Developing Academic Language TIPS For Teaching Academic Vocabulary

Session – Part 2 November 3, 2014

Maria Chavez - ESL Specialist

Adapted from Rebecca Alber’s Doing it Differently: Tips for Teaching Vocabulary

Presentation Objectives:

•

Content Objective

: • I will identify and distinguish effective ways to teach vocabulary in my classroom.

•

Language Objective

: • I will review and discuss strategies to effectively teach vocabulary in my classroom.

Tell Us When…

• Every Monday, my seventh grade English teacher would have us copy a list of 25 words she'd written on the board. We'd then look up the dictionary definitions and copy those down. For homework, we'd re write each word seven times.

• Good, now you know it. Test on Friday and never for those 25 words to be seen again. Poof. Old school, yes. Did it work? I don't remember. Probably not.

Share personal experiences when you learned new words!

(Think, Write, Share) 3 minute activity

We all know that…

• Copying definitions from the dictionary, we would probably all agree, is not an effective way to learn vocabulary.

Passive learning hardly ever is.

So what do we do differently?

• The truth is, and the research shows, students need multiple and various exposures to a word before they fully understand that word and can apply it. • They also need to learn words in context, not stand alone lists that come and go each week.

The way we learn words in context, or implicitly, is by reading, and applying the words learned when we speak and write.

Our Goal is …

• Provide students with the opportunity to use new vocabulary in

context

, in reading, speaking and

writing.

Ah, so many words, so little time!!!

TASK # 1

•

Selecting and Ranking Words

- When choosing which words to target, we don't have to do it alone. We will create a list of 10 word to target in our classroom… •

How will be target this task

* First off, rather than waste time compiling a new lists, we will let the kids skim and select their own words from our previous academic vocabulary list.

Student Activity 1

• • • Provide students with list of previously taught words… Read all the words aloud- Choral reading, popcorn reading, reciprocal reading Students will ….

• Read through them- silently • Complete Vocabulary Comprehension Chart

Vocabulary Comprehension Chart

• Students will • writes down words, and rates each one as "know it," "sort of know it," or "don't know it at all.” • on the same paper, they will write a definition or "my guess on meaning" for the words they know and kind of know (No dictionaries!) NOTE: Before they turn in these comprehension charts, be sure to emphasize this is not about "being right" but that they are providing you with information to guide next steps in class vocabulary instruction.

TASK 1 Continued….

Selecting and Ranking Words

Use the results as a formative assessment. This data will show you which words they know, those they have some understanding of, and those words that are completely foreign to them.

* Using the charts your kids created, pick the"kind of" and "don't know at all" words. *

You now have a new vocabulary list . –10 words TASK 1 Due- November 7, 2014

It's time to teach



Task 2

• Teaching Words- Teach each word to the students using Robert Marzano’s Six Step Process. (If you haven't heard of him, I'd like to introduce Robert Marzano.) This guy is pretty amazing, having spent countless hours observing students and teachers. An education researcher and teacher, he stresses that in all content areas, direct vocabulary instruction is essential and suggests six steps.

Marzano's six steps do something revolutionary to vocabulary learning: They make it fun. Students think about, talk about, apply, and play with new words.

Marzano’s Six Steps

• • • • • •

Step one

: The teacher explains a new word, going beyond reciting its definition (tap into prior knowledge,

use imagery

).

Step two

: Students restate or explain the new word in their own words ( verbally and/or in writing ).

Step three

: Ask students to create a non-linguistic representation of the word (a picture, or symbolic representation).

Step four

the word).

: Students engage in activities to deepen their knowledge of the new word (compare words, classify terms, write their own sentences using

Step five

: Students discuss the new word (pair-share, elbow partners).

Step six

: Students periodically play games to review new vocabulary (Guess the word, Jeopardy, Matamosca).

The Rationale

• At this point, you might be thinking that there just isn't enough time for all this pre-reading word analysis, direct instruction of vocabulary, and game playing. (You have your content to teach!)

Let’s work together to improve our students vocabulary… •

Vocabulary is the best single indicator of intellectual ability and an accurate predictor of success at school. -- W.B. Elley

Keep in mind...

• Once you have your list developed, you will only target one word a week. (10 weeks) • You have already exposed your students to these words.

Also…

•

Marzano’s Six Steps can be spread out throughout the week. They are not intended to be done within a day.

* Each step will take only a few minutes; They can be done as a bell ringer or ticket out.

Let’s take a look at them again…

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Step one: The teacher explains a new word, going beyond reciting its definition (tap into prior knowledge of students, use imagery).

Step two

: Students restate or explain the new word in their own words (verbally and/or in writing).

Step three

: Ask students to create a non-linguistic representation of the word (a picture, or symbolic representation).

Thursday Friday After five weeks… (5 words) Step four

: Students engage in activities to deepen their knowledge of the new word (compare words, classify terms, write their own sentences).

Step five

: Students discuss the new word (pair-share, elbow partners).

Step six

: Students periodically play games to review new vocabulary (Pyramid, Jeopardy, Telephone)

SIOP:C1-F9 Key Vocabulary Emphasized

(e.g. introduced, written, repeated, and highlighted for students to see)

Teaching Ideas & Activities

Word Parts: Roots and Affixes Contextualizing Key Vocabulary Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS) Word Wall 4-Corners Vocabulary Charts/Carousel Concept Definition Map Cloze Sentences Word Generation Word Study Books Vocabulary Games Self-Assessment Personal Dictionaries Cognates Link Up Pick Ten Words Team TPR (Total Physical Response) Team Word Wall Updating Your Status Signal Words Vocabulary Key Rings Milling to Music Predict Definitions Vocabulary Scan Vocabulary Alive

Four Corner Vocabulary

Additional Resources

( Books to help you focus and fine-tune your vocabulary instruction)

•

Bringing Words to Life

by Isabel Beck •

Vocabulary Games for the Classroom

by Lindsey Carlton and Robert J. Marzano •

Words, Words, Words

by Janet Allen •

Teaching Basic and Advanced Vocabulary: A Framework for Direct Instruction

by Robert J. Marzano •

The Literacy Cookbook

by Sarah Tantillo •

Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners The SIOP Model

Vogt, and Deborah J. Short by Jana Echeverria, MaryEllen

Completion Dates :

• • TASK 1 – November 7, 2014 – List of ten words to be reviewed by week TASK 2 – Review all 10 words by -February 13, 2015 • Next Session – February 16, 2015

Questions?

• •

Ticket Out- On a post it What are the our two tasks for building academic vocabulary?