Teaching Vocabulary to ALL Your
K-3 Students
Created by Kristin Nelson, Ph.D. and
Naomi Watkins
Presented by ESL Department of Pittsburgh Public Schools
Today’s Schedule
 Vocabulary
Instruction Self-Inventory
 Why
K-3 Vocabulary? What do mean by ALL
Students?
 What
Research Says About K-3 Instruction
 Comprehensive
Vocabulary Curriculum
 Specific-Word Instruction
 Word-Learning Strategies
 Word Consciousness
Vocabulary Instruction Self-Inventory
Take
a few minutes to reflect on the
vocabulary instruction in your classroom.
What do you do?
What are your feelings?
Then, discuss your responses with a
neighbor.
Then, we’ll discuss as a group.
Why K-3 Vocabulary?
• Word knowledge gap begins before school
Hart and Risely (1995) found that 3-year-olds
from advantaged homes had oral vocabularies 5x
larger than those from high-poverty homes
Without intervention, vocabulary gap gets bigger
To catch up, low-vocabulary students would need
to learn 10 words a week.
Biemiller (2005) believes the bottom 25% begin
kindergarten with 1,000 fewer root word
meanings.
Why K-3 Vocabulary?
Grade
End of Pre -K
End of K
End of Grade 1
End of Grade 2
Average Student (at 2.4 root Bottom 25% ( at 1.6 root
words per day)
words per day)
3,440
2, 440
4,300
3, 016
5,160
3, 592
6,020
4, 168
Table fr om Vocabulary Handbook, p.9
What We Mean By ALL
Students
Gifted
students
Average students
English Language Learners
Struggling Readers
SPED students
Related Research
Repeated
Reading
Rich Instruction
ELLs
SPED Students
Observations
Repeated Readings
 Research
shows that encouraging vocabulary
acquisition in the primary grades using repeated
reading combined with word meaning explanation
works.
 In recent studies, Biemiller and Boote (2006)
showed, in K-2 settings with 50% Englishlanguage learners, that repeated reading with
repeated word explanations, students acquired
up to 41% of words taught.
Repeated Readings cont.
 In
these Biemiller studies, instruction was in the
form of providing simple explanations.
 At
the 41% rate of acquisition, 1,000 word
meanings, 25 per week, would have to be taught to
learn 400 words a year.
 Kindergarteners
benefited from more than two
readings with word explanation--1st and 2nd
graders, twice was sufficient.
Rich Instruction
 In
recent studies, Beck and McKeown (2007)
showed that kindergarten and first-grade
children from a low-achieving school learned
more sophisticated words with 6 days of rich
vocabulary instruction versus 3 days--with a
mean gain of 8.17 words for the verbal task (vs.
2.50) and 8.03 (vs. 2.97) for the picture task.
Observations
Nelson,
Dole, Hosp & Hosp (2008)
showed that over a three-year period,
K-3 teachers in a reading reform
project, taught vocabulary on average
about 8 minutes a day. Is this enough?
English Language Learners
From
the research we have, the
same research-based strategies also
are effective with ELLs, but should
be modified (Calderon et al. 2005).
Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs
Considerations:
Need
to teach Tier I words (basic) August et
al. (2005)
Place words in context
Provide additional scaffolding and exposures
Tie words to students’ cultural background
Build background knowledge vs. merely
activating BK
Use cognates
Incorporate pictures, objects, gestures, etc.
SPED Students
Studies
show that the same researchbased strategies also are effective with
students with disabilities--but may need
to be taught with more intensity and
repetition
Research Suggests A Comprehensive
Vocabulary Curriculum Includes:
Specific-Word
Instruction
Word-Learning Strategies
Fostering Word Consciousness
What is Specific-Word Instruction?
Step
1: Selecting Words to Teach
Step 2: Deciding to what depth you
want students to know these words
Step 3: Determining methods to
teach words at determined depth
Rationale for Selecting Words
 Text
may contain too many unknown words for direct
instruction
 Word meanings may be given within the text as they
occur
 Excellent instruction would be difficult to provide for
a long list of words
Issues Related to Choosing
Words
There
is no agreed upon list of best
individual words to teach
No definitive method for approaching
the issue how to choose words
Choices may vary depending on grade
level, reading ability, English proficiency
Choosing Specific Words:
Possible Approaches
 Biemiller
(2001) argues for teaching 4,000 root
words by the end of grade 2 followed by 500 to
750 roots per year in elementary schools. He and
his colleagues are working on a sequential list for
teachers.
 Relying
on recommendations from basals (but some
such as Hiebert (2004) argue these words are
often too rare to spend valuable time teaching)
They sometimes may be too easy as well.
Possible Approaches cont.
 Teach
a group of words that have related meanings or
related to a single topic
 Teach
words that are important to the understanding
of selection or because of their general usefulness
 Teach
words that are “conceptually difficult” (i.e., not
part of everyday experiences) such as superconductor
as opposed to superfluous
Nagy (1988)
Possible Approaches cont.
Teach
words teachers want to be
incorporated into their writing or speaking
Duin
and Graves (1987)
Teach
words based on a three-tiered
approach
Beck,
McKeown, & Kucan (2002)
Developed through their research
Three-Tiered Approach



Tier One words: Most basic words, rarely requiring instruction in
school. Baby, clock, glue, sad
Tier Three words: Words whose frequency of use is quite low,
often being limited to specific domains, and probably best
learned when needed in a content area. Isotope, lathe, peninsula
Tier Two words: High-frequency words for mature language
users; instruction in these words can add productively to an
individual’s language ability. Coincidence, absurd, industrious
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Criteria for Identifying
Tier Two Words



Importance and Utility: Words that are characteristic of
mature language users and appear frequently across a variety of
domains.
Instructional Potential: Words that can be worked with in a
variety of ways so that students can build rich representation of
them and of their connections to other words and concepts.
Conceptual Understanding: Words for which students
understand the general concept but provide precision and
specificity in describing the concept.
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
How to Choose Tier Two
Words
List
all the words that are likely to be
unfamiliar to your students
Analyze your list:
Which
are Tier Two words?
Which are most necessary for comprehension?
Which will you teach? In-brief or in-depth?
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Chapter Two, Bringing Words to Life
Choosing Tier Two Words
Group Activity
Choosing Tier Two Words: A
Model
 Read
 Go
Owen and Mzee
through the process just described and then
 Make
a list of 4-5 words from the text that you would
teach.
 Compare/discuss
lists as a group
Some Good Choices
From
Owen & Mzee: wallowed, grazing,
surging, sanctuary, nuzzles, commotion,
affection, resilience, extraordinary
What
additional words might you select for
ELL, Struggling and SPED students?
Step Two: Deciding to What Depth You
Want Students to Know Words
 Do
you want students to:
Simply be able to recognize the word?
Know the multiple meanings of the word?
Understand the word while reading within the
context of the text?
Use the word in a different context?
Use the word in oral conversation?
Incorporate the word in their writing?
If you want students to understand words at a
deeper level, then…
Provide lots of examples
Relate words to students’ prior knowledge
Elaborate on the meanings of the words
Present contrasting words
 It’s like this, it’s not like that
 Provide lots of repetition of the words
 Use gestures, pictures, visuals, etc. to help convey the meanings
of words
 Teach the word conceptually
 Relate the word to other related words that students already
know
 Repeatedly expose students to the words in different contexts




A Few Methods for Teaching
Specific Words at a Deep Level
Use
conceptual approaches to teaching
vocabulary such as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Text Talk
Concept Picture Sort
Semantic feature analysis
Vocabulary Pictures
Vocabulary Boxes
Word Squares
Demonstration of Text Talk
With Make Way for Ducklings
Beck et al’s Basic Text Talk
Instructions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Read the story.
Conceptualize the word within the
story.
Have children say the word.
Provide a student-friendly definition.
Engage them in activities using the
word.
Have children say the word.
Specific Word Centers
Center Reflection: Think-Pair-Share
Consider the following questions individually:
1.
2.
3.
4.
With what activities were you already familiar?
Unfamiliar?
How did the activities enrich your understanding of
specific words?
What aspects of these activities do you think your
students may find challenging? How can you help your
students overcome these challenges? What adaptations
might you have to make?
How can you incorporate these activities into your
classroom?
Then, turn to a neighbor and share your responses.
Word-Learning Strategies
Word-part
Prefixes,
Context
K:
clues:
Suffixes, & Affixes
clues
Model using context clues through thinkalouds
1-2: Instruct students how to use context
clues
3+: Teach the different types of context
clues
Some Methods for Teaching Students
Word-Learning Strategies
Concept-Definition
Map
Word-Part Clue Evaluation
Word Part Web
Memory
Word Families
Prefix Crossword
Word-Learning Strategies Centers
Word-Learning Strategies Center Reflection:
Think-Pair-Share
Consider the following questions individually:
1.
With what activities were you already familiar? Unfamiliar?
2.
How did the activities enrich your understanding of how to
learn words on your own?
3.
What aspects of these activities do you think your students
may find challenging? How can you help your students
overcome these challenges? What adaptations might you
have to make?
4.
How can you incorporate these activities into your
classroom?
Then, turn to a neighbor and share your responses.
Teaching Word-Consciousness
Word
games
Play -riddles, rhymes and
Word
Histories and Origins - Latin,
French, Spanish connections
Idioms,
Similes and Metaphors
Example of Word-Consciousness
“Teacher hands out little books called, Dinosaur Riddles.
T has students read the riddles to themselves and then
asks for students to guess the answers. Teacher explains
to students why the riddles are funny. Example: What do
you call a dinosaur that smashes everything in its path?
Tyrannosaurus Wrecks.”
Other Ideas for Fostering
Word Consciousness
Word
Wizard: bringing in examples from home
of words taught at school
Use sophisticated words in the classroom “It was magnanimous of your mom to send in
these cupcakes”
Share favorite words with each other - “My
favorite word is epiphany, or
serendipity…because…it means…and it sounds so
pretty…”
Point
out interesting language in stories
students write - “Those were great words…”
Or in stories you read to them ”It was fun to read the words …the author
included in her story.”
Play games such as Scrabble and crossword puzzles
Read and write riddles (maybe with themes such as
dinosaurs, Halloween, pets)
Explain and use figures of speech “She’s as happy as a clam” “Tough as nails”
Read and write poetry
Ideas for Fostering Word Consciousness?
What do you already do in your classrooms?
Let’s brainstorm ideas.
A Review of What a Vocabulary Classroom
Includes:
Student-friendly definition
Compare and contrast
Elaboration
Gestures
Real, concrete objects/hands-on experiences
Teacher examples
Student examples
 Repetition
Connections to students’ experiences
Fun with words
Conclusions
What
will you try to
incorporate/implement in your practice?
What challenges do you foresee regarding
this implementation?
About what do you still have questions?
Kristin
Contact Information
Nelson: kristinnelson4@comcast.net
Naomi Watkins: naomiwatkins@gmail.com
University of Utah
1705 E. Central Campus Dr.
Room 142
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
If you don’t mind, we would
greatly appreciate if you
left us with your completed
self-inventories.