Engaging Vocabulary
Instruction
Presented by
Jeffrey J. Kuntz
Punxsutawney Area Middle School
Punxsutawney Area School District
Mark Twain on Words
O “The difference between the
almost right word and the right
word is really a large matter—
it’s the difference between the
lightning bug and the lightning.”
Albus Dumbledore on Words
“Words are our most
inexhaustible source of magic,
capable of both inflicting injury
and remedying it.”
The Vocabulary Gap
O In many ways the “Reading Gap,” especially
after 2-3 grade is essentially a Vocabulary Gap
and the longer students are in school the
wider the gap becomes. What can we do to
close this gap?
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 1. Some words are more important to teach
than others.
O Reading vocabulary of 3,000-4,000 words
per year.
O Focus on Tier Two words
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 2. Students have to learn words at more
than one level.
O No knowledge to general sense of the word
to narrow, context-bound knowledge to
having knowledge to deep meaning
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 3. Students learn words when they
experience them multiple times
O Students need multiple exposures over time.
(Research shows somewhere between 6 and
12 exposures)
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 4. Asking students to look up words in the
dictionary and write the definition does not
help them learn words.
O Dictionary definitions often cloud a word’s
meaning.
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 5. When students learn words, they build
patterns and networks of meaning called
“word schemas.”
O Context, root words, prefixes, suffixes, where
have I seen this before, is it a verb or a
noun, etc.
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 6. Students can learn some words through
the use of wide reading.
O Reading texts, fiction and non-fiction trade
books, newspapers, comic books, cereal
boxes, etc.
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 7. Students can learn some words through
rich conversation with adults and peers.
O Instructional conversation, parent/child
general conversation, read alouds,
television, etc.
Using a Read Aloud
O This comes from the picture book A Bad
Case of Stripes by David Shannon (1998)
O “The Creams were swamped with all kinds
of remedies from psychologists, allergists,
herbalists, nutritionists, psychics, an old
medicine man, a guru, and even a
veterinarian. Each so-called cure only
added to poor Camilla’s strange
appearance until it was hard to even
recognize her.”
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 8. Students can learn some words through
word play.
O Vocabulary instruction that includes
multisensory activity can help students
internalize new words and continue to
develop word schema.
O Word play is motivation
Multisensory Activity
O For the visual learner: draw a picture, see it
in your mind, jot it down, use a graphic
organizer
O For the auditory learner: say it to self,
discuss with a partner or group, say your
thoughts out loud
O For the kinesthetic learner: show how, act it
out, point to
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 9. Students can learn some words through
direct instruction.
Top Ten Essential Ingredients
for Word Study
according to Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary (2013)
O 10. Most students need word learning
strategies to become independent readers.
O Context clues, prefixes, suffixes, root words,
grammar rules, parts of speech, etc.
Importance of Vocabulary
Instruction
O Vocabulary Gap
O Children enter school with different levels
of vocabulary.
(Hart & Risley, 1995)
O
By the time the children were 3 years old, parents in less
economically favored circumstances had said fewer words in
their cumulative monthly vocabularies than the children in the
most economically advantaged families in the same period of
time.
O
Cumulative Vocabulary (Age 4)
O
Children from professional families 1100 words
O Children from working class families 700 words
O Children from welfare families
500 words
Importance of Vocabulary
Instruction
O To close the vocabulary gap, vocabulary
acquisition must be accelerated through
intentional instruction.
O Vocabulary instruction must be a focus in
all classes in all grades.
O Adequate reading comprehension
depends on a person knowing between
90 and 95% of the meaning of words in
the text.
High Quality Classroom
Language
O Use high quality vocabulary in the classroom.
O To ensure understanding,
O Tell students the meaning of words when first used.
“Don’t procrastinate on your project. Procrastinate
means to put off doing something.”
O Pair in the meaning of the word by using parallel
language.
“Please refrain from talking. Please don’t talk.”
“Laws have their genesis…their beginning…in the
legislative branch.”
“What is your hypothesis… your best guess?”
Explicit Vocabulary
Instruction-Selection of
Vocabulary
O Select a limited number of words for robust,
explicit vocabulary instruction.
O Three to ten words per story or section in a
chapter would be appropriate.
O Briefly tell students the meaning of other
words that are needed for comprehension.
Explicit Vocabulary
Instruction-Selection of
vocabulary
• Select words that are unknown.
• Select words that are critical to passage
understanding.
• Select words that students are likely to
encounter or use in the future. (Stahl, 1986)
– Focus on Tier Two words
– “Academic Vocabulary”
(Beck & McKeown, 2003)
• Select difficult words that need interpretation.
Explicit Instruction of WordsSelection of Vocabulary
O Tier One - Basic words
O chair, bed, happy, house, car, purse
O Tier Two - Words in general use, but not
common
O analyze, facilitate, absurd, fortunate, observation,
accountant, dignity, convenient, laboriously
O Tier Three - Rare words limited to a specific
domain
O tundra, totalitarian, cellular respiration, genre,
foreshadowing, monoculture farming, judicial
review
Explicit Instruction of WordsSelection of Vocabulary
O “Goldilocks Words”
O Not too difficult
O Not too easy
O Just right
(Stahl & Stahl, 2004)
Explicit Instruction of
Vocabulary-Preparation
O Student Friendly Explanation
Dictionary Definition:
compulsory (1) Employing compulsion;
coercive
(2) Required by law or other rule
Student Friendly Explanation:
-Uses known words
-Is easy to understand
When something is required, you must do it, it is
compulsory.
Explicit Instruction of
Vocabulary-Preparation
O Use a dictionary designed for English language
learners for better definitions.
O Example
conglomeration
First dictionary-The act of conglomerating.
Second dictionary- The act or process of
conglomerating; an accumulation of miscellaneous
things.
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary-A large
group or mass of different things all gathered
together in an untidy or unusual way.
Dictionaries
O ELL Dictionary
O Collins Cobuild Dictionary
O http://www.ldoceonline.com
O www.learnersdictionary.com
O www.howjsay.com (will pronounce the word)
Instructional Routine for
Vocabulary
Step 1. Introduce the word.
a)
b)
Write the word on the board or overhead.
Read the word and have the students
repeat the word.
If the word is difficult to pronounce or
unfamiliar have the students repeat the
word a number of times.
Introduce the word with me.
“ This word is compulsory. What word?”
Instructional Routine for
Vocabulary
Step 2. Introduce meaning of word.
Option # 1. Present a student-friendly explanation.
a)
b)
Tell students the explanation. OR
Have them read the explanation with you.
Present the definition with me.
“When something is required and you must
do it, it is compulsory. So if it is required
and you must do it, it is _______________.”
Instructional Routine for
Vocabulary
Step 2. Introduce meaning of word.
Option # 3. Introduce the word using the morphographs in the word.
a.
b.
Introduce word in relationship to “word relatives”.
o
Declare
Declaration of Independence
o
analyze
analyzing
analysis
o
maintain
maintenance
Analyze parts of word.
o
autobiography
auto = self
bio = life
graph = letters, words, or pictures
Instructional Routine for
Vocabulary
Step 3. Illustrate the word with examples.
(Google images at www.taggalaxy.com)
a)
b)
c)
Concrete examples.
Visual examples.
Verbal examples.
(Also discuss when the term might be used and who might use the term.)
Present the examples with me.
“Coming to school to as 8th graders is
compulsory.”
“Stopping at a stop sign when driving is
compulsory.”
Instructional Routine for
Vocabulary
Step 4. Check students’ understanding.
Option #1. Ask deep processing questions.
Check students’ understanding with me.
“Arriving to class on time is compulsory.
Why do you think it is compulsory?”
“Paying taxes is compulsory. Why do you
think paying taxes are compulsory?”
Instructional Routine for
Vocabulary
Step 4. Check students’ understanding.
Option #2. Have students discern between
examples and non-examples.
Check students’ understanding with me.
“Is going to school in 9th grade compulsory?” Yes
“How do you know it is compulsory?” It is required.
“Is going to college when you are 25 compulsory?”
“Why is it not compulsory?” It is not required. You get to
choose to go to college.
Instructional Routine for
Vocabulary
Step 4. Check students’ understanding.
Option #3. Have students generate their own
examples.
Check students’ understanding with me.
“There are many things at this school that are
compulsory. Think of as many things as you can?”
“Talk with your partner. See how many things you
can think of that are compulsory.”
Practice Activity: Example A
Introduce the word.
This word is migrate. What word?
2. Present a student-friendly explanation.
When birds or other animals move from one place to another
at a certain time each year, they migrate. So if birds move to
a new place in the winter or spring, we say that the birds
_________________. Animals usually migrate to find a
warmer place to live or to get food.
3.
Illustrate the word with examples.
Sandhill Cranes fly from the North to the South so they can
live in a warmer place. Sandhill Cranes _______________.
Practice Activity: Example
A continued
The wildebeests in Africa move to a new place so that they can
find water and grass. Wildebeests _______.
4. Check students’ understanding. (Deep processing
question.)
Why might birds migrate? Tell your partner. (The teacher
monitors and coaches. Then the teacher calls on someone to
answer.)
Practice Activity: Example
B
Introduce the word.
This word is survive. What word?
2. Present a student-friendly explanation.
When people or animals don’t die when things
are very bad or dangerous, they survive.
3. Illustrate the word with examples.
Look at the people on this river. It is very
dangerous.
However, they don’t get hurt or die, they
__________.
Practice Activity: Example
B continued
Check students’ understanding.
(Examples and non-examples)
Get ready to tell me if this group would survive.
If the winter was very cold and all food was buried under
the snow, would whooping cranes survive?________
Ones, tell your partner why they wouldn’t survive?
If whooping cranes had plenty of food and the weather was
warm, would they survive? __________ Twos, tell your
partner why they would survive?
(Deep Processing Questions)
If a rabbit was being chased by a coyote, what could the
rabbit do to survive?
Vocabulary Logs
O Vocabulary Word
O Student Friendly definition
O Student derived visual representation
O Knowledge Rating (revisited over a period of
time)
Vocabulary Logs…
Assess Yourself
O
*I am a Novice (1)
I am just starting to learn this and I don’t really understand it
yet.
O
*I am an Apprentice (2)
I am starting to get it, but I still need someone to coach me
through.
O
*I am a Practitioner (3)
I can mostly do it by myself, but I sometimes mess up or get
stuck.
O
*I am an Expert (4)
I understand it well and I could thoroughly teach it to someone
else.
Strategies In Action
O This is a introductory vocabulary lesson from
Chapter 1 of our fifth grade social studies
text.
Settling the Americas
Chapter 1: Lesson 1
archaeologist
O *a person who studies tools, bones, and
remains of ancient people
O 1. Many archaeologists believe that the
first people to arrive in North America
crossed a land bridge from Asia.
O 2. The archaeologists found many Native
American artifacts at the dig site.
archaeologist
archaeologist
archaeologist
Archaeologist-Meet the
Relatives
*archaeologist
*archaeology-comes from a word meaning
ancient
-ology is a suffix that means “the study of”
What other -ology words do you know?
Social Studies Log
O Archaeology-the study of ancient
people.
glacier
O *a thick sheet of slow moving ice
O *the root word of glacier, glace, means
“ice”
O 1. Glaciers held so much water that ocean
levels dropped and land appeared in some
places.
O 2. The Titanic began to sink when it hit a
bank of glaciers.
glacier
glacier
glacier
Social Studies Log
O Glacier-a thick sheet of slow-moving ice.
civilization
O *a population whose people share
systems of trade, art, religion and
science
O 1. Over time, large specialized societies
developed and became civilizations.
O 2. The Olmec civilization developed in
the rain forests of Mexico.
civilization
civilization
civilization
O Remember G.R.A.P.E.S
O *Geography
O *Religion
O *Art and Architecture
O *Politics and Government
O *Economics
O *Social Structure
Civilization-Meet The
Relatives
O *civil
O *civilize
O *civilized
Social Studies Log
O Civilization-a population whose people
share systems of trade, art, religion and
science
irrigation
O *the method of supplying dry land with
water through pipes and ditches.
O 1. Native Americans used irrigation to
guide water from the rivers to the dry
fields.
O 2. Today, farmers irrigate their crops
using underground water pipes.
irrigation
irrigation
irrigation
Irrigation-Meet The Relatives
O *irrigation
O *irrigate
O tion—state of, act of
O Migration, addition, connection,
qualification
Social Studies Log
O Irrigation-the method of supplying dry
land with water
adobe
 *bricks made of mud and straw
 Adobe comes from an Arabic word meaning
“brick”
 1. Some Native American homes were built of
adobe.
 2. There are many adobe homes in the
southwestern part of the United States.
adobe
adobe
Social Studies Log
O *Adobe-bricks made of mud and straw
POWER WORD…analyze
O *to look at closely
O *to break apart
O *to think through
O *to break into pieces
O 1. The archaeologists will analyze all of
the artifacts to determine the
characteristics of the civilization.
analyze
analyze
analyze
analyze
Analyze-Meet the Family
O *analyze
O *analysis
Social Studies Log
O *analyze
O *to look at closely
O *to break down
O *to break into pieces
O *to think through
Let’s Review
O An archaeologist studies artifacts?
O Irrigation will help a farmer grow crops?
O Adobe bricks are made from cement?
O An archaeologist studies living insects?
O The study of a civilization would include the
foods a group ate and the games they
played?
O You would find a glacier in the desert?
O If you analyze a situation, you are making a
plan?
Let’s Review
O The people of the Egyptian __________
lived many, many years ago.
O The farmer used the __________ process
to water his crops during the hot weather
of July and August.
O Many ancient artifacts were discovered
by the __________ during the dig.
O Many of the Native Americans of the
southwest built homes of __________.
Let’s Review
O The Titanic began to sink when it hit a
_________.
O After the scientists gathered the data
they began to __________ the results.
Turn and Talk
O What have you seen or heard so far that you
can use next year in your classroom? Take a
few minutes to talk to the people around
you.
Let’s Take A Break
O Ready to start again in 15 minutes!
Additional Vocabulary
Instruction
O Also, provide instruction on:
O Idioms (a phrase or expression different from
the literal meaning)
“The car moving down the hill caught her eye.”
“Jason gave Matt the cold shoulder.”
“I know it is the truth. I heard it straight from
the horse’s mouth.”
“That can’t be right. You are pulling my leg.”
Additional Vocabulary
Instruction
O Also provide instruction on multiple-meaning
words
Words such as:
solution, element, space, process, run,
relation, product, positive, negative, age,
jam, grounds, duck, division
Additional Vocabulary
Instruction
O Use of context clues
O Use of dictionary, glossary, or other resource
O Use of meaningful parts of the word.
O Prefixes
O Suffixes
O Root Words
Practice Activities
O Practice activities should:
O Be engaging.
O Provide multiple exposures to the words. (Stahl,
1986)
O Encourage deep processing of the word’s
meaning. (Beck, Mc Keown, & Kucan, 2002)
O When possible, connect the word’s meaning to
prior knowledge.
O Provide practice over time.
Practice Activities
Yes/No/Why
1.
Do territories that are possessions have
autonomy?
2.
Can incidents cause compassion?
3.
Do people always comply with their
obligations?
(Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982; Curtis & Longo, 1997) Items taken from REWARDS PLUS, Sopris
West.
Practice Activities
Completion Activity
1.
2.
3.
4.
confine: to hold or keep in; to limit; imprison; restrict
Things that can be confined
are______________________________.
persistent: refusing to give up; determined
I was very persistent when ____________.
dispersal: send off in different directions
At school dispersal might involve_______.
globalization: condition when something spreads across
the world
Today, globalization involves the
dispersal of ________________________.
(Curtis & Longo, 1997)
Practice Activities
Meaningful Sentence Writing
O Students write a sentence answering three to
four of these questions:
who, what, when, where, why, how
O Not OK
It was meager.
O OK
At the end of the month, our dinners were
meager because we had little money.
Practice Activities
O Present a number of words.
representative . socialism . reform . revolution .
tributary
O Play… I am thinking of a word……
“I am thinking of a word that goes with river.”
“I am thinking of a word that refers to a person
that takes ideas to the government.”
“I am thinking of a word that means a change.”
Word Splash
O Line
line segment
O Quadrilateral
ray
acute angle
rhombus
O Pentagon
diameter
radius
O Hexagon
octagon
obtuse
Practice Activities
O Word Sorts
O Vocabulators
O Five Card Draw
O Tic Tac Toe
Practice Activities
O Swat That Spot
O Fast Facts
O Say It Again
O Splash Down
Practice Activities
O Vegas Vocab
O Minute To Win It
O Analogies
O Where Is It?
Practice Activities
O Foldables
O Concept Circles
O Comic Strips
O Name Badge Bingo
Practice Activities
O I Have Who Has
O Vocabulary Headbands
O Vocab On The Move
O Vo-back-u-lary
Practice Activities
O Beach Ball Writing
O Quizlet
O Vocabulary Lanyards
O Vocabulary Awards
Practice Activities
O Vocabulary Spinners
O Alphabet Boxes
Great Resources
O Bringing Words To Life: Robust Vocabulary
Instruction by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G.
McKeown and Linda Kucan, The Guilford Press,
2013
O The Next Step in Vocabulary Instruction by Karen
Bromley, Scholastic, 2012
O Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and
Love Vocabulary by Brenda Overturf, Leslie
Montgomery and Margot Holmes Smith,
Stenhouse Publishers, 2013
Acquiring Vocabulary
O “Words are NOT just words. They are the
nexus-the interface-between
COMMUNICATION and THOUGHT. What
makes vocabulary VALUABLE and
IMPORTANT is not the words themselves
so much as the UNDERSTANDING they
afford.”
O Marilyn Jager Adams
Your Journey Has Begun
O Each fall, monarch butterflies in Maine
begin an unbelievable journey to a hilltop in
Mexico. How do they do it? They focus on
the goal, not the difficulties. Each day they
take their bearings and set off, allowing
their instincts and desire to steer them. They
accept what comes; some winds blow them
off course, others speed them along. They
keep flying until, one day, they arrive.
Good Luck!