Building Students' Vocabulary: One Word at a Time

Vocabulary

• A student’s deficient vocabulary can be the underlying factor that influences their ability to read as well as comprehend an intended text.

• If students do not understand the meaning of words contained within the text, his/her comprehension will perhaps diminish. Therefore, causing a student’s literacy progression to weaken and decline.

• As students progress through school, the ‘vocabulary gap’ will continually increase if the proper strategies are not provided within the classroom.

• Educators should discover the most effective strategies regarding vocabulary development to ensure their students experience continued growth, progress, and development throughout their learning process.

Approach to

Vocabulary Instruction

A direct approach for teaching vocabulary instruction is to merely “[provide] students with, or [ask] them to locate definitions of new words” (Klesius and Searls, 1991, p. 165-166).

• This approach is best used when teachers are introducing new concepts such as math or science vocabulary

• The direct approach is needed for student learning regarding the effectiveness of that particular unit of study given that it would be distinct vocabulary “critical for the unit of study or the selection to be read” (Klesius and Searls, 1991, p. 167).

• The direct approach is the most common and widely utilized method for all vocabulary instruction remains the direct instructional approach of copying words and memorizing their definitions (Phillips, Foote, and Harper 2008, p. 62).

• The direct approach strategies do not support the growth and development students need to “develop relational knowledge that is necessary for true understanding” (Phillips, Foote, and Harper, 2008, p. 63)

Read Alouds

Read Alouds are an essential component in delivering an unparalleled literacy curriculum and according to Kindle (2009) “read-aloud context

has proven to be an effective vehicle for vocabulary instruction” (p. 202). Moreover, as students listen to engaging literature, they gain valuable experiences with books as well as enrich their background knowledge

and vocabulary.

Word Walls

• Word Walls are another effective means of elevating students vocabulary as “research has also clearly shown that frequent and varied exposures to targeted vocabulary is critical to word learning” (Harmon, Wood, and Kiser, 2009, p. 59).

• Word walls are a widely utilized and highly effective teaching tool in today's classrooms as they “are designed to serve as visual scaffolds and are a common classroom tool used to support reading and language arts instruction” (Jackson, Tripp, Cox, 2011, p. 45).

Word Maps ~ Thinking Maps

• Word Maps and Word Webs provide an explicit and detailed avenue that provides a focal point in which students can answer three specific questions: “What is it? What is it like? [and] What are some examples” (Greenwood, 2002, p. 260-261).

• Upon the initial placement of the word within the Thinking Map, students can activate their prior knowledge to provide answers to the previous questions. Students will then begin to discuss and provide synonyms and attributes to build and construct the Word Maps and Word Webs.

• Allowing students “to see similarities and differences among them, and to consider multiple definitions and shades of meaning” (Greenwood, 2002, p. 259).

Story Innovation

• Story Innovation, also referred to as book or text innovation, has attracted little to no interest among educators in the past decades (Griffith and Ruan, 2007).

• Griffith and Ruan feel that Story Innovation is a successful way for “children to enjoy writing and reading in a scaffolded format” (Griffith and Ruan, p. 334).

• The concept set forth by the Story Innovation strategy is to replace certain words within the story with similar words. The teacher and students brainstorm which element of the story they would like to alter: such as characters or setting.

• Together, they generate a story map that lists all of their ideas regarding the area of the story they will change. The teacher and students revisit the story, placing their alterations within their text.

Technology

• The World Wide Web has become a vital part of our society: a remarkable resource for learning.

• With the urgency placed on educators to elevate student’s vocabulary learning, it is vital that teachers “use the tools that 21st-century technologies” has provided them (Dalton and Grisham, 2011, p. 306).

• Learning new avenues in which to utilize technology in their lessons as well as supplementary technology activities will allow teachers to generate an environment that is conducive to learning in the 21st Century.

Visual Word Displays

Digital Field Trips

Online Reference Tools

Interactive Vocabulary

Games

a list or collection of words or of words and phrases usually alphabetically arranged and explained or defined

An indirect approach to vocabulary instruction is implemented when teachers provide vocabulary enrichment strategies such as Read Alouds, Word Walls, classroom libraries, and book sharing activities.

Since children possess an array of

learning capabilities and literacy

levels it is imperative for teachers to integrate direct as well as indirect instructional methods to orchestrate

and elevate their students’

learning process.

To truly enhance and develop a student’s vocabulary understanding they must be presented with opportunities to “connect with experience and knowledge” (Pearson, Hiebert, and Kamil 2007).

Building Student's Vocabulary: One Word at a Time

Suzzanne S. Deaver

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If students are not presented with these opportunities, they will likely struggle and have limited vocabulary growth (Jalongo, Sobolak, 2010).

Structuring a student’s vocabulary awareness seems straightforward and simplistic: to present students with a list of words to define and memorize.

For students’ learning to become stimulated and allow them to transition from emergent readers/writers into independent readers/writers, they must be “actively and mentally engaged in language study” (Phillips et al., 2008, p. 62).

2. Indirect Approach

1. Direct Approach