Teaching vocabulary is more important than ever because English Language Learners
are arriving in classrooms everywhere. The recommendation is to teach critical vocabulary before reading a text, and before teaching a lesson in any subject. Though this is best practice if you have English learners in your class, it is also, in my opinion, best practice period.
Rationale
Margarita Calderon, in Teaching Reading and Comprehension to English Learners K-5, outlines a 7-step method, which is also taught in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) programs. I have full SEI Endorsement from the state of Massachusetts, and it is my belief that what is great for English Learners is also great for all students. Just think - most of your students are English learners anyhow, even if their native language is English. They're still learning the language, especially with regards to reading and writing.
How to Make the 7 Steps More Interesting
The number one thing to remember and get used to is: be quick. We teachers tend to go on and on, but part of the effectiveness of the 7-step method is its brevity. It should take 10 to 15 minutes total to teach three to five words, i.e., 3 to 4 minutes per word, and no more than five words in one session.
Involve the Students as Much as Possible
Many of the 7 steps require the teacher to simply tell the students about the word. In my 7 steps, I've added roles for the students which greatly increase their participation, attention, and interest. It's been very rewarding to see my fourth graders get excited when they come across one of "our" words in their reading. They raise their hands excitedly and they want to tell me and show me the word immediately. They are learning to love words!
My Daily, 7 Step, Student-centered Vocabulary
Lesson Plan
Prep: Before class, I write 3 to 5 (tops) important words from the text we are to read that day on a dry-erase easel. As I write the words, I break them into syllables so students can see how the word is built. Next to each word, I write a kid-friendly definition.
Step 1: I gather the kids on the rug around the easel; they should bring their reading books with them. I point to each syllable and say the first word and have the class repeat the word three times.
Step 2: I tell the students the page number where the word is located and ask all kids to find it. Then I pull a name stick and that student is called upon to read aloud the sentence which contains the word.
Step 3: I read the dictionary definition.
Step 4: I explain the word in kid-friendly terms and try to connect it to their lives.
Step 5: We study a few salient word features, beginning with part of speech. After reminding them what nouns, verbs, and adjectives are (if necessary), I ask them to give a hand signal showing which part of speech this word is. I wait for all students to make a decision.
Then I'll congratulate those who got it right and explain why it is right. Depending on the word, I'll point out and discuss any difficult or interesting features such as an unusual spelling, base word and affixes, related words, homonyms, double meanings, or whatever is important.
Step 6: Now students are required to try and use the word in a sentence. They will turn to an elbow buddy and say a sentence, and listen to their buddy's sentence. I give them a minute or so, then I pull a name stick and that student is required to share their sentence out loud. This strategy is how I hold students accountable for thinking of a sentence. Sometimes, especially if the word is challenging, I will pick several students to share their sentences.
In my next post, I will explain:
why I use name sticks to call on students, and
how I avoid embarrassing students when they are called on and are not prepared to respond.
Step 7: Every day a student takes a turn writing the words on an 11" x 3" card (or plain paper) and posting it on the word wall. In this way the words are seen, remembered, and used. Students turn to the word wall when writing about reading, and are also required to use a certain number of them in their writing pieces. Two things are paramount: 1 - that teachers refer to and prompt students to use the word wall, and 2 - that the students themselves create their own wall - not the teacher!
Repeat steps one through seven with the next few selected words.
Remember, you should be finished teaching the three to five selected words in
15 minutes.
Here is a video of me teaching the seven steps. I might not always do them in the order given above, and I might tend to merge the dictionary definition with my own explanation.
But the steps are all there and the kids are engaged.
Click on the photos below if you would like to purchase a complete vocabulary instruction packet, or my daily 4-step reading comprehension lesson plan.
Thank you for reading, and all the best to you in your daily efforts to help your students grow.
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