Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Vocabulary Resource
The article attached below is titled Strategies for Effective Vocabulary Instruction written by Donna Phillips, Chandra Foote, and Laurie Harper. The authors of this article describe strategies that can be used for improving vocabulary instruction. Some of the strategies mentioned in the article include using graphic organizers, synonyms and antonyms, and word sorts for vocabulary instruction. This article is a good reminder about the importance of teaching vocabulary using a variety of strategies. I recommend this article to any teacher who teaches vocabulary.
http://med.smumn.edu/sites/default/files/Strategies_For_Effective_Vocabulary_Instruction.pdf
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Lori- Your article that you posted on strategies for effective vocabulary instruction sounds intriguing to me. I think this is an area that often times get missed or skimped in a reading curriculum. I know in my former district we had two new vocabulary words each week that we worked on. We also had vocabulary journals that the children were able to write the definition, write it in their own sentence, and illustrate a picture for comprehension. I miss the structure of that reading curriculum that I used to have. My current district is taking a closer look at vocabulary, and trying to possibly add a curriculum piece that we are lacking.
ReplyDeleteLisa,
DeleteI think you are right that many times vocabulary instruction is missed or skimped not only in reading, but in many other disciplines. Our school has put a big push for concept words, which can be very hard for many students to understand. Words like before, after, between are not only challenging for students to understand, but I feel they are also difficult to teach and explain especially to students who do not have English as their first language. I have found many great resources about vocabulary that has intrigued me to learn even more about teaching it.
It sounds like your former district had a good handle on vocabulary. Hopefully, your current district can find something to enhance your curriculum with vocabulary.
Lori,
ReplyDeleteI am a member of the language arts team at school. We went through all of the standards and benchmarks last year and found that vocabulary was a weakness of ours. Your article was very informational. I especially liked the section on classifying the word. I would like to try this with my next spelling list. It would be cool to see the kids come up with their own ways to classify. I found this really cool dice game on teachers’ pay teachers. The game has the kid’s list antonyms and synonyms for their words along with other activities. We play the game as a whole class and use the timer with white boards for the activities. I am not sure what it is called. If you search for it on teachers’ pay teachers, it was a freebie!
Nikki,
DeleteI have found that there are so many parts to vocabulary. Every discipline we teach has many new words that students need to learn. When it comes to state tests, I often hear that many of the questions include vocabulary that students need to know in order to answer the question. I feel that I have learned so much more about teaching vocabulary after writing my ROL. There are so many activities and games to do and play to help increase student vocabulary. I have a dice game similar to the one you described that I have used with vocabulary words. I have never tried to do it with a timer or with spelling words. I will have to try that.
It was nice to meet your team from St. Cloud on Sunday. I hope your drive home was safe.
ReplyDeleteI like your article about vocabulary instruction. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome! It was nice to meet you too!
DeleteThis article was a very interesting read. It really helped to affirm what I am doing in my classroom in regards to vocabulary instruction. One thing my reading curriculum stresses a lot is the use of context clues which isn't the greatest strategy. However, we do look at synonyms and antonyms and word parts as well. We also try to relate illustrations to words and use the words in speaking as often as possible.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you found the article to be a good read. There is so much research out there about vocabulary. I have learned so much after choosing vocabulary for my action research. It is important to use a variety of teaching methods in order to help students get an understanding of the words. It sounds like that is what you are doing in your classroom. :)
DeleteHey Lori! I had so much fun talking with you and your St. Cloud group at the conference. Love the article you posted - well, shouldn't say love, but I liked it a lot. :) It had some great higher-level thinking tasks to do with vocabulary that will work well with third graders. I wish you luck with your masters and I'll see you in a few short weeks at Alex's wedding!
ReplyDeleteWhat a small world! It was great to meet you and I look forward to seeing you very soon at the wedding!
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