Alternative Teaching Techniques for Low Achieving Students

1. Word Analysis Activities to Improve
Classroom Comprehension
Alternative Teaching Techniques
for Low Achieving Students

2. • Being able to understand and retrieve (to memorize) the
information presented in the classroom is dependent upon how the
brain classifies and stores the information when processing it. Brain
research shows that we store information by similarities or patterns
and we retrieve the information by differences. When students learn
new vocabulary words as isolated units (e.g. defining the word
rather than connecting and integrating the information) they miss
perceiving the similarities and differences that give true meaning to
words. To prevent this from happening, students need to
understand the categorical nature of words. When teachers
explicitly teach students how to classify new words by categories, by
the word’s function, or by synonyms and antonyms, we are training
children in perceiving and understanding the relationship between
words, and we are giving students powerful learning strategies for
committing the new vocabulary words to memory. The word
analysis activities presented here involve grouping and categorizing
words in some way.

3. Train Students to Think in Categories
• Have students list as many words they can think of a given category.
• Have students list the new words in categories such as animals,
habitats, clothing, etc. When students recall a member from the
category, the recalling of that member usually triggers the recalling
of the other members from the same category.
• Within a category, have students classify words into different
attributes like shape, color, size, and composition.
• Rearrange, so that students see how they can categorize words and
concepts differently according to one or more characteristics.
• Point out how a word can be part of more than one category, e.g.
apple is round (form), red (color), smooth (texture), and sweet
(taste).
• Point out the differences between words as they change categories;
for example, an apple and a ball are round, red, and smooth, but
only the apple is sweet and only the apple can be eaten.

4. • Have students substitute a word with another word
from the same category, e.g., “The kitten was only
one month old.” (Puppy, cub)
• Teach students that they can categorize words at one
of three levels: by their physical attributes (e.g. a cat
and a squirrel are furry and have a tail), by what
they do or function (e.g. they run, eat, and climb
trees), and/or conceptually (they are both animals
but only the squirrel is a rodent). Make sure that you
include all three levels of analysis in your vocabulary
lessons.
• Provide activities for students to manipulate the new
information by sorting or classifying, rather than
copying from the board or rote memorization.

5. Teach Students to Describe Words by
Classes
• Teach how to describe word classes; for example, all the figures are
round, green, and striped.
• Teach students how to classify words in more than one way, e.g. the
same object belongs to class “a” because it is round and to class “b”
because it is green.
• Have students identify class and members relationships- color:
amber, yellow, purple, and gray
• Have students classify from the whole to the part- house, kitchen,
window, and chimney.
• Have a student describe a group by what belongs/does not belong,
adding another member to the original group.
• Present four words for a student to identify the word that does not
belong. Have the student tell why the word does not belong in that
group or category.
• You give three words and a student supplies a fourth word that
belongs, e.g. fall, winter, spring, and _____.

6. Other Word Relationship Exercises that
Students Can Do Are…
• Show how big things break into smaller things, then into even
smaller things; for example, decade, year, month, and day.
• Have a student rank from lowest to highest or from highest to
lowest, e.g. week, month, year, and decade.
• When you are discussing difficult or new words, relate them
to previously taught words by pointing out their similarities
and differences.
• Have students tell how two objects or concepts are alike
(comparing) or different (contrasting).
• Have students explain the exception, e.g. kayak, yacht,
motorcycle, canoe- motorcycle is the exception because it
travels by land.
• Have a student continue the sequence, e.g. baby, girl, teen,
and _____ (woman).

7. • Have students create analogies; for example,
kitten is to cat as boy is to _____ (man).
• Have students give verbs that they can use with
the new word, e.g. dirigible: flown, floats, slides,
transport, and steered.
• Have students tell places where they can see the
new vocabulary word; for example, throne:
castle, palace, church, paintings, and fort.
• Have students give associations of the new
vocabulary word- circular: wheel, tabletop, zero,
coin, pancake, and globe.

8. • Introduce the concept of integration as a way to
associate or connect the new concept with known
concepts or vocabulary. This involves adding bits of
information to a known or familiar group, category,
or concept. For example, “Add two more forest
animals.” Through integration, students (a) review
and recall previous information that relates to the
new concept, and (b) integrate the new information
into what they already learned and know.
Integration is an important sub-skill in building
conceptual frameworks and in enhancing
comprehension in the classroom.

9. Child guidance, an essential skill for
teachers and school counselors
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