Vocabulary Instruction Overview According to Adler (2001), Vocabulary refers to the words we must know to communicate effectively.

In general, vocabulary can be described as oral vocabulary or reading vocabulary (p. 34). Vocabulary development is key to students understanding what they are reading. Students need to know what the majority of the words mean before they can comprehend what is being read. If a word is already in a childs oral vocabulary, it is much easier to decode. Vocabulary development is especially important when working with immersion, bilingual, and multicultural students. Students may know the word in one language but not in the language they are using to learn to read. Not only are immersion and bilingual students learning a language, but they are also learning to read at the same time. The book Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) states, CALLA teachers need to be aware of the vocabulary demands of all kinds of authentic text and show their students how to comprehend and enjoy what they read by using strategies such as inferencing to develop their own vocabularies (Chamot & OMalley, 1994, p. 290). In other words, students need to be taught how to independently figure out the meaning of words from context clues. What follows is a synthesis of vocabulary research as well as strategies for vocabulary development. What does the National Reading Panel (NRP) report about vocabulary instruction? Vocabulary should be taught both directly and indirectly and incorporated into reading instruction (2000, p. 4-24). Direct instruction of vocabulary can have a significant effect on student comprehension of the text. Direct instruction of vocabulary required for a specific text to read should be part of a lesson (pp. 4-24 to 4-25). Select the words that are important to what is being read and are likely to be found in future reading. 1. The more connections the student can be helped to make to a specific word, the better the student will learn it (p. 4-25). 2. Link the new vocabulary with past vocabulary words. Provide repeated exposure to the new words through explicit instruction, games, and discussions that include multiple use of the words. Having students encountering vocabulary words often and in various ways and contexts can have an effect on learning (p. 4-25). Students should be given vocabulary words that they will find useful in many contexts. To that end, a large portion of the vocabulary words should be derived from content learning materials (p. 4-25). The use of computer technology can add different modalities for learning vocabulary and consequently help ensure more effective vocabulary learning (p. 4-26). Provide indirect vocabulary development through read alouds, independent reading time, and encouraging independent home reading. Vocabulary can also be learned through incidental and indirect ways (p. 4-26). When appropriate, vocabulary learning may need to be facilitated by using revised learning materials or restructured tasks, as research has demonstrated the efficacy of being certain that students fully understand the task and components of vocabulary learning (p. 4-26). How do children learn new vocabulary words? Children learn new vocabulary indirectly and directly. Adler (2001) states, The scientific research on vocabulary instruction reveals that (1) most vocabulary is learned indirectly, and (2) some vocabulary must be taught directly (p. 35).

Indirect learning refers to participating in daily oral language with other children and adults, being read to by adults, and reading independently from a wide variety of books. As children listen to others talk, they hear new words in a variety of contexts and they eventually incorporate the words in their own speaking vocabulary and/or are able to understand them when they read them in books. Children learn new words through listening to a book being read to them. It is particularly helpful if the reader stops to explain the new words and discusses the book with the children after the book is finished. Children often begin using the vocabulary from the book in their own oral language. Children also indirectly learn words by spending time reading books on a daily basis. The incorporation of daily reading from a variety of texts is referred to in the literature as wide reading. Providing time and materials for students to do wide reading both at school and at home is very important to vocabulary development, as words in books are often not used in conversation or shown on television (Snow, Burns, Griffin, 1998). Direct teaching of vocabulary includes specific word instruction and teaching students wordlearning strategies. What are some techniques for providing specific word instruction? Analyzing words that are new to students and important to understanding the reading selection is the first step. Only a few words should be selected to allow adequate time for the students to read. Students do not need to understand the meaning of every word in a selection in order to read and understand it. Words that should be pre-taught include those that: May be difficult because of students lack of background information. Are important to the understanding of the story. Cannot be figured out by context clues or structural analysis such as prefixes, suffixes and root words. Will likely be found in future reading.

Spend a few minutes teaching the new vocabulary before reading. Consider the following sequence when teaching specific words: Talk with the students about the new word or concept and what it means to them. For example, if reading a book about supermarkets, ask students: o Where do you go shopping to buy groceries? o Do you ever call this store a supermarket? o In the book today, the grocery store is called the supermarket. Why do you think it is called that? Read a sentence from the reading selection with the word in it and ask the students to use their prior knowledge and the context clues to figure out what the word means. For example, if reading a book about supermarkets, tell students: o Listen to this sentence and tell me in your own words what the word supermarket means to you: Arthur stopped to get a grocery cart as he entered the supermarket. Ask the students to make up a sentence using the new word.

When providing specific word instruction it is also important to remember that in order for new vocabulary to become part of students long-term memory, they need to have repeated exposure and practice in a variety of contexts. Look for opportunities to reinforce new words through connections to other books and activities. Graphic organizers are a way to teach new concepts and vocabulary. They are a visual tool for students to process new information. Listed below are examples of how to use a graphic organizer to provide vocabulary instruction.

Example 1 What is it? Examples What isn't it like? Non-examples SKYSCRAPER

Example 2: Venn diagram comparing life on a farm & Pacific island life

barn horses chickens cows pigs tractors plowing

reef dogs island cats palm trees house boats fishing

A word web is a drawing of the new word written in the center and all the words that mean the same or almost the same thing written so that they radiate from the center. Once the web is started, students can add to it. shouted said called explained yelled whispered

What word learning strategies should be taught? In addition to learning specific words, students also need to learn independent word learning strategies so their vocabulary development can continue to progress regardless of when and what they are reading. Specific word learning strategies adapted from Harmon (2002), Stahl, (1999), and Beck and McKeown, (2002) are listed below. 1. Teach students to look for context clues in the sentence or in the next sentence. Context clues include: A dash or a comma followed by the definition. A detailed description that gives clues as to what the word means. A contrast such as the water was frigid, not like bath water. A synonym such as fish hide in crannies or caves from their enemies.

2. Teach students to look for connections that can be made to the word. Ask, What does the word remind you of in your own life or from another book you read? 3. Teach students to study the word and think about what they know about the

word. 4. Teach students to use the general clues in the sentence containing the word as well as remembering what came before and after the sentence. 5. Teach students to think about what the word might mean. Say the meaning. Decide if it makes sense. 6. Teach students to use the dictionary. 7. Teach students the concept of prefixes and some common prefixes. The four most common prefixes in the English language are: Examples Unreal, unable, unspoken Redo, review, regard Insight Disappear, disapprove, dishonest (Harris and Sipoay (1990) as found in Blachowicz and Fisher, 2002) 8.Teach students the concept of suffixes and some common suffixes such as those below: Suffix -Able Meaning Able to Examples Believable, controllable, portable Soften, weaken, harden Quicker, wiser, stronger Useless, hopeless, careless Prefix UnReInDisMeaning Not Back, again With Opposite

-En To make -Er More -Less Without (Stahl, 1999)

9.Teach the students the concept of root words and common Greek and Latin roots. Root Meaning Origin Examples Aud Hear Latin Audiophile, auditorium, audition Astro Star Greek Astrology, astronaut, asteroid Bio Life Greek Biography, biology Dict Speak, tell Latin Dictate, predict, dictator Geo Earth Greek Geology, geography Meter Measure Greek Thermometer, barometer Min Little, small Latin Minimum minimal Mit, mis Send Latin Mission, transmit, remit, missile Ped Foot Latin Pedestrian, pedal, pedestal Phon Sound Greek Phonograph, microphone, phoneme Port Carry Latin Transport, portable, import Scrib, script Write Latin Scribble, manuscript, inscription Spect See Latin Inspect, spectator, respect Struct Build, form Latin Construction, destruct, instruct From Vocabulary Development by Steven A. Stahl, copyright 1999, reproduced with permission of the author. 10.Teach students to be word conscious, which means to notice words and enjoy them. Introduce unusual words and provide their origin or history. Help student see the different parts of longer words such as the prefix, suffix, and root word. Encourage students to look for the parts they know. Play different word games with them such as: Charades: A student acts out a word that the class tries to guess. Words can be pre-selected or chosen spontaneously by the students.

 Password: Give one-word clues for students to figure out the target word. Pictionary: Players figure out an unknown word through a drawing. A student is told a new vocabulary word and draws a picture to illustrate it. The rest of the students try to guess the word. Probe: Select a word and record it letter by letter on 3 x 5 flashcards. Place the cards face down. Expose the letters one by one as the students try to guess the word until all the letters are revealed. Word Wizard: Students find examples and get points for each target word used outside of school by their parents, on television, in books, and/or in their own writing or speech. If they bring an explanation about how the word was used at school, give them extra points (Beck & McKeown, 2002). Summary Effective vocabulary instruction includes: Wide reading: Time and material for the reading of continuous text both in and out of school. Explicit word instruction: Direct instruction of vocabulary words and concepts. Indirect instruction: Indirect instruction of vocabulary through daily read alouds and including daily opportunities for oral language communication. Word strategy instruction: Direct instruction of independent word learning strategies such as the use of context clues. Word consciousness: Development of word consciousness among students so that they continually notice words and want to learn about them.