Improving students’ vocabulary

Presented by Pam Powell

This cycle shows how we can improve students’ learning outcomes

Plan• Examine the data

•Select a learning focus

Act Implement evidence

based strategies and actions

NoticeObserve student and

teacher learning

ReflectExamine, analyse and

evaluate results

Supporting implementationBuilding capacity

LeadershipFacilitation

We have

chosen vocab

Our learning intention is to investigate some of the elements that will improve students’ use of vocabulary

We will• examine some of the easier elements today because our time is limited

• select one element to improve

• discuss what the explicit teaching of that element might look like

• consider appropriate teaching strategies

• determine a way in which we could measure students’ improvement.

Success criteria Choose one element , plan before and after writing tasks and the teaching strategy you will use to improve the use of vocabulary.

Vocabulary: from the NAPLAN marking guideScore Have you used the best words?

0 You write symbols or drawings.

1 You write a very short piece.You use a few words about the subject.

2 You use mostly simple words.You include 3 precise words or word groups.

3 You write 4 or more precise words or word groups.

4 You use precise words and word groups that add to the meaning throughout your writing.

5 You use a range of precise and effective words and word groups in a fluent and articulate manner.You match your choice of words to the style of the argument.

For more information about simple and precise words see the next slide

What are simple or precise wordsSimple words and word groups• single nouns

water, award, house, reason• noun groups

a very helpful person, a tin cage• single verbs

like, run, look, need, think, played• adjectives and adverbs

cold, always, really, very, friendly• simple comparisons

as much as she can … one of the fastest …

Precise words and word groups• single precise words

citizen, budget, consider, solution, supportive, research

• modal verbs and adjectivesultimate, certain, possibly, definitely

• precise word groupsduty of care, positive impact on society

• modal groupsit would seem that, it is unlikely that

• technical terms (depend on the topic)habitat, life expectancy, global warming, financial crisis

• nominalisationsprobability, likelihood, conservation, short sightedness

• literary devicese.g. alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification

Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5

Understand the use of vocabulary in everyday contexts as well as a growing number of school contexts, including appropriate use of formal and informal terms of address in different contexts

Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose

Learn extended and technical vocabulary and ways of expressing opinion including modal verbs and adverbs

Incorporate new vocabulary from a range of sources into students’ own texts including vocabulary encountered in research

Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that words can have different meanings in different contexts

Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10

Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion

Investigate vocabulary typical of extended and more academic texts and the role of abstract nouns, classification, description and generalisation in building specialised knowledge through language

Recognise that vocabulary choices contribute to the specificity, abstraction and style of texts

Identify how vocabulary choices contribute to specificity, abstraction and stylistic effectiveness

Refine vocabulary choices to discriminate between shades of meaning, with deliberate attention to the effect on audiences

From the language strand: expressing and developing ideas

Vocabulary The meanings of words including everyday and specialist meanings and how words take their meanings from the context of the text.

What do we know about explicit teaching?

What does the curriculum say about explicit teaching?

Highlight the key ideas that will inform your explicit teaching of vocabulary

Evaluative language

Expressing attitudes• Describing emotions and how people feel (affect)

e.g. The children are very upset.

• Evaluating the worth and quality of things and processes (appreciation)

e.g. What a lovely film!

• Make judgements about people’s behaviour (judgement)e.g. She is such a cheat when playing games.

Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion. Year 6

Adjusting strength

Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning ... Year 5

We can boost or lower the strength of our messages

I’m worried.• We can add an intensifier.

I’m really worried.• Or we can lower the intensity

I’m a bit worried.

We can increase or decrease the force of a message by using• adverbs

I’m feeling slightly sick.• adjectives

You’re a complete fool.• nouns

What a stink!•Verbs

I adore strawberries.

Action verbsWhen we consider what is happening in a text, we can ask what actions are taking place? Much of our experience consists of physical activity. We find action verbs in procedures, recounts and narratives .

Common action verbsblow buy come do drive

eat fly get give live

limp make play roam rub

run shake slip take work

Saying verbs

Saying verbs

ask deny plead respond stammer

claim explain promise say suggest

continue imply reply scream tell

cry murmur report shout whisper

Sensing verbs – includes thinking verbs

Thinking Feeling and wanting

Perceiving

know decide like see

reflect consider hate taste

comprehend recall dislike hear

believe hypothesise want smell

imagine wonder wish observe

forget understand need notice

remember assume fear Sense

recollect recognise enjoy

realise infer

Bev Derewianka uses sensing verbs to reflect processes of our ‘internal world’. They are mostly used to describe what people think, feel, desire and perceive.

Relating verbsSome verbs do not represent actions, speaking, thoughts or feelings. Their job is to link two pieces of information. E.g. Alice was now more than nine feet tall.

being having

am, is, are represent have, has, had

was, were remain possess

mean is called own

become equal include

turn into symbolise comprise

seem appear lack

encompass

Try this activity

“No!” he said and left the room.

See how many precise words you can use to substitute for the simple words shown in bold.

You might like to act out your best sentence.

Teaching strategy: make some word clinesMake a feeling cline for negative feelingsMake a list of all the words you can think of that describe negative feelings, then put them into a ladder going from the least to most.See example below.

Repeat the same activity with positive feelings.

distraught

sad

unhappyLeast negativefeeling

Most negative feeling

Modality

High modality Medium modality Low modality

must will may

ought to should might

shall can could

has to need to would

definitely probably possibly

absolutely presumably perhaps

certainly in all probability maybe

positively presumably arguably

undoubtedly apparently allegedly

surely seemingly

Modals give us information about the degree of certainty involved in the action. We use low modality if we feel tentative about something e.g.

It might rain tomorrow.We use high modality to express a high degree of certainty e.g.

It must be right.

Noun groups

Strategies for improving vocabulary

This graphic organizer helps students to learn new vocabulary by not only defining the term in their own words, but contextualizing it through authentic examples and visual representation.www.fcrr.org/curriculum/PDF/G4-5/45VPartThree.pdfor google - student center activities vocabulary - for many activities from kindergarten to grade 5 and above

Word walls can be used in many ways

Word sorts can be useful, too Science word sortdissolve inquiry soluble

insoluble procedure investigation

hypothesis experiment substances

method evaluate science

compare conducting demonstrate

equipment safety question

planning evaluate results

variables materials prediction

Teacher sortFind all the words that . . .

Student sortFind all the words that . . .

Guess my sortOne person highlights a group of words.The others have to guess why the words have been chosen.What do the words have in common?

Plan with the end in mind – Decide what evidence will indicate student improvement.

• How will we find out what our students know already?

• How will we keep records of students’ work as they learn about vocabulary?

• How will we show what our students have learned?

• How will we measure improvement?

Determine teacher learning required to address the area of student need.

• precise and simple words?• evaluative language?• action verbs?• saying verbs?• sensing verbs?• relating verbs?• modality?• noun groups?

Which elements will we focus on?

What do we need to learn before we can improve all elements of vocabulary mentioned in the Australian Curriculum?