1. Teaching vocabulary is important for supporting content area learning and literacy. Explicit vocabulary instruction is needed as vocabulary differs across income groups. 2. Less effective vocabulary instruction includes memorizing definitions without using words in context. More effective strategies include wide reading, using interesting words, playing with words, and returning student language with richer vocabulary. 3. Explicit instruction in morphology helps students analyze word structure and meanings. Techniques include word sorts, word chains, and root word trees. Context clues and reference tools also aid word understanding.

1. SSILTT 2012
Teaching Vocabulary

2. Teaching Vocabulary
• Supports content area learning--
concepts, ideas, connections, domain-
specific vocabulary
• Supports literacy in general
• Mississippi has a history of low
vocabulary achievement

3. Vocabulary differs across income
groups (Hart and Risley)
1200
Vocabulary (known words)
1000
800
Professional
600 Working Class
Welfare
400
200
0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36
Months

4. Less effective instruction:
• Memorizing definitions for 10 or 20
words a week (or a word of the week)
– These words don’t reappear in student talk
or writing
– Copying definitions
Through incidental learning in a language
rich environment, students can learn 17-20
words/day, 3000 words/year

5. Definitions
Dictionary Definitions Students’ Sentences
Correlate. 1. Be related one to
the other: The diameter and the
circumference of a circle
correlate. 2. Put into relation

6. Definitions
Dictionary Definitions Students’ Sentences
Correlate. 1. Be related one to Me and my parents
the other: The diameter and the correlate because without
circumference of a circle
correlate. 2. Put into relation
them I wouldn’t be here.

7. Definitions
Dictionary Definitions Students’ Sentences
Correlate. 1. Be related one to Me and my parents
the other: The diameter and the correlate because without
circumference of a circle
correlate. 2. Put into relation
them I wouldn’t be here.
Meticulous. Very careful
or too particular about
small details

8. Definitions
Dictionary Definitions Students’ Sentences
Correlate. 1. Be related one to Me and my parents
the other: The diameter and the correlate because without
circumference of a circle
correlate. 2. Put into relation
them I wouldn’t be here.
Meticulous. Very careful I was meticulous about
or too particular about falling off the cliff.
small details

9. Definitions
Dictionary Definitions Students’ Sentences
Correlate. 1. Be related one to Me and my parents
the other: The diameter and the correlate because without
circumference of a circle
correlate. 2. Put into relation
them I wouldn’t be here.
Meticulous. Very careful I was meticulous about
or too particular about falling off the cliff.
small details
Redress. 1. Set right;
repair; remedy: King Arthur
tried to redress wrongs in
his kingdom.

10. Definitions
Dictionary Definitions Students’ Sentences
Correlate. 1. Be related one to Me and my parents
the other: The diameter and the correlate because without
circumference of a circle
correlate. 2. Put into relation
them I wouldn’t be here.
Meticulous. Very careful I was meticulous about
or too particular about falling off the cliff.
small details
Redress. 1. Set right; The redress for getting
repair; remedy: King Arthur well when you’re sick is to
tried to redress wrongs in stay in bed.
his kingdom.

11. What does work: Reading
• Wide reading is THE most
important way to foster
vocabulary development
– Wide reading
– Wide reading
– Wide reading

12. Create a Language-Rich Environment
• Use interesting words yourself
• Play with words
• Word of the day

13. Return their language to them
with more interesting vocab
• I’m thirsty!  I’m _________
• It’s raining!  It’s _________
• What are we having for lunch?
• This homework stinks!

14. Explicit Instruction in Using
Morphemes for Structural Analysis
• Morphemes--meaningful chunks of
words
• Morphology--study of the meaningful
chunks of words
• Roots, affixes (suffixes and prefixes)
• How many morphemes in shoes,
celery, polysyllabic?

15. Ways to teach the meanings
of morphemes
• Word sorts (in-, un-)
• Word chains (sort polyhedron words)
• Root word/Vocabulary Trees (def is “roots”,
branches are words that use root, twigs are
where you heard it)
• Think of a sort you could do that focuses on
the meanings of word parts (morphemes)
important in your discipline (e.g., in math:
graph means picture vs. graph means word)
• Share

16. Model Using Morphemes to
Figure Out Words
• Discuss handout/procedures for a think-
aloud
• Think out loud about how you used
morphemes to figure out the meaning of
a word
• Devon model
• Groups practice and share
• Discuss

17. Using morphemes to figure
out words
Sometimes morphemes are all you need:
• indefatigable
What are some key morphemes in your
content area?

18. Adding in context
• Sometimes not so helpful
She was a sartorial nightmare.
• Sometimes helpful.
His sartorial style runs toward jeans,
Hawaiian shirts and cowboy boots.
The doctor prescribed me an antipruritic for
my poison ivy.

19. Explicit Instruction in Using
Context
• Model, model, model
• Demonstrate using more and more
context

20. Using Context
• How could I be such a mensa?

21. Using Context
• How could I be such a mensa? She scolded
herself as she sat cross-legged, the
telephone cradled in one hand and a cookie
in the other.

22. Using Context
• How could I be such a mensa? She scolded
herself as she sat cross-legged, the
telephone cradled in one hand and a cookie
in the other. She blamed her biology teacher
for her problem.

23. Using Context
• How could I be such a mensa? She scolded
herself as she sat cross-legged, the
telephone cradled in one hand and a cookie
in the other. She blamed her biology teacher
for her problem. If he hadn’t made them
dissect frogs, she wouldn’t have been so
absentminded. (from Gary Soto’s The
Challenge)

24. Kinds of Context Clues
• Definition: . . . Then the predator, an animal
that hunts and eats other animals, entered
• Synonym: He walked with alacrity, hurrying
to his destination
• Antonym: He walked slothfully, you could
never get him to hurry
• Example: Predators like lions, tigers, bears,
sharks, eagles, even bats . . . .
• Gist: vaguely somewhere in the text (mensa)

25. Teach with a think-aloud
•Think out loud. Explain your thinking to
students to model how to use context clues to
figure out the word.
•Practice it in groups. Find a difficult or likely
unfamiliar word in your text, think aloud about
how you used context to figure it out. Name the
“kind” of context clue you used.
•Share.

26. Look in your framework
• What morphemes are there?
• What’s a sort or other activity you could do
to teach the meaning of one of those?

27. When morphemes and context won’t
work: Using Reference Tools
• Must be a sophisticated user and know the
first definition won’t always work
• Which definition fits the meaning of the
sentence:
– “Cell phones are polluting our most sacred family
traditions such as the evening meal.”
• What “text features” do you need to know to
use this reference tool?
• Other reference tools?

28. Explicit Study of Words:
Selecting Words for Study
• Function words - glue sentences together
(the, because, is)
• Tier 1 words - already known (school, baby)
• Tier 2 words - worth studying, multiple
meanings, important to content, key
morphemes, etc.
• Tier 3 words - exceedingly rare and
specialized (antipruritic)

29. Triple-Entry Vocab Journal
• Select words for journals or let students
record words as they write (see
handout)
• After, let students compare responses
Word in context Look up, Picture,
of sentence in choose right memory aid, or
text, underlined def, write in phrase
own words

30. Word Sorts
• Conceptual word sorts:
– Conceptually (e.g., related to nervous vs. digestive
system, spiders vs. insects, etc.)
– Open word sorts--students decide how to sort
them
• There’s value in the debating
• Sort words before, during, and after
reading/thematic study
• Think of other ways to sort words
• Sort the same set of words multiple ways

31. Word Chains
• Sort words according to a scale or quality
– Synonyms for hunger, most to least
– Put words in order according to a chemical
process or mathematical procedure
– Environmental consequences of different ways of
getting energy (solar, coal, nuclear), from least to
most harmful
• Come up with a word chain to teach words in your
content area

32. Possible Sentences
• Teacher selects a few words before
study
• Students analyze them, then create a
“possible sentence”
• After study, students rewrite possible
sentences based on new knowledge of
words
» Janet Allen

33. Interactive Word Wall
• Select words for content/concept study
• List on word wall before/during/after
• Sort words according to concepts or put
in alphabetical order--so they’re easy to
find and useful
• USE the words throughout study

34. Using Interactive Word Wall
Words
• Sort the words
• Use the words to write summaries
• Write narratives or poems using the words
together
• Use the words in a Venn diagram
• Hold students accountable for spelling these
words correctly in writing
• Word 20-questions or charades
• Use the words in a persuasive letter etc.
• Other ideas?

35. Portable Word Wall
• Individualized word walls

36. Other Graphic Organizers
• Word Web/Spider Map
• Word Scroll
• Folded flash cards-fold like a note card,
word on front, def on top inside,
examples on bottom inside, illustration
on the back
• Others?

37. Words Across Contexts:
Homographs
• Encourages thinking about the content-specific
meanings of words and the concepts in the text
• What would the word surf mean to:
A. A kid on the beach?
B. A techie?
C. Someone watching TV?
• What would the word current mean to:
A. An electrician
B. A boat captain
C. A newspaper writer
Do one of your own!

38. Word Knowledge Rating Scale
Word Know it well Have seen or Have no idea
heard it

39. Word Detective

40. Frayer Model
Definition in your own words Facts/Characteristics
A quadrilateral is a shape with * 4 sides
4 sides. * May or may not be
* equal length
* Sides may or may not
Quadrilateral be parallel
Examples Nonexamples
•Square •Circle
•Rectangle •Triangle
•Trapezoid •Pentagon
•rhombus •dodecahdron

41. Verbal and Visual Word Association
(VVWA)

44. Wrap-Up
Re-sort words
List all strategies so far/use
notecards. Go through
framework and discuss which
could be used for the
benchmarks in Competencies
1 and 2.