruction, Buddhism).
My Dilemma
Thus, my dilemma is threefold.



How can I help my students to fall in love with words so that they use these
sophisticated words in conversations, in their writing, and recognize the words in
print and in conversations outside of the classroom?
How can I implement vocabulary acquisition in such a way that the students’
vocabulary is increased substantially?
How can I assess my students’ deep knowledge of vocabulary?
What Can We Do?
Sophisticated vocabulary cannot be obtained without robust vocabulary instruction. As with
anything we teach our students, the instruction must be engaging, thought provoking,
playful¸ and must be revisited and documented. Become a ‘word conscious’ teacher and
use sophisticated words throughout your day beginning with when you greet the students.
Give students opportunity for authentic writing with the words of their choice. Vocabulary
instruction must be a regular part of your daily routine.
Assessing a Students’ Deep Knowledge of Vocabulary
 Teacher observation (use of vocabulary in conversation).
 Graphic Organizers
 Use of vocabulary in writing.
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Common Core Standards
W.K.2. - Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose
informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing
about and supply some information about the topic.
L1.1, L.2.1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L1.6 - Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and
being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring
conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., because).
L.2.4, L.3.4, L.4.4, L.5.4, L.6.4, L.7.4, L.8.4 - Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on
grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
L.4.4c, L.5.4c, L.6.4c, L.7.4c, L.8.4c, L9-10.4c - Consult reference materials
(e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the
pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and
phrases.
L.6.4d, L.7.4d, L.8.4d - Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word
or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
W.9-10d - Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the
complexity of the topic.
L.9-10.6 - Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific
words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at
the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in
gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or expression.
L11-12.6 - Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific
words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at
the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in
gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or expression.
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Annotated Bibliography
Books
Beck, I., Kucan, L. & McKeown, M. (2002). Bringing words to life. NY:
Guilford Press.
Provides many innovative and engaging ways to implement vocabulary
instruction in the classroom. The authors give suggestions for both younger
and older students.
Blachowicz, C., Fisher, P. J. (2002). Teaching vocabulary in all classrooms.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Provides ideas on integrating vocabulary and reading instruction and
dictionary use. There is a section that specifically addresses teaching
vocabulary to students with special needs.
Fletcher, R. (1993). What a writer needs. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Chapter three is a biography of how Ralph Fletcher began to love
words at a very early age.
Overmeyer, M. (2005). When writing workshop isn’t working. Portland, MN:
Stenhouse.
Chapter 3 outlines a plan in which students write down words that are
of interest to them while reading literature. This is a wonderful idea but
must be integrated into vocabulary instruction that will lead to deep
knowledge.
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Articles
Allen, S., Lane, H.B. (2010). The vocabulary-rich classroom: Modeling
sophisticated word use to promote word consciousness and word use.
The Reading Teacher. 63(5), pp 362-370. doi: 10.1598/RT.63.5.2.
A kindergarten and fourth grade teacher reveal how they model
sophisticated vocabulary to their students in an engaging way.
Blachowicz, C.L.Z., Fisher, P. (2004) Vocabulary lessons. Educational
Leadership.pp. 66-69.
This research article emphasizes the importance of vocabulary in a
student’s life and articulates the importance of engaging the student and
making vocabulary acquisition fun.
Manyak, P. (2007). Character trait vocabulary: A schoolwide approach. The
Reading Teacher. 60(6), pp. 574-577. doi: 10.1598/RT.601.8.
This article addresses the use of explicitly teaching vocabulary by
using the traits of a character. The author also uses anchor charts to
represent the traits.
Winters, R. (2009). Interactive frame for vocabulary grown and word
consciousness. The Reading Teacher. 62(8). pp. 685-690. doi:
10.1598/RT.62.8.6.
Inverted triangle frames are implemented to bring attention to
morphemes as students brainstorm with teacher guidance. I would only
recommend this method if you have a 15-20 minute time block that you can
devote exclusively to vocabulary. This is a teacher driven method, not one
that the students would do independently.
Yopp, H. K., Yopp, R. H. (2007) Ten important words plus: A strategy for
building word knowledge. The Reading Teacher. 61.(2). pp. 157-160.
Doi10.1598/RT.61.2.5.
This article emphasizes vocabulary words within the literature that
students are reading as a class. The teacher has students write down ten
words and then chooses the most common words for vocabulary study.
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Other Resources
Grades K-2
Kiczykowski, C. (2000). Expanding the primary Writer’s Workshop: 50 minilessons to Improve Writing. Columbus, OH: Schaffer.
This book has many mini-lessons that deal specifically in assisting
students in learning descriptive words and expanding vocabulary.
Grades 3-6
Hartill, M. (1998). Fab Vocab! 35 creative vocabulary-boosting activities for
kids of all learning styles. NY: Scholastic.
This book incorporates graphic organizers and art as well as creative
writing projects to extend vocabulary.
Grades 4-8
Nickelsen, L. (1998). Quick activities to build a very voluminous vocabulary.
NY: Scholastic.
Graphic organizers, games, and worksheets are used to build and
understand vocabulary, use words in writing, and assist the student to
remember the words.
Grades 9-12
Aber, R. (2010). Doing it differently: Tips for teaching vocabulary.
Rebecca Alber gives ideas to use with high school students to improve
knowledge of words and increase vocabulary. She also explains Marzano’s
method of explaining words.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/vocabulary-instruction-teaching-tips-rebeccaalber
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Simmons, E. (2002). Visualizing vocabulary. The Quarterly. 24(3).
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/403.
her
This article expresses the author’s methods of increasing vocabulary in
grade classroom. She emphasizes roots and the origin of words.
10th
Interactive Web Sites
Vocabulary.co.il – Has interactive games to build vocabulary skills.
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