Vocabulary Instruction

Research-Based Practices (Allen, 1999)
  • Provide teacher-directed, explicit instruction
  • Provide opportunities to practice using words
  • Teach word meanings explicitly and systematically
  • Teach independent word learning strategies (i.e., contextual strategies and morphemic analysis)

Unreliable Practices (Allen, 1999)
  • Asking students, “Does anyone know what _____ means?”
  • Numerous independent activities without guidance or immediate feedback
  • Directing students to “look words up” then use them in a sentence
  • Relying on context-based guessing as a primary strategy

Instructional Routine for Explicit Vocabulary Instruction (Anita Archer, 2008)
  • Introduce the word
  • Introduce the meaning of the word with a student-friendly explanation
  • Illustrate the word with examples and non-examples
  • Check for student understanding

Teaching Vocabulary as a Writing Prompt

A procedure based on the work of Duin (Duin & Graves, 1987, 1988) and Beck (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan 2002)

Select a set of ten or so words that lend themselves to writing about a particular topic.

Involve students in rich and robust activities over several days.
- Define the words.
- Compare them to other words.
- Examine the contexts in which they do and do not apply.
- Play games with words.

Have students write an essay in which they use as many of the words as possible.

Frayer Model
• What it is
• Examples of what it is
• What it is not
• Examples of what it is not (non-examples)

Vocabulary Notebook
• Word and Page Number
• Resource
• Sentence in which word was used in text
• Student-friendly definition
• Antonyms
• Synonyms
• Picture/Drawing/Symbol

Word Consciousness

Word Scales
Example:
dawdle - lollygag - plod - lumber - amble - meander - trudge - stumble - slide - pussyfoot - tiptoe - saunter - stroll - walk - swagger - scoot - strut - sashay - stride - stomp - march - skip - hustle - run - prance - sprint - race - zip - streak