Measuring
Vocabulary Knowledge & Choosing
Words and Texts (Silverman & Hartranft Chapters 2 & 3).
Measuring vocabulary knowledge is a complex task. The depth and breadth of vocabulary are two important notions to consider when
teaching. It can be a daunting, almost
impossible and impractical task to be able to measure vocabulary knowledge for
each child. For instance: students need to know how words relate to one
another, how they are said out loud, what they mean, what contexts they are used
in, different tenses and forms, synonyms, antonyms, etc.
Choosing appropriate words and texts is multifaceted. Children will
encounter many words during the first few years. According to the text, words
should be useful, known, frequent in academic texts, and related to content,
theme, or other words being taught. Some of these are simple, everyday words
that they can acquire easily. (Note-these are not sight words- there is a
difference between these words and sight words-depending on the academic
source: a sight word is either an irregular word that children need to know by
sight, or a sight words is any word that a child can recognize by sight.). Then
are words that are more difficult, but have a high frequency. Finally, there
are words that are specific to a discipline. Chapter 2 outlines many slightly
varied systems for assessing which words should be taught. These are shown in
Figures 2.1-2.5. Figure 2.1 discusses the three main Tiers. Figure 2.2 shows
Biemiller’s (2010) word ratings from easy, teach in grades, k-2, low-priority
in k-2, teach in grades 3-6, low-priority in grades 3-6, and difficult. Figure
2.3 show the word ones as adapted by Hiebert (2005). These are ranked based on
how often these words appear in text. Figure 2.4 show the principals for
vocabulary selection. Finally, figure 2.5 shows a sampling of words and their word
ratings as a cross-reference for several ranking systems. Here is a link to the
academic word list (Coxhead). http://www.uefap.com/vocab/select/awl.htm
Figure 2.7 offers a
comprehensive table on how to choose texts. Choosing words to teach is most
effective when taught either thematically or taxonomically. Both of these methods work well, but it has
been shown that children respond especially well to the thematic approach. In
addition, reading fiction texts is correlated with a stronger vocabulary. As
Einstein said, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.
If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” On the
other hand, recent research (and most likely the strong push toward the Common
Core State Standards) has shown that nonfiction texts can also foster
vocabulary knowledge and contain words that fit more into Tiers II and III. More time and explicit teaching should be
directed at Tier II words as these are more difficult words that are found
frequently across disciplines. These are often words that can cause children to
have difficulty when answering questions/following directions on a test. Teachers should make sure that texts are at
the right complexity for students, both in content and with vocabulary. In
addition, teachers should include a range of cultures, as well as classical
texts and new literacies. Background knowledge and prior experience are key in
finding appropriate texts.
Implicit
and Explicit Teaching (S&H, 2 &3)
Explicit teaching is that which teachers give direct instruction on in
the classroom. These are the standards that we overtly teach. Explicit Teaching
takes many forms. One of the most well-renowned forms is the gradual release
method. The gradual release method is
appropriate for teaching across various subjects and grade levels. In this
model of instruction, students slowly acquire independence and teachers as
teachers lessen their supports. In addition there are several ways to
explicitly teach vocabulary. These include: read-alouds, saying & repeating
the word, word cards, having visuals, actions, and props, providing
grade-appropriate, easily understood definitions, providing examples, using the word across
contexts. In addition, teachers might provide sentence frames, encourage elaboration,
have close questions, guiding students to the relationships between other
words, and providing repeated exposure are just some of the ways that teachers
can explicitly teach vocabulary. In
addition, figure 3.13 provides a great lesson planning checklist on strategies
for vocabulary before, during, and after reading aloud, as well as extended
learning activities. Participating in a class or group project or activity can
be a wondrous experience for students. Implicit teaching is the teaching that
students receive without direct instruction. These are the things that students
sometimes have to piece together and make their own connections. Students will gain
vocabulary on their own and implicitly. However, some words need to be taught
explicitly, particularly Tier II words.
Assessment
(Silverman & Hartranft Chapter 6).
Assessment can
take many forms. However, for best results, assessments should be able to be
done in a relatively short amount of time. Educators should not rely on only
one assessment, but assessment should be varied and spread throughout the
school year. In addition, assessments should not directly match instruction.
Thus, both instruction and assessments should take different forms throughout
the year.
Synthesis:
Children in the
early grades learn words through exposure at a rapid rate. However, this is
greatly influenced by home and environmental factors which means that teachers
in Pre-K need to help students expand both the breadth and depth of their
vocabularies through stories and play, and assessment. As students reach
kindergarten, even more attention needs to be given to those words in the Tier
II category and that fall under the meant to teach in K-2 list of words to
teach. Children should be reading both fiction and nonfiction texts starting on
their own and with the class. Children should be involved in centers that
involve vocabulary. Children will be submitted to diagnostic, formative and
summative assessments. As children reach
and continue through the primary grades, more attention should be given to
morphology and building on breadth and depth of word knowledge. Students should
be able to actively participate in class and group projects, read fiction and nonfiction
texts, build and elaborate on word use across contexts; students will be more
active in exploring words in expressive speech and writing. Students will participate
in activity centers geared toward word usage, and think about how words relate
taxonomically and thematically. Students will take more comprehensive, in-depth
diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments.
Questions:
v
How do the readings impact your stance on what
words you choose to teach?
v
What are your thoughts regarding implicit and
explicit vocabulary instruction as they relate to early literacy and grade
levels? Think about how these ideas tie into vocabulary, what are your thoughts
for Pre-K through 5th grade, feel free to expand, correct and
elaborate on my brief synthesis.
v
What do you think about using nonsense words for
teaching and assessment? What contexts/reasons would you use them for? Talk
about any experiences or ideas.
v
Which of the explicit vocabulary learning
activities appeal most to you? Talk about ideas or examples for lessons.
v How do the readings impact your stance on what words you choose to teach?
ReplyDelete-After reading chapter 3, I didn't realize how I already do these 3 approaches. Like I talked about in Dr. Beach's blog I usually use the 3 tiered approach. But in kindergarten I would teach by unit or theme, therefore there would be a plethora of cluster vocabulary I would teach students. I am not as familiar with teaching words taxonomically, but after reading the examples, it seems to be a natural way of teaching words. The example of the animals and then using words like habitat and other words that describe them, made complete sense. After reading these chapters, it's helped me to reflect and be aware of how I teach. When teaching vocabulary, you should have put some thought into it.
v What are your thoughts regarding implicit and explicit vocabulary instruction as they relate to early literacy and grade levels? Think about how these ideas tie into vocabulary, what are your thoughts for Pre-K through 5th grade, feel free to expand, correct and elaborate on my brief synthesis.
I think implicit and explicit each have their place when teaching. In younger grades, you really do both interchangeably. Students definitely need direction on learning new words, but after they have some mastery it's good to allow them to explore the material on their own. Yet, this can be difficult with children when they can't read. For example, center time should be a more implicit instructional approach because they are on their own for this activities, yet you have to explicitly teach young children how to use the centers. But at times you want children to make meaning of an activity on their own. I definitely think it depends on what your goals are for instruction and learning. I feel like the older the child gets the less explicit teaching has to occur in some areas, and the more they can make their own learning goals. Yet, there also needs to be explicit teaching too. I think a balanced approach is good.
v What do you think about using nonsense words for teaching and assessment? What contexts/reasons would you use them for? Talk about any experiences or ideas.
The only time I've ever used nonsense words were during an assessment. For example if a child is learning the CVC pattern and you want to assess their learning. You may ask them to tell you the word bat, tag, and gan. Gan being the nonsense word. You want to make sure students haven't memorized words, but that they actually understand how to use the phonics rule. I don't see anything wrong with it, yet at times I actually had trouble saying the words haha. I've never used them during teaching though. For young children, I think it confuses them to use them while teaching. They already are learning so many words that adding random nonsense words doesn't seem applicable.
v Which of the explicit vocabulary learning activities appeal most to you? Talk about ideas or examples for lessons.
Having taught primary grades, I've done most of these activities. My favorite however are the word webs, progress of text reading, class books, and center activities. My most favorite out of the list was the class books. I would make a class book every 2 weeks over the theme we had learned about. These were the kids favorite books to read during centers or free reading. They loved reading other kids work and seeing theirs published. I also really enjoyed the progress of reading. I actually did this every week with the basel reader. It's true kids are SO excited to hear the story that they don't really listen to anything you have to say before, so you just read it. Then the next day I'd point out words throughout the reading. The third day we'd do activities during the reading. I might have them hold their thumbs up if they heard a specific words. Sometimes I'd go through an put tape over certain words and we'd change them or try to remember what was there.
That's wonderful! I love the idea of class books, but have not used them. I think that this is a great way to get students engaged. I also thought that the reading of the story was good. Kids fall in love with the joy of story-we have to ease them in to using it as a teaching tool: we want to keep that spark and curiosity. Thank you for bringing your elementary education expertise!
DeleteKaitlin, Your classroom sounds like so much fun! I like that you said you don't really like using nonsense words in your classroom, because I feel the same way! I think you are exactly right that it can be confusing for students. I think we need to focus our attention on helping students make connections between REAL words - words that the students need to know how to spell and pronounce in contexts outside of the classroom.
DeleteNice synthesis, Megan. Very thoughtful questions. Remember that you don't need lengthy summaries of the chapters since you have all read them, but that you need to point out key ideas, important terms or academic vocabulary. I do think that asking your group to contribute to or edit your synthesis will help everyone bring the key ideas together.
ReplyDelete1. After completing the readings, I felt validated in my approach to teaching vocabulary. I believe that a majority of vocabulary should be taught in context of texts--fictional and informational. We shouldn't just teach a random list of words that have no relationship to each other. By allowing the child to experience and see one context of a word meaning, we are contributing to vocabulary breadth. When those words are truly studied and students are able to work with them, look at additional meanings, and break it down into morphemes, then vocabulary depth is added. I had never heard the term, high-leverage words. I like the idea of teaching kids words that can work across the content areas and can go beyond one storybook reading or lesson. This is something I will consider for future word selection.
ReplyDelete2. After reading all the startling statistics about how much more students' word knowledge increases with explicit instruction, I have been convinced that explicit instruction is imperative. The Multidimensional Vocabulary Instruction, elements of which Megan referenced, seems to be a structured way (which I need!) for the gradual release of control to occur in the classroom. I appreciate all the learning styles (linguistic, auditory, visual, kinesthetic, musical, artistic) that are used in this program, so children are reached in their area of strength. I think implicit instruction, too, is important. Implicit instruction occurs naturally when students are curious about new words. We hope this curiosity fosters their love of new words, therefore implying that implicit instruction is not useless.
One thing I would elaborate on for this week's synthesis is the progress of reading that Kaitlin mentioned. Figure 3.10, is very helpful in laying this out, especially the repeated reading of the text each day. The familiarity of the text allows for the students to really focus on and hone their vocabulary knowledge on the few target words. After this process has been completed with a few different books, there is now a good bank of target words that teachers can review and reinforce in extended instruction.
For 4th-5th grade vocabulary instruction, we don't tend to focus so much on a topic or theme, but I still think selecting target words from a fiction or nonfiction text is valuable. I also believe its valuable at this level to study words by morphological and derivational categories. Understanding what inflectional endings, prefixes, and suffixes do to a base word is invaluable. I also spend some time in 5th grade on Greek and Latin roots, hoping this knowledge will carry over to new contexts. Even though these students are a bit older, activities such as webs, class books, games, as well as using these words in their writing still apply.
3. I don't have much personal experience with using nonsense words in instruction or assessment. I think the example of using nonsense roots to assess prefix and suffix knowledge is a good idea. I agree with Kaitlin, that I don't know if I would use nonsense words in my instruction, though. It may be confusing for students, especially ELLs.
Here's the rest of my response to Megan's questions...I wrote too much and it wouldn't let me post all of it.
Delete4. Whole-class projects really appeal to me and my creative side. I think its powerful to students to see how their small part contributed to a bigger product, so I think classroom books and murals are high-interest and fun. Today, instead of making a class book, you could make a class Prezi or class Powerpoint over a topic or theme of words. Presentations are another good way to practice speaking and listening skills while students also extend and practice vocabulary.
Being the visual learner that I am, I find graphic organizers and webs extremely helpful in seeing connections between words. I like using them in class, but allowing the students to help create them, whether they come up and write on the chart paper or type the word into the Wordle. Students must be invested and engaged in vocabulary activities for them to be meaningful. The chapter also mentioned word walls, as well, which I use frequently. When age appropriate, I have the students write the word wall cards themselves to help them take ownership of the target word's meaning.
I like how you mentioned explicit instruction and how kids learn so many words that way. I think the past few years, at least in early childhood, there has been an implicit approach to teaching. I feel like if you even mentioned explicit it was horrible! Like somehow you are inhibiting the child's learning if you tell them how to do something. I'm glad to hear people getting back to this approach! Kids have to be taught and shown the right way! Then once they have the foundations, they can explore and make meaning on their own. Like Piccaso says, "“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
DeleteHey Jenny! I am a visual person as well!! I enjoy incorporating visuals in my classroom whenever I can during the actual instruction (the invention of the smart board and projector make this so much easier!!). I think that there is so much value to allowing students to participate in creating the visual (and to be honest I don't think I did this enough during student teaching). Sometimes I can get too comfortable in our "teacher chair" when I need to get up and let the students take over and do the writing instead of just calling on students! Thanks for the ideas :)
DeleteQuestion: One of S&H's principles of instruction of vocabulary depth and breadth is Foster Home-School Connections for Word Learning. I don't have very much experience with this. Does anyone else? How have you involved parents and families in vocabulary instruction at home? Any ideas would be helpful!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Foster Home-School Connections for Word Learning. It's ideal if we teachers can incorporate the home connection, getting parents to participate (sometimes, cooperate) on their end. But I'm not familiar with this test or approach.
DeleteI've never heard of this either. I did use a system that included weekly home letters called home-school connection. It had our vocabulary words and themes and also included a simple story to read. It came in a Spanish version too! The parents could reinforce our basel series at home. It seemed to be successful!
DeleteI like the idea of perhaps sending the theme/topic vocab home in the child's home language. Hopefully, the parents will be able to help their child practice the word meanings in their home language, which should transfer to knowing the meaning in English.
DeleteGreat job, ladies! I had not heard of this. However, I think that involving parents is a great idea. Children are more receptive when they see a home-school connection, especially when it comes to print concepts. So, I think that doing something like this could be very helpful if it included the home language and English.
DeleteI also tied an incentive to completed home-school connections. The kids would have to have it signed by the parents and be able to tell me something about it!! It really helped with parents getting involved! Little bribery never hurt!!
DeleteWhat a great idea, Kaitlin! It would be really cool to have these parents come in and teach the same vocabulary words in their home languages. That would show students all languages are important and that all languages have their own words for meanings we are studying.
DeleteI'm not sure if this qualifies, but during student teaching we would send home a weekly letter with the spelling pattern and words listed. We would encourage students to make flashcards with their kids and use the words during throughout the week at home! I know this can be more difficult for students who come from homes with other cultural backgrounds, so I like Kaitlin's ideas of including take-home materials in Spanish! Anything we can do to get the parents involves is awesome!!
Delete1. How do the readings impact your stance on what words you choose to teach?
ReplyDeleteIn my teaching practice, I've naturally chosen vocabulary words around a given topic. That seems to be a good starting point when reading a textbook (academic language) or a novel. By anchoring vocabulary words to a topic, it gives children something to grasp, a context or framework to put words into. The three principles for choosing words to teach helped me understand how to prioritize vocabulary word selection. The approach includes focusing on words that are useful for understanding academic texts, for understanding words used in school settings in particular, and relating words thematically.
2. What are your thoughts regarding implicit and explicit vocabulary instruction as they relate to early literacy and grade levels?
I agreed with what Kaitlin said that there's a time and place in teaching for each type of instruction. It seems the more background knowledge a studnt has, the more exposure he has at home to vocabulary, and the more stimulated a child is, the easier it is to teach implicitly. There's more for a teacher to work with. However, I work with children who have Specific Learning Disability (SLD), which means they have expressive and receptive language delays, executive functioning issues, sometimes memory deficits. In cases like these, explivcit teaching is necessary. How and what we're thinking needs to be verbalized and written down and depicted in pictures in order to get the point across. Many ways to present the same idea, or vocabulary word, are needed because these students do not all learn easily or similarly.
3. What do you think about using nonsense words for teaching and assessment? What contexts/reasons would you use them for? Talk about any experiences or ideas.
I've used the Wilson Reading Program to explicitly teach phonics to students. Wilson includes nonsense words and I think it's very helpful to use them because as a teacher I can see/hear whether the child fully understands the phonetic concepts of a word. It's a true test. I've never heard or seen this approach used to test vocabulary, but I get the idea. It might be useful if teaching older children affixes and you want to see what they really know about affixes and how they alter words.
4. Which of the explicit vocabulary learning activities appeal most to you? Talk about ideas or examples for lessons.
I've used centers to teach vocabulary successfully. Children like moving periodically from station to station, and alternating between and among activities. I've used charades, a game-like format, to get children to demonstrate what vocabulary word they're thinking of. That's been hilarious. I've used props to get students to show what word they're thinking of. We've made vocabulary cards using index cards. We've drawn pictures of what the words mean (really, quick sketches).
I like using centers too! I think that's my early childhood background coming out! I can't imagine a class without centers! I've never done charades with kids, what a great idea!!
DeleteI know SLD kiddos benefit from experiencing the vocabulary word in all the ways you mentioned, Marti. Those of us who are classroom teachers must remember that even those without a SLD need that many different kinds of exposure for them to truly internalize and learn word meanings.
DeleteHi Marti! I think anchoring words around a theme is super helpful! I think this is the best way to teach academic vocabulary words. These are words that students may not be familiar with, so without connections and context they will not understand or retain meaning.
DeleteThe only addition I might make to your synthesis, Megan, is with respect to the diagnostic assessments mentioned. The tests mentioned in chapter 6 are expensive and the chapter didn't address that. School systems invest in these tests. It helped that S&H outlined the various diagnostic assessments for measuring vocabulary knowledge so we can see them side by side and make comparisons. Some of those tests must be administered by trained professionals, however. They're not suited for classroom teachers to administer. Speech and language pathologists and we special ed teachers are trained and educated in administering the PPVT, the CELF, and the CASL. I can't imagine classroom teachers giving those tests without some training. he DIBELS assessments are pretty common, easy to administer, and are used by general education elementary teachers. Also, normed assessments are updated frequently, and in order for the test results to be valid, the most current edition of the test must be given. Again, this is very costly. So I tended to like the cheaper, quicker alternatives offered in this chapter, like the picture task where teachers decide what vocabulary is important andmake pictures to go with those words. To me, that's direct, simple, and inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your Special Ed perspective on those assessments, Marti. I hadn't really thought of how expensive those tests would are and how much training goes into administering them properly. One of the alternatives offered by S&H that is free to teachers is the observation and language sampling (pg. 142). Has anyone tried that in their classroom? I think I'm too much of a control freak for this assessment, but maybe it's not as free flowing as I am imagining.
DeleteThis is a good point, Marti. I do wonder with the stronger push for more assessment if we will see more teachers being trained to administer these types of tests? What types of tests will schools be willing to spend money on when budgets are cut? How do you manage assessment and instruction and decide what is really important?
DeleteWow, those are some tough questions, Megan! With the trends toward budge cuts, I do think regular education classroom teachers may end up getting trained in some of these assessments to avoid having to pay reading specialists. I think the tests schools purchase will be directly tied to whatever state standards we end up having in English Language Arts. If our new standards end up being more Common Core in nature, we may see a change in what assessments school districts will pay for.
DeleteOh no I sure hope they don't get rid of reading specialist. But I see the concern. Luckily with the 3rd grade reading retention policy more and more schools are looking towards specialist to get their kids up to date. Also all title one schools have positions for literacy and/or reading specialist. But that wasn't the questions... haha I just felt I had to say that to ease my mind :) I think assessments depend on what programs your schools have. If you adopt certain text then your school uses a certain assessment. Also if your school is title one, then you might use Literacy 1st curriculum which requires specific assessments. With that being said, I definitely could assessment responsibility shifting. But instead of training teachers I could see there being no training and just dumping the assessment at our classroom door and expect to being implementing. I'm pretty sure I've been in this exact boat.
DeleteHi Marti! I'm sure that giving these assessments is a struggle to many school districts to administer because of the expense. I think each district has to make decisions based on what they think is right for them. Some may train a reading specialist, some may train all teachers, and some may decide that they want to eliminate assessments that require special training. I just hope that I don't end up in a situation like Kaitlin described - having to learn how to administer an assessment on your own without having previous experience. This definitely frightens me as someone with not much classroom experience!
DeleteHow do the readings impact your stance on what words you choose to teach?
ReplyDeleteI will just be speaking about this from a different place since I have only had student teaching experience, but in my time in the classroom words would always be chosen based upon a word theme for the week. Each word would have a particular beginning and ending sound and we would do many activities throughout the week for students to be able to learn the pattern and make connections between the words. As far as academic vocabulary, these words would be chosen based upon the level of importance for understanding the unit or lesson. I liked that the reading talked about teaching vocabulary in a context and allowing students to make connections to hopefully learn the words for future use.
What are your thoughts regarding implicit and explicit vocabulary instruction as they relate to early literacy and grade levels? Think about how these ideas tie into vocabulary, what are your thoughts for Pre-K through 5th grade, feel free to expand, correct and elaborate on my brief synthesis.
Some students will be more natural than others in regards to learning new vocabulary in an implicit manner. But regardless, there needs to be implicit and explicit instruction in the classroom, with the primary focus being on teaching explicitly. This vocabulary will be the type of vocabulary that is vital to the lesson and for the greater understanding of the topic. As Jenny posted, the statistics to back up the importance of explicit teaching cannot be overlooked! Vocabulary is my topic to research this semester, and I will make sure to focus on how explicit teaching of vocab can benefit students in their comprehension!
What do you think about using nonsense words for teaching and assessment? What contexts/reasons would you use them for? Talk about any experiences or ideas.
I think nonsense words can be helpful for students to learn a particular word pattern. Although that in some situations, I think that the use of these words in the classroom may have more use for teachers than for students. It can benefit teachers to see if students truly understand the word pattern and understand how to sound out words (and not just recognize it by sight). I think I would use them for a practice activity and for my own personal records and observations but not for assessment.
Which of the explicit vocabulary learning activities appeal most to you? Talk about ideas or examples for lessons.
I like anything that helps the students make real-life connections! So I love the use of visuals and any media (such as videos) that can give students a more detailed understanding of the word. In my first grade student teaching classroom, the students would match pictures to their vocabulary words for a center activity. Obviously for some words, it is impossible to give students a visual representation of the word. In this instance, we need to teach words in various sentences with different contexts.
Thanks for your input, Courtney! I think that real-life connections are important! I wonder what types of videos you use?
DeleteI semi-agree with you, Courtney. After reading more about nonsense words for our Assessment class, I think I they would be helpful in assessment. They really show if a child understands prefixes, suffixes, word families, and spelling chunks.
DeleteI like your idea of choosing words based on a theme. That ties the words together and helps students categorize words more easily than if they're randomly selected. I also agree that the more real-life connections students can make to the vocabulary words, the better they'll recall the words and the better chance they'll have to use them on their own.
DeleteI think nonsense words do help teachers see if children understand word patterns, but nonsense words also help students get the patterns as well.
Delete