vocabulary strategies

VOCABULARY STRATEGIESTo Build Literacy and Proficiency

Nicole Naditz, NBCT CLTA Conference 2/26/2009

Welcome Your presenter Session objectives: participants will

implement strategies that prepare students to read

use diverse means to guide students while reading

provide students with varied opportunities to work specifically with vocabulary from readings

employ numerous post-reading strategies that encourage evaluation, analysis and personal responses to readings


Agenda Use of English readings in this session

Strategies presented not limited to the style of writing in which they were used here!

Activities intended to be done in target languages Doing the activities vs. talking about the activities

Reading for introductory levels: song

Informational content reading: history text reading

Literature selection: poem


Research Extensive research on language

acquisition for ELs print-rich environment frequent, but appropriate, exposure to

authentic materials explicit vocabulary instruction pre-, during-, and post-reading strategies personal connections to material

Similar findings in second-language acquisition

Partial bibliography included online


Vocabulary sort for beginning levels In your groups, choose 10 words that

you understand from the list. Put these words in an order that makes

sense to you…except alphabetical! Prepare to describe your word selections

and organization to the class


Questions and Predictions What questions do you have about what

you are about to hear based on these words?

What predictions do you have, based on these words?

Time for music!


Listen for days, times, and rooms Complete activity one on your sheet as

you listen


Complete the lyrics Listen again and fill in the missing words

on your copy of the song.


Other ways to say it… Use the completed song lyrics to find all

of the ways the people listed are mentioned in the song.

List your findings in Activity 3.


Let’s sort again! Now that you’ve heard the song, look at

the list of words again (activity 4 in your handout).

Pick 10 words that represent your understanding of the song.

Put those words in order to help you talk about the song.

Send an envoy to another group to share what you chose

Class debrief


Sorting for more advanced groups Use all of the words both times the

students sort They can put words in order, in

categories, in themes, in a diagram, or in any other system they choose both times they sort.

The second time they sort, the system for organization must reflect their group’s understanding of the text and they must send an envoy to explain their system and to learn about how another group completed the task.


Revisit our predictions Which predictions were correct? Which

ones weren’t?


Another activitywith this song Create a diamond poem.

Choose your words, according to the directions

Put your words on the page so they make a diamond shape

Write a sentence summarizing the theme of the song and your poem.

See your copy of the directions


Debrief text 1 In what ways were you prepared for the

text before seeing or hearing it? What strategies were used to help you

focus while the song was playing? What opportunities did you have to work

specifically with the vocabulary of the song?

How did we engage multiple ways of learning?

In what ways did students have opportunities to make personal connections to the document?


Life in industrial cities Complete Literary quads as we read

1. Predict (initially from titles, headings, pictures)

2. List unknown vocab while reading assigned segment

3. Write a one-sentence summary of segment

4. Write questions about what you’ve read or about what might happen next

5. Revisit predictions (eliminate, confirm, create new ones)

Repeat steps 1-5 for each of the next segments, while adding step 6: try to answer any questions created


Colored cards: Respond by holding up the red card if the statement applies to the rich mill and factory owners and the blue card if it applies to the working poor during the Industrial Revolution

They lived in back-to-back houses. They had no gardens and nowhere to keep hens. They had furniture made by great designers. Their water supply was inconsistent. They did not use high quality building materials. By the end of the Industrial Revolution, they had

gas lighting in their homes. They bought food from shops and markets. The children suffered from tuberculosis and rickets.


Then and now: If you think the statement only applies to the poor during the Industrial Revolution, hold up the red card. If it also applies to the poor in our society today, hold up the blue card.

“The water supply was shared by all families on the street.”

“Every available space was occupied, from cellars to attics.”

“Lighting was by candle or oil lamp.” “Wages were so low that, to get enough

money for the family to survive, the mother had to go out to work too.”

“The poor relied almost entirely on bought food, which was usually of poor quality.”


Other ways to “read” the whole class Numbered fingers Individual white boards Interactive white boards with individual

student response unitsAnd, for opinions rather than facts Line-ups Four corners


Make a word wall Write just one key word from the reading

on your post-it. Complete the word diagram about this

word Add your post-it to the word wall. Discussion

Collect all word diagrams (Photocopy for class)

Definition review where necessary How each word relates to the reading Use words in new sentences


Vocacrostics Using only vocabulary from the reading,

create an acrostic that allows you to demonstrate your comprehension.

Sample


Found poem Choose a word or sentence from reading

that is the most powerful to you. In your groups, have each person read what

they have selected. Organize the selected phrases in whatever

order you choose. Feel free to choose to repeat some of them. Practice your new poem as a group. Present your found poem orally to the class


Debrief reading 2 How were you prepared for the content

of the reading before seeing the text? What system was used to help you focus while reading the text?

What opportunities did you have to work specifically with the vocabulary of the reading?




At my house Discuss the typical breakfast at your

house. What time is it? What is each member of your family doing? What do they say? What else do you hear in the house? What do they eat or drink? When do they arrive at the table?

Use a web diagram like this to organize your responses.


Web diagram: Breakfast at home

Breakfast

MeOther family

membersSounds

Time


Musical milling While the music is playing, walk around

the room, but do not talk. When the music stops, stop walking, find

a partner near you. Read the phrase on your slip of paper to

your partner. Your partner will read his/her phrase to

you. You may repeat the phrases, but do not

discuss them.


How’s your memory? Think-pair-share

Jot down everything you remember hearing as you listened to other people’s phrases. Feel free to write down individual words if

you don’t remember whole phrases. Share your list with a partner. Feel free

to add to your list. What are your predictions for what we

are about to read?


Stand and deliver If you have a phrase that you believe

deals with one of the following topics, please stand and read it to the group, even if someone already read it! Making coffee Smoking a cigarette Getting ready to leave the house The weather Other phrases not yet mentioned

Read the poemBreakfast, by Jacques PrévertHe poured the coffeeInto the cupHe poured the milkInto the cup of coffeeHe added the sugarTo the coffee and milkHe stirred itWith a teaspoonHe drank the coffeeAnd put back the cupWithout speaking to meHe lit a cigaretteHe blew some ringsWith the smokeHe flicked the ashes into the

ashtray

Without speaking to meWithout looking at meHe got upHe put his hatOn his headHe put on his raincoatBecause it was rainingHe went outInto the rainWithout a wordWithout looking at meAnd II took my head in my handsAnd I wept.


Act it out In pairs, listen again to the poem.

This time, do everything I say.


What do you think? Table Discussion Who are the two people in the poem? How are they

related to each other? What clues exist in the poem to indicate that this

poem takes place during breakfast as opposed to another time of day?

Is this an unusual day for these two people, or is this typical? How do you know?

What is the purpose of repeating the word “without”? Why did Prévert choose a mundane moment of the

day to tell this story rather than a more vivid, but isolated, incident (such as an argument)?


Speed talking You will use the vocabulary from the

poem to tell us about the poem…in 20 seconds! When it’s your turn, take any card from the

set and use it in a sentence related to the poem.

If you have more time, take another card and make another sentence.

You may take more than one card at once, as long as you use them all in a sentence that is related to the poem before time is up.

When time is up, it’s your partner’s turn.


A challenge Can you change the poem’s tone by

changing and/or eliminating a maximum of six words? If the word is repeated, you can change it every time it occurs.

What words would you replace or eliminate?

What would you replace them with (if anything)?

Write your new poem using a font that complements the new tone and adding illustrations that match the words.


Debrief of reading 3 In what ways were you prepared for the

content of the poem? What opportunities did you have to work

specifically with the vocabulary of the poem or other vocabulary?



Follow-up activity: a new day.


Session debrief Key factors in working with vocabulary

from readings Questions? Overview of web site resources:

http://vocabstrategies.wikispaces.com Contacting me:

[email protected] Participant evaluation and feedback

mailto:[email protected]

vocabulary strategies

Documents

nbct clta conference

readings nicole naditz

poem nicole naditz

list of words

homenicole naditz

classnicole naditz

onlinenicole naditz

listennicole naditz