Planning Guide for Vocabulary Instruction
Date__________________ School/District______________________________
Name__________________________ Subject/Gr.Lev.____________________
Curricular Concepts Addressed from:
Social Studies Science
Mathematics
Art
Music
P.E.
L.A. Other
Part 1 (identify vocabulary words from the text; star Tier Two words most necessary for
comprehension; decide which words will be brief/elaborate attention words and put them in the
appropriate column)
List of Words
Brief Attention Words
Elaborate Attention Words
Star the Tier Two words most
necessary for comprehension
Part 2
Briefly describe the instructional sequence used to teach elaborate attention words:
1. Read the Passage (describe the
resource you are using: title, author,
etc.)
2. Contextualize the words
(read each word as it is used in the text)
3. Explain the word meanings
(student-friendly explanations)
4. Students say the word and record in
their notebook
5. Examples beyond passage context
(use either pictures or samples of text)
Part 3
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Activities for extended interaction with vocabulary
Questions, Reasons & Example
 Making Choices
Word Wizard
 Post and Tally
Word associations
 Record the words
Have you ever
 Idea completion
Facets of word meanings
 Relationship among words
Student word use
 Applause, Applause
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Describe the examples for the activity:
Part 4
Complete the following after the instructional activity:
Amount of time spent on activity:____________minutes
Briefly describe what you notice about your students’ level of engagement during
this activity:
Students Showing Cognitive Control
# of students able to use words in meaningful context__________
# of students needing additional modeling and/or minimal teacher prompting_________
# of students unable to complete activity_________
Collaboration Data
Did you work with your collaborative partner to select and rehearse components
of your lesson?
______YES
_____NO If “yes”, how many times?____
Did you demonstrate the lesson (with students) for your collaborative partner?
______YES
_____NO If “yes”, how many times?____
Activities for Extended Interaction with Vocabulary
Overview
Applause, Applause!
“Applause, Applause!” asks students to clap to indicate how much they would like to be described by the new vocabulary
words (not at all, a little bit, a lot) and why they would feel that way.
Facets of Word Meanings
Students are asked to respond to various characteristics of the words to help them see a word not as a single block of
meaning but as having different facets to its meaning. The purpose is to make students’ word knowledge flexible so they
can understand the word and apply the word to a variety of contexts.
Have you Ever…..?
“Have You Ever….?” asks students to associate newly learned words with contexts and activities from their own
experiences.
Idea Completion
The Idea Completion activity provides students with sentence stems that require them to integrate a word’s meaning into
context in order to explain a situation.
Making Choices
The teacher selects a new vocabulary word to work with, then creates a list of examples-each of which students have to
decide if it is an example of the new vocabulary word. Students interact with a target word by responding to sets of words
as either examples of the new vocabulary word or not by saying the new word. If it is not an example they say nothing.
Post and Tally
The teacher writes the words from a passage on large poster board with space after each word. The teacher will put a
tally mark after a word when a student uses the word during the day or notices that the teacher has used the word. At the
end of the day, the teacher points out each word’s score.
Questions, Reasons, and Examples
Students interact with a new vocabulary word by responding to and explaining examples as well as creating their own
examples. Questions, Reasons, and Examples asks the students what they could do with the word, why or why not, and
determine from a set of choices which might be that word.
Record the Words
Students keep a written record in a vocabulary notebook or journal of words that are introduced. An example of the use of
each word should also be added to the record.
Relationship among Words
Activities are designed around relationships among words. Relationships are important because of the way an
individual’s word knowledge is stored in networks of connected ideas.
Paired Words: Students have to consider how meanings interact in order to answer questions. Example: Would
you pay homage to something tolerable?
Developing Semantic Relationships: Teachers add more words to those under study. Examples could be
exploring opposites or dimensions of the words.
Student-friendly Explanations
A student-friendly explanation characterizes the word and how it is typically use and explains the meaning of the word in
everyday language.
Student Word Use
After class discussions, students create sentences for each target word.
Word Associations
After the teacher explains the meanings of new vocabulary words, students are asked to associate one of their new
vocabulary words with a word or phrase and to explain why they decided on that connection. Students are to look for a
relationship and to explain their reasoning by considering and mentally manipulating it.
Word Wizard
Students gain points by bringing in evidence of hearing, seeing, or using new vocabulary words outside the classroom.
Students can earn points for repeated sightings of new words or for using them.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life. New York, NY: The Guilford Press