Effective Strategies for Vocabulary Instruction
By Lindsay Spann, Jacyln Clark, Vivianne Creary, and
Lascelia Dacres
Vocabulary
All the words used known and used by a person (Wikipedia)
The set of words a person is familiar with in a language.
Usually grows and evolves with age
Useful tool in communicating and acquiring knowledge.
Effective Practices of Vocabulary Instruction
Have students link terms with life experiences so that they are more likely to retain the meanings.
Have students paraphrase terms in their own words so they have a better understanding.
Allow students to come up with similes and metaphors
Differentiation of Vocabulary
Create classrooms that maintain high student expectations
Use activities and products based on students’ readiness and interests.
Use “weapons of mass instruction”-a variety of research-based strategies for vocabulary-teaching arsenals.
Differentiation of Vocabulary Continued…
Allow more examples and more time for guided practice and independent work
Allow multiple opportunities for students to encounter the term and use while communicating
Vary the intensity of the word-Ex: multiple meanings, different pronunciations, etc.
Connections to ESOL and ESE Student
Connections with real-life situations
More time spent on teaching it in detail
Fewer terms Group work, guided practice, and
modeling Morphemic analysis-allowing
students to use prefixes and suffixes to come up with their own meanings
Interview Strategies
Knowledge Rating Guide
VIS (Vocabulary Improvement Strategy)
Vocabulary Word Webs
Vocabulary word substitution
Knowledge Rating Guide
1. Prepare a list of words you want students to learn.
2. Next to each word, draw three columns as shown.
Can Define Have seen/heard
Unknown
Glacier
Blizzard
Avalanche
Knowledge Rating Continued
3. Have students check the columns that apply after modeling one word then working on one together.
4. Discuss each word after students are done filling out the chart. Find out which words were least recognized or defined.
5. Make predictions about further meanings of words and how they will be used in the text.
VIS (Vocabulary Improvement Strategy) Chart
Word Illustration Sentence Definition
stall
At another stall, my mother bought dumplings. A stand set up for selling things.
A stand set up for
selling things.
Vocabulary Word Web
Ocean fish
current
waves
Vocabulary Word Substitution
Example: Instead of saying… When my dog died, I became sad. Say… When my dog died, I became heartbroken.
Happy•joyful•merry•radiant•pleased•jubilant•satisfied
Sad•blue•cheerless•dismal•gloomy•miserable•heartbroken
Silly•crazy•cuckoo•goofy•wacky•foolish•ridiculous
Cranky•crabby•cross•grouchy•testy•touchy•ratty
Annotated Bibliography Just Read Now: Vocabulary Strategies
www.justeadnow.com/strategies/vocabulary.htm
Secondary Content Teacher Reading Strategies www.ops.org/reading/secondarystrat1.htm
Lowering the language barriers in middle and secondary school http://www.resourceroom.net/comprehension/lowerbarriers.asp.