Vocabulary Instruction for Upper Elementary
and Middle Grades: Strategies for Success
Adolescent Literacy Webcast Series
WestVirginia Department of Education
August 27, 2008
Essential Questions
 Why focus on vocabulary instruction?
 What are the links between vocabulary and
reading comprehension?
 What is academic vocabulary and why is it
important?
 What are the components of effective
vocabulary instruction?
How do YOU
teach vocabulary?
Brainstorm with your
colleagues for one
minute. Think about
how you presently
address vocabulary
instruction within your
curriculum.
Some vocabulary practices…
Unreliable Practices
 Asking students, “Does
anyone know what _____
means?”
 Numerous independent
activities without guidance or
immediate feedback
 Directing students to “look it
up” then use it in a sentence
 Relying on context based
guessing as a primary strategy
Research-based Practices
 Teacher directed, explicit
instruction
 Provide opportunities to
practice using words
 Teach word meanings
explicitly and systematically
 Teach independent word
learning strategies (i.e.,
contextual strategies &
morphemic analysis
Vocabulary is
 Oral and written
 Expressive and Receptive
Vocabulary instruction is
Direct
Indirect
Why focus on vocabulary instruction?
“Of the many compelling reasons for providing
students with instruction to build vocabulary, none
is more important than the contribution of
vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension.
Indeed, one of the most enduring findings in reading
research is the extent to which students’ vocabulary
knowledge relates to their reading comprehension.”
(Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Baumann, Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003; Becker, 1977; Davis, 1942;
Whipple, 1925)
Vocabulary Knowledge has a Direct
Impact on Comprehension
 Children’s vocabulary as measured in PreK is directly
correlated with reading comprehension in upper
elementary grades (Dickinson and Tabois, 2001).
 Cunningham and Stanovich (1997) reported finding that
“vocabulary as assessed in grade 1 predicts more than 30
percent of grade 11 reading comprehension.”
The Vocabulary Gap
Grade
Average Student
Bottom 25%
End of PreK
3,440
2,440
End of Kindergarten
4,300
3,016
End of Grade 1
5,160
3,592
End of Grade 2
6,020
4,168
(Biemiller, 2005b)
Vocabulary Gap
 The vocabulary gap grows each year(Stanovich, 1986).
 Beginning in the intermediate grades, the “achievement
gap” between socioeconomic groups is a language gap
(Hirsh, 2002).
 For those students who are English Language Learners,
the achievement gap is a vocabulary gap (Carlo, et al.,
2004).
Actual Differences in Language
Quantity of Words Heard
Quality of Words Heard
In a typical hour, the average child
will hear:
In a typical hour, the average child
will hear:
Welfare
616 words
Working Class
1,251 words
Professional
2,153 words
Professional
32 affirmations
and 5
prohibitions
Working Class
12 affirmations
and 7
prohibitions
Welfare
5 affirmations
and 11
prohibitions
Closing the Vocabulary Gap
Research-based Strategies for Improving Student
Vocabulary
So many words…
 How many words do we expect students to learn?
 How many words can students actually learn and what
teaching methods are most effective?
 How many words can we expect to teach explicitly and for
which words can we give immediate, brief explanations?
 How can we increase student knowledge of words as well as
the number of words they actually learn?
Getting Them All Engaged
 Choral Responses
 Partner Responses
 Written Responses
 Individual Responses
“It’s not what you say or do that
ultimately matters…It is what
you get the students to do as a
result of what you said and did
that counts.”
(Archer, Feldman, & Kinsella, 2008)
Vocabulary Casserole
Ingredients Needed:
20 words no one has ever heard before in his life
1 dictionary with very confusing definitions
1 matching test to be distributed by Friday
1 teacher who wants students to be quiet on Mondays copying words
Put 20 words on chalkboard. Have students copy then look up in
dictionary. Make students write all the definitions. For a little
spice, require that students write words in sentences. Leave alone
all week. Top with a boring test on Friday.
Perishable. This casserole will be forgotten by Saturday afternoon.
Serves: No one.
Adapted from When Kids Can’t Read,What
Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers
Vocabulary Treat
Ingredients Needed:
5-10 great words that you really could use
1 thesaurus
Markers and chart paper
1 game like Jeopardy or BINGO
1 teacher who thinks learning is supposed to be fun
Mix 5 to 10 words into the classroom. Have students test
each word for flavor. Toss with a thesaurus to find
other words that mean the same. Write definitions on
chart paper and let us draw pictures of words to
remind us what they mean. Stir all week by a teacher
who thinks learning is supposed to be fun. Top with a
cool game on Fridays like jeopardy or BINGO to see
who remembers the most.
Serves: Many
Adapted from When Kids Can’t Read,What
Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers
Word Selection for Explicit
Instruction
 Due to the extensive vocabulary gap and the immense
amount of words located within school texts, strategic
selection of vocabulary to be taught explicitly is required.
 Select a relatively small number of words for explicit
instruction, 3-10 words per story or selection.
 Select words that are unknown, critical to the meaning
and words that the student will likely encounter in the
future. (Archer, 2008)
So, which words do we teach?
 Useful words (Tier 1):
clock, baby, happy
 High-frequency words (Tier 2):
coincidence, absurd, industrious
 Specific domain words(Tier 3):
isotope, lathe, peninsula
From: Bringing Words to Life - Robust Vocabulary Instruction by Isabelle
Beck, Margaret McKeown, & Linda Kucan
Instructional Routine for Explicit
Vocabulary Instruction
 Introduce the word.
 Introduce the meaning of the word with a
student friendly explanation.
 Illustrate the word with examples and nonexamples.
 Check for student understanding.
(Anita Archer, 2008)
What is Academic Vocabulary?
 Academic vocabulary refers to the specialized,
high-utility words used in the classroom
 Academic vocabulary includes high-use
academic words (e.g., analyze, summarize,
evaluate, formula, respond, specify)
 Academic language includes the vocabulary,
grammar & syntax necessary to competently
discuss a topic
Why Teach Academic Vocabulary?
 Students need to learn the language of written
text and academic content areas through direct,
explicit instruction.
 Most students do not come to school prepared to
comprehend academic language therefore it must
be taught explicitly with students having access to
numerous practice opportunities
Academic Vocabulary Examples
 analysis
 concept
 approach
 environment
 consistent
 area
 established
 constitutional
 assessment
 estimate
 context
 assume
 evidence
 contract
 authority
 export
 create
 available
 financial
 data
 benefit
 formula
 definition
 function
http://language.massey.ac.nz/staff/awl/awlinfo.shtml
(Academic Word Lists)
Intentional Teaching of Academic
Vocabulary
 Structure academic conversations by providing sentence
starters:
 I predict ___________________.
 I predict __________________ because ______________.
 Encourage students to use “smart” words:






delighted instead of happy
accurate instead of good
hypothesize instead of guess
illustrate instead of draw
comment instead of tell
seek instead of find
Growing Rich Vocabularies
How can we possibly teach all the
words students need to learn?
 In an attempt to close the vocabulary gap,
students must learn a large volume of
words…more words than we can teach.
 Word learning strategies arm students with
ways to gain understanding from unknown
words.
Word Learning Strategies
 Using context clues
 Utilizing morphemic analysis
 Teaching the word families
 Teaching cognate awareness
 Fostering word consciousness
 Exposing students to vocabulary multiple times
and in various manners
Fostering Word Consciousness
 Teach similes, metaphors and idioms.
 Have fun with word play by utilizing riddles,
puns, anagrams, acronyms and tongue
twisters.
 Provide students with a print rich
environment.
 Engage students in activities that explore the
history of words and word origins.
Encourage Wide Reading
 “The best way to foster vocabulary
growth is to promote wide reading.”
(Anderson, 1992)
 Maximize access to reading materials
and quality, authentic text.
 Capture students curiosity with read
alouds, book talks and author studies.
 Expect reading outside of class.
Vocabulary is a lifelong pursuit….
 “Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be
fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over
the course of a lifetime.” (Vocabulary Handbook, p.2)
 Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a
word not only implies how that word fits into the world.”
(Stahl, 2005)
Vocabulary Resources
Professional Learning Community
Suggestions
Kylene Beers
Michael Graves
William Nagy
Kylene
Beers
Robert
Marzano
Teach 21 Strategies Bank
http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/vocabulary.html
Teach 21 Strategy Bank - Vocabulary
Other Helpful Websites
 www.fcrr.org practice activities for vocabulary for grades 4 and 5




can be easily adapted for older students
www.scoe.org Anita Archer’s vocabulary instruction videos &
Kevin Feldman’s presentations
www.freereading.org Includes a wide variety of learning activities
to develop and sharpen reading skills
www.interventioncentral.org Various reading interventions are
explored and recommendations given
www.readingrockets.org Provides strategies for working with
struggling readers, lessons, webcasts, techniques for teaching
reading and podcasts to see it all in action
TextProject
Access to find
WordZones
lists,
presentations,
reports and
other useful
information
related to
vocabulary and
comprehension
instruction.
http://www.textproject.org/
Florida Center for Reading Research
Specific
instructional
routines and
student
learning
center
activities for
Grades 4 & 5.
http://www.fcrr.org/Curriculum/studentCenterActivities.htm
FCRR – Student Center Activities
http://www.fcrr.org/Curriculum/studentCenterActivities.htm
Student-Friendly Dictionaries
Collins Cobuild Student’s Dictionary
ISBN: 0007126409; www.heinle.com
Heinle’s Newbury House Dictionary of American English
ISBN: 0838426573; www.heinle.com
Longman Dictionary of American English
www.longman.com
Student Friendly Definitions
www.longman.com
Recommended Books

Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G. & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. New
York: The Guilford Press.

Baumann, J.F. 7 Kame’enui, E.J. (2004) Vocabulary Instruction: Research to Practice. New York: The Guilford
Press.

Biemiller, A. (1999). Language and Reading Success. Brookline, MA: Brookline Books.

Graves, M.F. (2006). The Vocabulary Book: Learning and Instruction. New York: Teacher’s College Press,

Diamond, L. & Gutlohn (2006). Vocabulary Handbook. Berkley, CA: Consortium on Reading Excellence, Inc.

Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children.
Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Heibert, E.H. & Kamil, Michael. (2005) Teaching and Learning Vocabulary: Brining Scientific Research to
Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

Marzano, R.J. (2004) Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Marzano, R.J., & Pickering (2005). Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher’s Manual. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Stahl, S.A. (1998). Vocabulary Development. Cambridge, MA: Brookline.

Stahl, S.A. & Kapinus, B. (2001).Word Power: What Every Educator needs to Know About Teaching Vocabulary.
Washington, DC: NEA
Next Webcast
 When?
 Who?
 What?
Wednesday, October 29th, 3:15-4:15 p.m.
Upper elementary and middle school Literacy
Leadership Teams and Reading/English
Language Arts teachers
Strategic vocabulary selection, independent
reading, academic vocabulary for R/ELA,
assessment of vocabulary
Contact Us
Linda Palenchar, Coordinator
Office of Special Programs
lpalench@access.k12.wv.us
Angie Ware, RTI Specialist
RESA II
aware@access.k12.wv.us
http://wvde.state.wv.us/ose/RtI.html