Expanding Vocabulary Knowledge in the Classroom

Tips for Introducing Vocabulary

1. Pronounce the word clearly, have students repeat the word, and consider its written spelling, its parts (prefix, suffix, root), and the word’s form or function in a sentence (noun, verb, etc).
2. Ask students to indicate if they have a good understanding of the word (thumbs up), some familiarity (thumbs sideways), or no knowledge of the word at all (thumbs down).
3. Provide a child-friendly definition of the word. Guide students to expand on your definition.
4. Read the sentence in which the word was first presented. Discuss how to find clues to word meaning in this context.
5. Use the word in different situations and talk about new context clues.
6. Ask students questions to reinforce word meaning.
7. Invite students to share their own definitions of, or experiences with, the targeted word and then have them use it in a sentence. Encourage other students to make connections to this student’s word use.

Opportunities for vocabulary expansion: Three ways to integrate vocabulary support into the classroom

Time in school is valuable, and many teachers may think, “How can I find time for vocabulary lessons when I already have so much curriculum to cover?” Rather than viewing word learning as an additional lesson, teachers can aim to create opportunities to explore words across the day. Here are three approaches to consider.

a. Proactively select words from reading passages and explore in depth after reading

Teachers can help students expand their vocabulary knowledge by selecting a handful of words from oral reading passages, briefly defining a word in the story context, and then later exploring each word in-depth. Beck and colleagues (2002) suggest that students benefit most from direct instruction of “Tier 2 Words.” These words should occur more frequently than domain-specific words (related to a particular academic topic), but be more sophisticated than common, frequently used words. Ideally, targeted words can be used in a variety of contexts, providing numerous practice opportunities.

Direct instruction looks quite different from the old tradition of “teaching vocabulary” by simply giving students a definition and asking them to write sentences using the word. For example, if students do not know the word “persistent”, how likely is it they will understand and correctly use the word after hearing or reading this definition of persistent from Dictionary.com?

Persistent (adjective) - persisting, especially in spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement, etc.

Learning words in a meaningful context is more effective than learning them in isolation. Yet, while teachers may encourage their students to “use context clues” to figure out the meaning of an unknown word, this can be difficult for many students. Teachers can model the process of discovering word meaning from context by using a “think aloud” strategy. Here's an example of "stretching word knowledge" after reading a story to the class.

• Teacher: Let's see if we can figure out what a word means by using context clues. Remember, using context means using the other words around our new word to learn its meaning.
• In our story, the narrator says, “Long after the other boys crossed the finish line, Ted stumbled along the last stretch of track. I'll say one thing for Ted,' sighed the coach, he sure is a persistent runner. I'm impressed. I would have given up by now if I were him." Does anyone know the word persistent? (Most students show a “thumbs-down” gesture.) Let's say it together and write it on the board.
• Teacher: Do you think persistent is a person, place, or thing? Could you have a persistent? (Students: no) Or is it an action? Do you persistent? Or maybe it's a describing word?
• Student 1: Yes! Maybe it means slow?
• Teacher: Okay, what clues in the story made you think that?
• Student 1: Because the other kids finished the race a long time ago, but not Ted.
• Teacher: Good guess. This must be pretty difficult for Ted. The coach says "he sure is a persistent runner", so persistent does seem to be a word that describes a person. What else does the coach say?
• Student 2: That he would give up if he were that slow.
• Teacher: Yes, the coach doesn’t think he would keep running, but Ted does. Do you think the coach is annoyed with Ted because he’s still on the track?
• Student 3: No, because the coach said he was impressed. That means he thinks that it’s good that Ted keeps going.
• Teacher: Yes! So here is what we know: Ted is a slower runner than the other boys; running is hard for Ted, but he doesn’t quit; the coach likes this quality about Ted. So, let’s try this definition for persistent:
  
  • persistent - a word that describes a person who keeps working at something, even if it’s difficult
• Teacher: Have you ever played a video game and been stuck on a really hard level, but you keep playing because you want to beat it and reach the next level? (Students: yes!) If you have, then you were being persistent! Do you need to be persistent to brush your teeth? (Students respond). Not really! rushing teeth is easy and doesn’t take persistence. Who can tell me a time they were persistent?
• Student 4: Last night I was persistent! didn’t understand my math homework, but I kept trying until I figured it out and I finished all the problems!
• Teacher: Excellent, that must have felt great! Should we persist in talking about this word, or explore a different word from our story?

By using several of the Tips for Introducing Vocabulary, this teacher engaged students in learning how to use context clues, encouraged flexible thinking, made connections to other contexts (including personal experiences), and exposed them to three forms of the targeted word (persist, persistent, persistence.)

b. Spontaneously introduce more sophisticated words during conversation and discussion

Teachers have many opportunities each day to expose students to more sophisticated vocabulary by simply adjusting the way they respond to students during conversations and discussions. Acknowledging a student’s question or comment by paraphrasing the content and replacing a common word with a more sophisticated one, allows a student to comprehend the new word’s meaning in a familiar and relevant context. You can also extend the message while introducing even more new words.

• Student: Miss Hudson, what will be on our history test tomorrow? Will it be hard?
• Teacher: I think you may find the assessment to be challenging.
• Student: Oh no, I’m worried!
• Teacher: Don’t be too concerned. I’m optimistic that you’ll feel prepared after our review today. I know you’ll feel ready after we look at our lesson again.

In this example, the teacher replaced some of the student’s words with higher-level vocabulary in her response (assessment for test, challenging for hard, concerned for worried). She also introduced new words as she expanded her response but also provided clues to the new vocabulary with simpler terms (optimistic - I know; prepared – ready; review – look at... again).

In the book “Bringing Words to Life” (2002), the authors share several ideas for “enriching the verbal environment” of a classroom. These include:

• Demonstrating and encouraging curiosity about unknown words; praising students when they ask for word meanings or point out new words that occur in learning, discussions, and conversations
• Adding newly learned vocabulary to a classroom display and challenging students to make connections to these words outside of school
• Engaging in word exploration games and activities that require students to make connections between words such as explaining word associations based on meanings (e.g., “What do these words have in common: inch, ounce, degree?”) or by expanding word forms by adding morphemes (prefixes, suffixes) to roots and base words (e.g., inspect, inspector, inspection, respect, disrespected).

c. Make connections to domain-specific words used in content area instruction

Domain-specific words (e.g., equator, hemisphere, elevation, plateau) must be taught directly in context for students to understand a specific subject (geography). These words have been categorized by Beck et al. (2002) as “Tier 3 Words”. They are generally considered low-occurrence words and for that reason not typically recommended for direct, in-depth word study. For example, the words equator and hemisphere may be defined in a geography textbook, and reading these meanings might be sufficient to understand that lesson. However, these kinds of words can still present opportunities for teachers to expand their students’ word knowledge and to help the meanings of words (and word parts) to “stick” in a student’s vocabulary lexicon.

Here is an example of “stretching word knowledge” in the context of an academic lesson by drawing attention to a word’s form and its associations with other words.

• Teacher: We just read about the Earth’s equator. It’s an imaginary line that divides the world into the northern and southern hemispheres. Who can point to it on the globe? Watch me while I write the word equator. I hear three syllables: e-qua-tor. (Underline e-q-u-a.) Look at the first four letters. Can you think of another word that starts with these letters? Students: Equal (equation, equality, equalize)
• Teacher: Yes! What does equal mean? Students: The same (the same size, same amount, same number)
• Teacher: You’re right! In math, equal numbers have the same value or size. In social studies, equality means that people have the same, or equal, rights. When you look at the equator, is this line closer to the top or bottom of the globe? No, it’s right across the middle! The top half and bottom half are the same size. So, we can say that the equator divides the Earth into... Students: Two equal parts.
• Teacher: Great! We call those parts hemispheres. The northern hemisphere is equal to the southern hemisphere. Watch me while I write the word hemisphere: h-e-m-i-s-p-h-e-r-e. Say it: hemisphere. (Underline sphere.) Look at the end of this word: sphere. Where have we seen the word sphere before? What does it mean? Students: In math, we learned that a sphere is a 3-dimensional shape like a ball.
• Teacher: Just like the Earth and the globe! So, if sphere means a ball shape, I wonder what the other part of the word hemisphere means? (Underline hemi.) When we cut something into two equal parts, each part equals one... Students: Half!
• Teacher: If the word part hemi means half, then hemisphere means half of a sphere! Let’s use these words together now: The equator divides the world equally into the northern and southern hemispheres.

Engaging in this conversation would take just a few moments but it provided multiple exposures to some new words. It also helped to deepen students’ knowledge by using the word parts in contexts beyond the original example in the geography text.

Summary

Encouraging your students’ vocabulary growth is something that can be accomplished through oral language activities across the school day. Engaging in the type of word exploration demonstrated above is a worthy investment of a teacher’s time. Doing so can help support student success, not just with reading comprehension and writing, but with all academic tasks and social communication as well.

References: Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bring Words to Life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press.

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