Yes, vocabulary is important. Should we rely on the old strategy of "look-it-up-and-write-a-sentence?" Not always, though such activities can fulfill Bill Daggett's "quadrant A" style lesson, where a student simply gains forgetable knowledge without doing much more with it. The structures and strategies posed in the article are good ones. Another thing I have found handy in vocab instruction is the institution of a "concept wall," which is essentially a word wall that packs greater relevance and application. I'm rambling... What can I say? I love the English language, and vocabulary is one of my true sweethearts. Glad we started the class with this one.
I thought that this article was a quick read, but was filled with a ton of useful information. There were some ideas in the article that I already use in my classroom. For example, activating prior knowledge. I do that, not only with vocabulary, but in every subject. I defenitly agree with the text when it stated, "it is essential for students to have frequent encounters with a word and understand the connection between words and ideas before students can begin to "own" a word." It is so important to have your students work with vocabulary from a variety of different angles. I love it when my students come up to me and show me a vocabulary word from weeks ago that is in their AR book.
Of course vocabulary is important! I teach kindergarten and it is extremely important to activate prior knowledge and build on what students already know with rich classroom experiences. We can’t change the background that our children come from but we can create and expose students to a vocabulary rich environment to help level the playing field.
Vocabulary is very important!!! Teaching in a secondary level my students struggle daily with reading because their vocabulary is very low. I use many different strategies including word maps, webs, and word walls. I have also found several websites with vocabulary games my students use as class competition.
It was interesting to me that John mentioned Dr. Daggett's "quadrant A" learning in his comments. As I was reading the article, I kept thinking of his group's research showing the various reading levels of typical adult reading materials. The highest reading levels were found in entry level vocational/technical manuals. The reason those reading levels are so high is because the vocabulary is so specific to the vocational/technical area. This is why Dr. Daggett recommends teaching reading, of which vocabulary is a major part, in content areas and career and technical education instead of remediation courses. Personally, in my social studies classes, I had great success with word sorts; something meaningful happens when students discuss and defend how words should be categorized for understanding.
Each of your postings have hit upon the importance of vocabulary in helping our students improve their overall understanding of text. As a "seasoned" teacher - (a nice way of saying old)- I can personally relate to Amy's comment "if I had only known then what I know now." That is why as educators we must never cease to learn.
6 comments:
Yes, vocabulary is important. Should we rely on the old strategy of "look-it-up-and-write-a-sentence?" Not always, though such activities can fulfill Bill Daggett's "quadrant A" style lesson, where a student simply gains forgetable knowledge without doing much more with it. The structures and strategies posed in the article are good ones. Another thing I have found handy in vocab instruction is the institution of a "concept wall," which is essentially a word wall that packs greater relevance and application. I'm rambling... What can I say? I love the English language, and vocabulary is one of my true sweethearts. Glad we started the class with this one.
I thought that this article was a quick read, but was filled with a ton of useful information. There were some ideas in the article that I already use in my classroom. For example, activating prior knowledge. I do that, not only with vocabulary, but in every subject. I defenitly agree with the text when it stated, "it is essential for students to have frequent encounters with a word and understand the connection between words and ideas before students can begin to "own" a word." It is so important to have your students work with vocabulary from a variety of different angles. I love it when my students come up to me and show me a vocabulary word from weeks ago that is in their AR book.
Of course vocabulary is important! I teach kindergarten and it is extremely important to activate prior knowledge and build on what students already know with rich classroom experiences. We can’t change the background that our children come from but we can create and expose students to a vocabulary rich environment to help level the playing field.
Vocabulary is very important!!! Teaching in a secondary level my students struggle daily with reading because their vocabulary is very low. I use many different strategies including word maps, webs, and word walls. I have also found several websites with vocabulary games my students use as class competition.
It was interesting to me that John mentioned Dr. Daggett's "quadrant A" learning in his comments. As I was reading the article, I kept thinking of his group's research showing the various reading levels of typical adult reading materials. The highest reading levels were found in entry level vocational/technical manuals. The reason those reading levels are so high is because the vocabulary is so specific to the vocational/technical area. This is why Dr. Daggett recommends teaching reading, of which vocabulary is a major part, in content areas and career and technical education instead of remediation courses. Personally, in my social studies classes, I had great success with word sorts; something meaningful happens when students discuss and defend how words should be categorized for understanding.
Each of your postings have hit upon the importance of vocabulary in helping our students improve their overall understanding of text. As a "seasoned" teacher - (a nice way of saying old)- I can personally relate to Amy's comment "if I had only known then what I know now." That is why as educators we must never cease to learn.
Wonderful comments! :)
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