Content and Vocabulary Knowledge: Two Hidden Reasons Why Students
are Not Meeting State Standards
John Shefelbine, CSU Sacramento, shefelbine@csus.edu © 2011
A Framework for Literacy Assessment and Instruction
Vocabulary Characteristics
1) so many words,
2) most occur rarely,
3) implications of 1 and 2 for teaching and assessment
4) words represent concepts
a. when definitions are not sufficient,
b. the critical role of examples in meaningful contexts
c. the limitations of the 4-square vocabulary activity
5) the learning word meanings from context strategy: a paradox
Background Knowledge
1) knowledge of important topic-related concepts necessary for
comprehension before reading or being read to
2) accessing versus developing background knowledge
a. the limitations of KWL and the need (sometimes) for KDWL
3) topic-related vocabulary (Tier 3) versus general academic vocabulary
(Tier 2) versus common vocabulary (Tier 1) (but not necessarily
familiar to EL and low-income students)
Content and Vocabulary Knowledge
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John Shefelbine, CSU Sacramento, shefelbine@csus.edu © 2011
Text Matters
1) Text further develops content knowledge, beyond what teachers deliver in
handouts, power point presentations, etc. EL students, in particular, use
text to revisit topics that are not understood.
2) Guiding students through challenging text increases their ability to learn
from text independently (a major requirement for success in higher
education).
3) Processing text increases students’ academic language.
Content and Vocabulary Knowledge Development
1) Wide reading, listening, speaking, and writing for learning and pleasure
2) Developing a culture of literacy, preK-12
a. Success in decoding and encoding (spelling): accuracy (as a % - words correct divided by words read) below 90% = frustration,
fluency, at least 60 cwpm with accuracy above 90%)
b. Teacher-directed reading of grade-level content textbooks
(science, social studies, as well as language arts) with before,
during, and after support of narrative AND informational text; use
listening format for students with poor word analysis skills or
fluency; before reading, go over important topic related vocabulary
(both new and known) with graphic organizers that show how
words are related, during and after reading, selectively explain less
critical vocabulary, use “step asides” for new label vocabulary;
highly interactive guided discussions and writing to learn should
also occur during and after reading
c. Challenging read alouds, (especially preK-2) where students are
read TO both narrative and expository text;
d. Daily independent silent reading (at least 30 minutes) of
independent-level materials (accuracy = 98% or higher and comp +
90%) with teacher monitoring of comprehension (AR or RC as
examples)
e. Self-selected reading for pleasure with opportunities to share
socially and intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards (three researchedbased findings summarized by Gambrell).