PREVIEWING CONTENT VOCABULARY
What does it mean to know a word? Inside Words lists these “Levels of Word Knowledge”:
1. I’ve never seen the word before.
2. I’ve heard the word, but I don’t know what it means.
3. I recognize it in context and know that it is connected/related to _________(word or
concept).
4. I know the word and can use it appropriately.
“Previewing Content Vocabulary” is a way for teachers and student to assess students’
background knowledge of the words and concepts encountered in a specific reading assignment
or unit of study.
Instructions (Modified from Inside Words):
Using the graphic organizer for Previewing Content Vocabulary or a format similar
(student journal or notebook page) guide students through this activity.
1. Read the title of the chapter, text, or name of the author and ask them to brainstorm or
freewrite words and/or concepts they think they will encounter during the reading.
2. In the example, students were preparing to read an article on the history and myth of
the Trojan War. After freewriting on the words and concepts they may encounter,
they were given the word list at the bottom of the page (Content Vocabulary). These
words were taken from the reading.
3. Before reading, students individually determined their level of knowledge of each of
the words, filling out each quadrant of the organizer.
4. Students then worked in groups to share their knowledge of the words and define
unfamiliar words.
Another use for this activity is similar to a pretest (but less intimidating). For example,
write “Literary Terms” as the title and have them brainstorm a list of all the terms they know and
can define. Then provide the list you want them to know by the end of the study, semester, or
year and complete the organizer as explained above.
This strategy allows the teacher to determine not only students’ level of word knowledge,
but also their general background knowledge. It is a valuable formative assessment for how
much preteaching might be needed. Marzano reminds us, “What students already know about the
content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to
the content.”
Previewing Content Vocabulary
Chapter XII: “History and Myth come together: The Trojan War”
Based on the title, words, I would expect to read in this text:
Based on this title, I believe that it will be about the Trojan War so words like “war.” They
may talk about rulers and the importance of the Trojan war.
I’ve never heard the word…
I’ve heard the word, but I don’t know
what it means…
Fomenting
Capricious
I think the word means
or is related to…
I know the word…
Metropolis: paradise
Exquisite
Content Vocabulary
Discord
Fomenting
Compelling
Sinister
Riveted
Coveted
infinite
trivial
reverberate
comeliness
interminable
capricious
intervening
dispirited
ingenious
valor
amassed
metropolis