WHAT’S THE GOOD WORD IN VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION?

(Hint: Context and Cognition)Yeah, that’s two words. Couldn’t help myself.

cayenne arrow = for “underserved students” +

ocean arrow = for explicit teaching of thinking

CONTEXT

1. Purpose of vocabulary use (communication or learning objective)

2. People with whom vocabulary is used (register)

3. Discourse in which vocabulary occurs

COGNITION

1.Metacognition

2.Modeling

3.Gradual release of responsibility

(Baumann & Graves, 2010; Nagy & Townsend, 2012; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2013)

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

I did not like lunch today. Ours is, like, the worst cafeteria ever.

She said I had to synthesize the theses from three persuasive essays on that website.

Then he shows us those anatomical drawings and says, “See? Ontogeny doesn’t always recapitulate phylogeny.”

(Baumann & Graves, 2010; Nagy & Townsend, 2012; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2013)

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

listening, speaking, reading, writing

Text structures, Text features, phrases

Discourse, epistemology

Casual Discourse

Academic Discourse

Disciplinary Discourse

(Baumann & Graves, 2010; Nagy & Townsend, 2012; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2013)

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

listening, speaking, reading, writing

Text structures, Text features, phrases

Discourse, epistemology

Casual Discourse

Academic Discourse

Disciplinary Discourse

also texting, tweeting, video posting

TEACHING

1. Provide rich and varied language experiences.

2. Teach individual words (academic and disciplinary vocabulary)

3. Teach word learning strategies

a. Context clues

b. Word parts

c. Word search

d. Personal strategies

4. Promote word consciousness

1. Play

2. Self-expression

3. Investigate

Tier 2 Text structures, Text features, phrasesAcademic Discourse

Text Structures

Text Features Academic Phrases Academic Vocabulary

titles subtitles

Charts Graphs Tables

therefore, however, furthermore, because

recall, analyze, evaluate, summarize,

synthesize

compare/contrast, cause/effect,

problem-solution

Diagrams Models

on the other hand, alternatively, in

contrast

thesis, main idea, support, conclusion

essay, informational text, instructions

Photographs Digital Media

similarly, along the same lines

highlight, annotate, note,

table of contents, glossed items,

definitions, glossary

app, podcast, video, comment section,

blog, tweet

for example, for instance

link, URL, upload, download, file,

hierarchy, save, delete

TEACHING

1. Provide rich and varied language experiences.

2. Teach individual words (academic and disciplinary vocabulary)

3. Teach word learning strategies

a. Context clues

b. Word parts

c. Word search

d. Personal strategies

4. Promote word consciousness

1. Play

2. Self-expression

3. Investigate(Graves, 2006)

ask

Tier 2 Text structures, Text features, phrasesAcademic Discourse

Text Structures

Text Features Academic Phrases Academic Vocabulary

titles subtitles

Charts Graphs Tables

therefore, however, furthermore, because

recall, analyze, evaluate, summarize,

synthesize

compare/contrast, cause/effect,

problem-solution

Diagrams Models

on the other hand, alternatively, in

contrast

thesis, main idea, support, conclusion

essay, informational text, instructions

Photographs Digital Media

similarly, along the same lines

highlight, annotate, note,

table of contents, glossed items,

definitions, glossary

app, podcast, video, comment section,

blog, tweet

for example, for instance

link, URL, upload, download, file,

hierarchy, save, delete

Brad’s “Hero Teacher” Risa Cohen

TEACHING

1. Provide rich and varied language experiences.

2. Teach individual words (academic and disciplinary vocabulary)

3. Teach word learning strategies

a. Context clues

b. Word parts

c. Word search

d. Personal strategies

4. Promote word consciousness

1. Play

2. Self-expression

3. Investigate(Graves, 2006)

books

Tier 3 Discourse, epistemologyDisciplinary Discourse

Epistemology Academic Vocabulary

Disciplinary Vocabulary

How do the experts think about this?

recall, analyze, evaluate, summarize, synthesize

Math

How do we prove that it’s true? (warrant)

thesis, main idea, support, conclusion Biology

How do we test if it’s true? (warrant, backing or

support)highlight, annotate, note, History

What is true?link, URL, upload, download,

file, hierarchy, save, delete ELA

SYNERGY

1. Select a disciplinary table (subject area table). Move to it.

2. With your table mates, brainstorm academic vocabulary and disciplinary vocabulary for that subject in the grade level in which you most often work. Write down at least 1 example of each category.

3. When everyone has had a chance to write at least one term, brainstorm ways to teach the vocabulary. Choose from one category below for each word. Write briefly but with some detail. Feel free to use the books I brought!

a. Rich language experience

b. Teach an individual word

c. Teach word learning strategies

d. Foster word consciousnessI’ll c

ollect these and post them

to the Dropbox.

REFERENCESBeach, R., & O’Brien, D. G. (2015). Using apps for learning across the curriculum. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9781317668503_sample_727621.pdf

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. (2nd ed.) New York: New Guilford.

Bruner, J. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Graves, M. F. (2006). The vocabulary book: Learning and instruction. New York: Teachers College Press.

Baumann, J. F., & Grams, M. F. (2010). What is academic vocabulary? Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 54(1), 4-12.

Templeton, S., Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston, F., Flanigan, K., Townsend, D. R., . . . Hayes, L. (2015). Vocabulary their way: Word study with middle and secondary students (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z7ik9f7w78x24ov/Good%20Word%20in%20Vocabulary%20Instruction.pdf?dl=0