Foundations, Instruction and Assessment of Vocabulary Instruction in Kindergarten

to communicate with one another

Why Do We Need

Vocabulary Instruction?

Socioeconomic status is

a major indicator of

how expansive a child's

vocabulary is.

At-risk students are

more likely to have

vocabulary deficits.

As the child grows older

the gap between children with

high and low level vocabulary

knowledge increases.

It is difficult to decrease

the gap as the child

ages.

National Reading Panel:

Vocabulary is a critical component

of reading instruction.

Vocabulary growth is

determined by parental

practices.

oral language

experiences

daily interactions

Readers cannot understand

what they are reading

without knowing what the

words mean.

As text level increases,

so do the complexity of

the words.

A child may be able

to read all of the

words, but not understand the

meaning of the text.

Comprehension

suffers.

Low vocabularies

will also affect a

child's writing

ability.

Vocabulary learning

and acquisition is

developmental.

Direct vocabulary instruction is needed starting in Kindergarten.

How do we teach

vocabulary effectively?

Children need to be

explicitly taught 2-3

new words every day.

Use a "robust" approach.

Reading

Writing

Listening

Speaking

independent reading

listening to adults read with explicit instruction

Children need multiple exposures

to a word in order to internalize it.

(Biemiller and Boote, 2006)

specific and direct word instruction

daily oral language activities

extended, meaningful instruction

with active engagement

NOT looking up words in the dictionary!

The direct connection of an object

to a word helps students associate

the word with the object (Biemiller, 2005).

Chit-Chat Book

Mystery Bag

Teacher can introduce many new words.

Can use both fiction and

non-fiction books

What about Assessment?

Pre and post

assessments

Written assessments

as child's writing skills

increase.

conversations

and daily

interactions

Four stages of knowing a word

(Beck, et. al, 2002)

1. No knowledge

2. Has seen or heard the word

but does not know the meaning

3. Some knowledge and may be able

to relate the word, but unable to apply

to many contexts.

4. Knows the word well, and can explain

and use it in a variety of contexts.

Vocabulary acquisition is on a continuum!

Direct instruction of vocabulary

must be taught with the same

rigor as all other areas of reading

and writing.

Teaching vocabulary is continual

and should be taught through

all grade levels starting at an

early age.

Vocabulary Instruction

in Kindergarten

Formal and Informal

We need to start

teaching vocabulary

in Kindergarten.

to listen

to speak

to read

Teacher and peer modeled language

are critical for language development

(Kindle, 2008)

to write

How do we choose words?

Tier One

Tier Two

Tier Three

(Beck, McKeown, Kucan (2002)

Children practice

speaking in front

of a group.

Children need to

use their

listening

vocabularies

Can provide a photograph

or concrete model for students

Choose Tier Two to teach

If the language used to define

the word is too hard, then the

word itself is too hard.

Interactive Read-Alouds

Children are given a

real-life context to connect

the word to.

Discussion before and

after reading

Draw attention to

key words and their

meanings

Words must be useful to the children

(Chanko, 2008)