Learning Words Inside & Out
Make It Transparent:
Showing Students Your Thinking
About Words
Frey, N., & Fisher, D. (2009). Learning Words Inside & Out: Vocabulary
Instruction That Boosts Achievement in All Subject Areas.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Today’s Purpose
How do students acquire and extend their academic vocabulary across the school day?
5
4
3
2
1
Transparent
Instruction:
Teacher
modeling and
think alouds
All teachers
have received
professional
development in
modeling and
use it daily in
their instruction.
They share
their practices
with one
another.
Some grade
levels have
received
professional
development in
modeling and
are using it
daily.
All teachers
have received
professional
development,
but it is not yet
being regularly
implemented.
Individual
teachers are
sharing their
modeling
practices with
one another
through peer
visits.
There are
individual
experts using
teacher
modeling, but
there is no
opportunity to
share practices
with others.
Today we will look more closely at the ways we can model
our vocabulary thinking.
The Power of Modeling
• Why?
– Humans mimic or imitate
– Mirror neuron systems
– Students need examples of the type of
thinking required
– Facilitates the use of academic
language
Teacher Modeling
• Brief (5–10 minutes) thinkalouds
• Identify unfamiliar words to
learn procedures for
discerning meaning
• Show students how to look
inside (morphology and
structure) and outside
(context clues and
resources) words
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focus Lesson
Guided
Instruction
“We do it”
Collaborative
“You do it
together”
Independent
“You do it
alone”
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
A Model for Success for All Students
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the
Gradual Release of Responsibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Ways to Model for
Vocabulary Development
• Model word-solving techniques
– How do you use word parts to solve
unfamiliar words?
– How do use contextual clues to solve
unfamiliar words?
– How do you use resources to solve
for unfamiliar words?
Looking Inside Words:
Morphology and Word Parts
•
•
•
•
•
Affixes (prefixes and suffixes)
Root words
Derivations
Cognates for English learners
Beware of false cognates!
(embarrassed/embarazada)
You Try It!
Component
Prefix
Suffix
Root or base
Cognate
Word family
Definition
A word par t, affix ,
added to the beginnin g
of a root or base word
to create a new
meaning
A word par t, affix ,
added to the en d of a
root or base word to
create a new meaning
A morpheme o r
morphemes to which
affixes or oth er bases
may be added
Two words havin g the
same ancestral
language and meaning.
A group of words
sharing a common
phonic element
Example
Hyper- meaning over as
in hyperactive
-est meaning
comparative as in tallest
Port meaning t o carry as
in transportation
Rehabilitation and
rehabilitación meaning
to restore o r im prove
Judge, judgment ,
adjudicate, adjudication
Your Example?
•
•
•
•
•
Context Clues
Definition/Explanation
• Access to clean water would ameliorate, and improve upon, living
conditions within the village.
Restatement/Synonym
• Access to clean water would ameliorate living conditions within the
village such that life would be tolerable for the people who live there.
Contrast/Antonym
• Access to clean water would ameliorate living conditions within the
village, whereas continued reliance on a polluted river will exacerbate a
bad situation.
Inference/General Context
• Access to clean water would ameliorate living conditions within the
village. Clean water would make life tolerable as residents could focus
on other pressing needs such as finding food and shelter.
Punctuation
• Access to clean water would ameliorate—make tolerable—living
conditions within the village.
But Context Isn’t
Always Enough…
The documentary film March of the Penguins was a surprise hit in
2005. However, the movie neglected to point out that the population
of emperor penguins is thinning.
Since the 1970s, the penguins’ neighborhood has become increasingly
warm. The Southern Ocean experiences natural shifts in weather
from one decade to the next, but this warm spell has continued,
causing the thinning of sea ice. Less sea ice means fewer krill, the
penguins’ main food source. Also, the weakened ice is more likely
to break apart and drift out to sea, carrying off the young penguin
chicks, who often drown.
Is global warming responsible for the thinning of penguin population?
Scientists believe so. (Gore, 2007, p. 94)
Think aloud to clear up confusions about
skinny penguins!
Solving Words Using
Resources
• Peer resources from
productive group work
• Dictionaries
• Bookmark Internet resources
• Model how you use these
(Phone a Friend, dictionary
use on doc camera)
Examining Think-aloud Scripts
Three scenarios:
• 6th grade math example (p. 42)
• 3rd grade social studies example (p. 45)
• Kindergarten reading example (p. 46)
What vocabulary and comprehension modeling
techniques did the teacher use?
How would you model this?
Next Steps
• What are we currently doing that works
well?
• What are the areas in need of
improvement?
• How should we collaborate with one
another within and across grade levels?