Vocabulary
Adapted from http://reading.uoregon.edu/voc/index.php,
Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement
Facts About Vocabulary
Children from different social classes enter
school with "meaningful differences" in
vocabulary knowledge.
[Hart, B., & Risley, R. T. (1995). Meaningful differences in the
everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore: Paul H.
Brookes.]
For example 
Differences in the Number of Words
Children Hear
In a typical hour, the average child would
hear:
• Professional:
2,153 words
• Working Class:
1,251 words
• Welfare:
616 words
Differences in the Variety of Words Children Hear,
and Therefore Learn.
By the time the children were 3 years old,
parents in less economically favored
circumstances had said fewer different
words in their cumulative monthly
vocabularies than the children in the most
economically advantaged families in the
same period of time (Hart & Risley, 1995).
Differences in the Uses and the Quality of
Words Children Hear and Therefore Learn.
• Professional:
32 affirmations,
5 prohibitions
• Working Class:
12 affirmations,
7 prohibitions
• Welfare:
5 affirmations,
11 prohibitions
(Hart & Risley, 1995)
Differences in the Uses and the Quality of Words
Children Hear and Therefore Learn.
• The majority of communications in families of
disadvantaged children are linguistically simple
and are designed to stop behavior.
• These differences in the number, variety, and
quality of vocabulary heard by children have
long-term effects.
For example
Differences in the Size of Children’s
Vocabulary
• Children from professional families:
1100 words
• Children from working class families: 700 words
• Children from welfare families:
500 words
Differences in the Development of Children’s
Vocabulary
Children who enter with limited vocabulary
knowledge grow much more discrepant over
time from their peers who have rich vocabulary
knowledge.
[Baker, Simmons, & Kame'enui. (1997). Vocabulary acquisition: Research
bases. In Simmons, D. C. & Kame'enui, E. J. (Eds.), What reading research
tells us about children with diverse learning needs: Bases and basics.
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.]
For example 
The Number of Words Students Learn (The Growth in
Vocabulary) Varies Greatly.
Disadvantaged vs. advantaged children:
• 2 vs. 8 words per day
• 750 vs. 3,000 per year
• Between grades 1 and 3, it is estimated that
economically disadvantaged students'
vocabularies increase by about 3,000 words per
year and middle-class students' vocabularies
increase by about 5,000 words per year.
Okay. That’s enough chit chat. Let’s do something about it! 
Five Ways to Teach Vocabulary, or
What Words Mean
A. Teach Directly by:
1. Giving examples and nonexamples.
“This line is curved.”
“This line is NOT curved.”
2. Giving synonyms. “Masticate means chew.”
3. Giving definitions. “Monarchy is government led by one
person.”
Five Ways to Teach Vocabulary, or
What Words Mean
B. Teach Indirectly by:
4. Using context to suggest meaning of a new word.
“The fan oscillated from side to side. The fan MOVED
from side to side. So oscillate probably means to…”
5. Morphemic (word part) analysis.
“Inspire. In means to put something inside. Spir means
spirit. So, to inspire means to….”
Let’s start with teaching vocabulary directly. 
Direct Teaching of Vocabulary
"Because children with weaker vocabularies are less likely to learn
new words from listening to stories than children with larger
vocabularies, teachers need to provide more direct instruction for
children with smaller vocabularies" (Robbins & Ehri, 1994).
• In other words, directly teach the meaning of many words with
** Examples. “These (4 examples/pictures) are pine needles.”
** Definitions. “A galaxy is a massive group of stars, dust, and gas
held together by gravity. Here are examples of galaxies
(pictures).”
** Synonyms: “Distribute means to spread around. For example, I
will distribute the cookies. I will spread around the cookies to
kids in the group.”
Direct Teaching of Vocabulary
• 300-400 new word meanings can be
taught per year through direct instruction.
• This is a significant proportion of the
words that students who are at risk will
learn.
Direct teaching using examples 
Teaching Vocabulary Directly by Examples (Modeling)
Use examples when it’s impossible to use
language to explain the meaning of a
word, because the concept is abstract or is
not an object (e.g., between, in).
Here’s how 
Teaching Vocabulary Directly by Examples (Modeling)
1. Show a range of examples (e.g., red) that differ in ways
that are NOT relevant (e.g., shape and size) but are the
SAME in the defining feature (e.g., redness).
2. Then put examples and NONexamples next to each
other so that kids can compare and contrast. Make sure
that the examples and nonexamples are the SAME in
many ways (size, shape) but are DIFFERENT in the
defining feature (e.g., color).
Here’s how 
Teaching Vocabulary Directly by Examples (Modeling)
To help kids to see the defining feature (the
meaning) of the concept, contrast examples and
NONexamples that are the SAME except for the
defining features.
“This is red.”
‘This is NOT red.”
Here are more examples 
Teaching Vocabulary Directly by Examples (Modeling)
This is a cylinder
This is a cylinder
This is a cylinder.
This is not a cylinder
Teaching Vocabulary Directly by Examples (Modeling)
3. Then test to see if students got the essential (defining) feature by
having them respond to examples and nonexamples. The table
shows the three things to do.
Examples
Nonexamples
Test
More examples 
Teaching Vocabulary Directly by Examples (Modeling)
Now let’s use direct teaching with synonyms 
Teaching Vocabulary Directly with Synonyms
Teach with synonyms when a student knows another word(s) that
can explain the meaning of a new, unknown word (e.g., damp
means a little wet).
1. Teacher equates a new word (sturdy) with a known word or words
(strong).
“Here is a new word. Sturdy. Sturdy means strong.“ And,
“Another word for jest is joke.”
2. Then teach synonyms and antonyms.
“Ex at the start of a word means out. INspire is to put spirit in.
What does expire mean?
3. Then test whether students “get” the meaning with examples and
nonexamples
“Huge means very big. What does huge mean?” …..
“Tom put his pet in his pocket. Was his pet huge?”
Teaching Vocabulary Directly with Synonyms
4. Then teacher provides practice using several recently
taught synonyms.
"Is that sturdy?”
“Is this one huge?”
5. Then students practice by replacing in a sentence the
synonym with the new word.
“Listen. The dog was very big (synonym). Say that
sentence with our NEW word.” The dog was huge.
“Yes, the dog was HUGE.”
Teaching Vocabulary Directly with Definitions
Use definitions when students have adequate language
to understand a longer explanation but when the
concept is too complicated to be explained through a
synonym (e.g., service station is a place where gasoline
is sold and cars are repaired = too complicated).
1.Teacher tells the students the definition and has them
repeat it.
"An exit is a door that leads out of a building. What is an
exit?“
“Trench. A trench is a dug-out part of the ground.
What is a trench?”
Teaching Vocabulary Directly with Definitions
2. Next, the teacher shows examples.
“Here are trenches. See how they are dug out of the
ground”
Teaching Vocabulary Directly with Definitions
3.Then teacher tests the students using examples and
nonexamples to ensure that students understand the
definition and that they are not just memorizing a series
of words.
"Is this an exit or not an exit? Yes.
How do you know?“ [Student
uses definition to explain.
“Because it’s a door that
goes out of a building.”]
“Is this an exit or not an exit? No.
How do you know?”
Indirect Teaching of Vocabulary
The two methods for teaching vocabulary
indirectly are for older children.
• Contextual analysis…
Look at context for clues to meaning.
“The mountain trembled and the rocks tumbled down.
What does a mountain do when it trembles, that could
make rocks tumble down?”
• and morphemic analysis
Look at word parts and their meanings.
“The tires finally got traction in the snow. Tractor. A
tractor digs into the ground and pulls. Attraction.
When things attract, they pull together. Distraction.
When things distract, they pull apart. What does tract
mean?”
Let’s put it all together into storybook lessons. 
When to Teach Vocabulary
You can teach new (and review older) vocabulary words:
• Before you begin each daily lesson in a program, such as
100 Easy Lessons. These words might be from kids’
school textbooks or maybe they are just important words
generally.
“Here are two NEW words for today. Budget and
congress.”
• Before and during storybook reading.
“We have three new magic words today---complete,
disarray, and converge.”
Teaching vocabulary using storybooks
Features of Storybook Instruction
• Repeat readings of story chunks (e.g., a paragraph)---
alternating teacher, children, teacher, children. By
reading first, the teacher shows HOW to read--especially new words to sound out and new vocabulary
words to teach. By reading the same paragraph several
times, kids get to practice and firm up sounding out hard
words, using new vocabulary words, and reading faster
(fluency).
Teaching Vocabulary Using Storybooks
Features of Storybook Instruction
• Start with an introduction---title, cover pictures, predict
what story is about.
• Make sure there are few interruptions during reading.
• Discuss story after reading.
Teaching vocabulary using storybooks
Features of Storybook Instruction
• 3 target words per story.
• How to Select Words to Pre-teach.
**Identify words that are critical to understanding
the story that are not explained in the text.
**Select words students will "encounter" again
(moderate frequency words)
Teaching Vocabulary Using Storybooks
Features of Storybook Instruction
• Remember: Teach meaning by:
** Examples.
** Synonyms.
** Definitions
** Context clues.
** Morphemic analysis
Teaching Vocabulary Using Storybooks
Features of Storybook Instruction
• Encourage "deep" processing; e.g.,
** Use words (traction) to make
distinctions. “Which surface gives more
traction? An icy road or a dry road?”
** Have the student make up sentences
with the new words. “This eraser has
traction on the paper.”
Storybook Lessons
Note that there are at least three lessons on the same
story. How do the lessons change?
Storybook Lessons
•
Storybook Reading Lesson 1
Story Introduction (3 - 4 minutes)
** Title, author, illustrator
** Rationale for reading: “We will learn about…”
** Cover presentation, prediction of what story is about
** Focus on story elements (character, setting, etc.)
** Introduce 3 target vocabulary words
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 1
• Reading (4 - 6 minutes)
** Few interruptions; pause for target vocabulary words
** Post-Reading Discussion Questions (3 - 5 minutes)
** Relate to student experiences
“Now try your best to remember what happens in the
story. I will help you by asking questions and showing
pictures. Be sure to tell me the names of the characters,
where the story takes place, and the problems the
characters have. Tell me the story as if you were telling
it to a friend who has never heard it.”
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2.
[Same book]
• Story Introduction (3 - 4 minutes)
** Title, author, illustrator
** Ask recall questions emphasizing story elements:
characters, actions.
“Who….?” “What did _________ do next?”
** Review 3 target vocabulary words by showing words in
context—how they fit into the story.
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2
• Reading (4 - 6 minutes)
**Pause to teach NEW target vocabulary words.
rumpus, terrible, mischief.
Relate definition to children’s experience. “Have
you ever had a RUMPUS?”
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2
**Prompted Retell
“Now try your best to remember what happens
in the story. I will help you by asking questions
and showing pictures. Be sure to tell me the
names of the characters, where the story takes
place, and the problems the characters have.
Tell me the story as if you were telling it to a
friend who has never heard it.”
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2
**Guess the Word Game
“You are going to tell me which word goes with another word. If you
get it right, I will give the group a star. “
“Which words go with terrible? Very bad or very nice?”
“Which words go with rumpus? Playing dolls or wild play?”
“Which words go with mischief? Naughty things or helpful things?”
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2
** Target Words (terrible, rumpus, mischief) in
Context
A. Page with Max chasing the dog.
“Mischief is doing naughty things.”
“What is mischief?” (doing naughty
things)
“One night Max wore his wolf suit and
made mischief of one kind and
another; he did many naughty things.”
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2
** Target Words (terrible, rumpus, mischief) in
Context
B. Page with Max landing at the place where the wild
things are.
“Terrible means very bad.”
“What is terrible?” (very bad)
“They roared their terrible roars, their
very bad roars.”
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2
• “Remember we had 3 magic words that you listened for
in the story. Point to the words on the tagboard [board
with words on 3 x 5 cards tacked up] as you repeat
them quickly: mischief, terrible, rumpus.”
a. “The first magic word was mischief. Show the picture
where Max is chasing the dog. In the picture Max is
making____________.” (mischief)
Storybook Lessons
Storybook Reading Lesson 2
b. “The next magic word was terrible. Show the
picture with Max landing at the place
where the wild things are. The wild things had
eyes that were___________.” (terrible)
c. “The third magic word was rumpus. Show
the picture where the wild things are howling at
the moon. Max led the wild things in a
_________________”
(rumpus)