Structured Literacy Shift # 6: Vocabulary Instruction
Being more purposeful with my vocabulary instruction is a shift I have made for quite a few years. Vocabulary knowledge plays a powerful role in helping students build meaning from reading, express their ideas and engage deeply with texts.
To read about my other shifts, see below:
- Structured Literacy Shift # 1 – Explicit Instruction
- Structured Literacy Shift # 2 – Morphology Instruction
- Structured Literacy Shift # 3 – Progress Monitoring
- Structured Literacy Shift # 4 – Positive Self-Talk
- Structured Literacy Shift # 5 – Fluency
Students cannot comprehend a text if too many words are unfamiliar. Over time this can become a barrier to accessing grade level texts and content. Explicit instruction can in fact remove that barrier.
Teaching vocabulary goes beyond giving definitions. Firstly, teachers intentionally introduce vocabulary, within a meaningful body of knowledge. When selecting vocabulary, teachers must determine whether it is Tier 1, 2, or 3.
- Tier 1: everyday words that children use regularly in conversation
- Tier 2: highly utilized vocabulary words that appear across all subject areas.
- Tier 3: domain specific vocabulary, found in certain subject matters (e.g., science, social studies)
When selecting words, it is recommended that teachers focus on Tier 2 words, while connecting tier 3 words to the content being studied.
Activities I have personally used during or after a read-aloud:
- Generate synonyms
- Give opportunities to use them in different contexts
- Engaging with the target vocabulary word
A resource I personally recommend is “Teaching Reading Source Book”. On page 436, there are examples of a “Text Talk Method”, a 6-step process to engage with vocabulary through read-alouds.
- Step 1: Contextualize the word
- Step 2: Say the word together
- Step 3: Give student friendly definition
- Step 4: give the word in other context
- Step 5: Give opportunity to interact with the word (e.g., sentence starters, examples/non-examples, choices)
- Step 6: Say the word together again
Morphology can also play an important role in vocabulary instruction. To learn more, check out this post.
It is so important to weave vocabulary instruction into ALL subject areas. In my Grade 3/4 class, we sometimes explore the word together in context. Other times, we explore it with word activities such as word sums and matrixes. Therefore, this doesn’t become an added task, but instead, helps students access knowledge and texts.
Reference:
Teaching Reading Sourcebook (2018) – by Bill Honig, Linda Diamond, Linda Gutlohn , Carrie L. Cole et. al.
