Vocabulary - Learning and Teaching Ideas

Related research:

Generally students from higher socioeconomic levels know twice as many words as students from lower socioeconomic levels.
High school graduates at the top of their class know about four times as many words as students toward the bottom.
Students at the top of their third grade classes know about as many words as the lowest performing seniors.
Most problematic is once students are located within an achievement group there is little change.

Focus questions:

How is vocabulary being taught?
How should vocabulary be taught?
How is vocabulary learned?

People continuously add words to their lexicon. Words are introduced in the context of listening and reading and remembered from repetitive encounters. With sufficient repetitive encounters they can be learned well enough to be included when speaking and writing.

Encounters with spoken words are usually more powerful than encounters in the context of print. The act of being with at least one other person in a physical setting with a life unfolding interaction, accompanied with body language, verbal intonation, and all the realities of life can be a better learning experience than encounters with words in text. However, nothing is absolute. Some vocal encounters such as being told a definition is usually insufficiently weak to learn new words. Similarly words in a text can be introduced in a sufficiently powerful context to cause the reader to remember some words. Likewise, presenting words in a printed list isn’t powerful enough for most to learn. So what conditions can increase the likelihood of learning vocabulary?

Skills to learn vocabulary:

Context

Context may or may not be useful to understand word meaning. There are four main categories of Context usefullness.

Misleading - the context can mislead the reader to make incorrect conclusions.
“After Chris won the lottery friends, relatives, acquaintances, and people she didn’t know turned up to congratulate her,” the clerk at the counter said grudgingly.

Non supportive - the context offers no clues to the meaning.
After Chris and Betsy talked in the hall they both smiled at each other and sauntered down the hall in opposite directions.

Generally supportive - the context includes descriptions of the meaning.
Chris is so lucky. We were party hopping from one party to the next and of course she talks to everyone. But there were three people that gave her a led of people she could contact that might make a connection for a job. I wish I could be as fortuitous.

Directly supportive - the context defines the meaning.
As Chris came diving through the window she snagged her earring on the lace curtain. Swerving seriously to her right she crashed headfirst into my vanity knocking most of everything onto the hardwood floor with a clatter and came to rest on her back. No sooner had she stopped her scream that the curtain rod fell on top of her, but not before one end seriously hammered the floor where mom was probably sitting below. Seconds later mom was at the foot of the stairs yelling. “What is all the commotion up there?”

However, how does a reader know if the author is being supportive or just using a word to get an idea across? Here are two more examples to illustrate these differences. What are the possiblities to derive meaning from the context?

Example 1 - A conversation between Templeton and Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White. Wilbur asks Templeton if he will play with him. Templeton responds that he doesn’t know what play means. Wilbur explains with examples and Templeton answers with. “I never do those things if I can avoid them.”

Example 2 - A narrative about Templeton in Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White. "Templeton was a crafty rat and he had things pretty much his own way. The tunnel was an example of his skill and cunning. … it enabled him to get from the barn to the … trough without coming out into the open.”
“...eating, gnawing, spying, and hiding. I am a glutton but not a merry-maker. … I am on my way to eat your breakfast, since you haven’t got sense enough to eat it yourself.”

Philosophical question - Would it be a good idea or not a good idea to provide students with texts that are written to generally support or directly support vocabulary development and avoid texts that are misleading or not supportive?

How do people learn vocabulary within text?

The process to learn words

use skills to decode a word,
recognize the word,
extract meaning from the word itself or
use the context to gain word meaning or
determine there is not sufficient information to derive meaning from the text and
ask someone the meaning, or to look it up in a dictionary.

Problems with using text to derive meaning

knowing what text to use.
Use too little of the text to get adequate key information to derive the meaning.
Use too much of the text to derive a sufficiently narrow meaning.
Go beyond the context to create a possible scenario and rationale of support for a mistaken meaning.

Process to help students get better at using context to derive meaning.

read the text and paraphrase it
explain what the text was about - What is being said, happening, going on …
review initial ideas of words’ meanings - What might the words mean and what causes you to believe it?
consider if the context is open or closed to multiple meanings - Are there alternative possibilities?
summarize conclusions on possible meanings - What do we know? Are one or more meanings suggested? Are we confident in our conclusions? If I have doubt, should I check on the meaning?

When beginning readers learn vocabulary they usually decode a printed word that is part of their known vocabulary. Enabling them to quickly add the word to their reading list of known vocabulary words. However, it doesn’t take long for readers to reach the level where their known vocabulary isn’t sufficient to know the meaning of all the words they decode. When this point is reached additional skills are necessary to allow them to increase their vocabulary. This is misleading to teachers and the public as too often people mistakenly think the rate of vocabulary development will be sustained without skill development and encouragement.

What does it mean to know a word?

A word can be known in different ways.

never saw it before,
heard it, but don’t know what it means,
recognize it in context and have a general idea of what it means,
know what it means and can provide a synonym,
know what it means and can use it, and
know its multiple meanings, its registers, grammatical forms, connotations, etymology, or other attributes.

Simple matching, true - false, or multiple choice exercises won’t help students achieve the higher levels.

To assist students in learning vocabulary - It is important to help them develop a desire to be a wordsmith. To be on the prowl for new words; to seek new words to better describe different situations powerfully and to make words their own.

One way to move toward higher levels of understanding of words is to use the following chart and have students rate their level of understanding for some selected words.

Word	never saw it before	heard it, but don’t know what it means	recognize it in context and have a general idea of what it means	know what it means and can provide a synonym	know what it means and can use it	know its multiple meanings, its registers, grammatical forms, connotations, etymology, or other attributes.

How does a teacher decide what words, if any, to introduce to students?

Not all words have equal value. What can be used to identify words of optimal value?

Start by thinking of words within these categories:

words the reader knows,
words frequently used and would provide value to the reader,
words rarely used and with limited value, and
words essential to understand the targeted ideas - which provide vivid, precise, and specific conceptual understanding.

Use the four criteria to select words from the followoing passage you think would be important to introduce to readers.

Fiddlers - It was at a concert in New York where a celebrated teacher of the violin was exhibiting his pupils. A boy of twelve stepped on the stage and began to play. A hush fell over the room. His face, his fingers, every move and look proclaimed an embryo artist.
With easy assurance, in which was no trace of effort, he played one number after another, the audience urging him on with enthusiastic applause. Each of us felt that thrill of personally discovering this new star in the musical heavens. The concert over, a gentleman rushed forward to congratulate the teacher.
"You must be wonderfully proud of that brilliant boy!" he exclaimed.
The teacher was unresponsive. "Not very proud," he said.
"But surely he will be a master."
"No. He will probably be a fiddler in a restaurant."
The man was a bit indignant. Was this coolness born of professional jealousy... the envy of an older man for the brilliant youth? The teacher did not leave him long in doubt.
"The boy could be a master," he explained, "but he never will. Some of the others who performed less well today you will hear from later. But he... no. He will be a fiddler. It comes too easy; he will not work."

Use your list or the following words and categorize them 1, 2, 3, or 4.

exhibiting, celebrated, pupils, hush, proclaimed, hush, assurance, unresponsive, fiddler, master

Another example

My Father, the Entomologist by Andreanna Edwards published in Cricket Magazine June 2001 Vol. 28 Issue 10 page 5-6.
"Oh, Bea, you look as lovely as a longhom beetle lifting off for flight.
And I must admit your antennae are adorable. Yes, you've metamorphosed into a splendid young lady."& Bea rolled her eyes and muttered "My father, the entomologist."
"I heard that, Bea. It's not nice to mumble. Unless you want to be called a ... Mumble Bea!" Bea's father slapped his knee and hooted. Bea rolled her eyes a second time. The first day of fifth grade, and my father tells me I look like a longhom beetle. Bea shuddered at the thought. She absoluldy detested bugs.
Why does Dad have to be obsessed with insects? She wondered. Why not football or golf like most fathers? The answer was simple. Bea's dad was weird. His weinlness made the whole family weird. And he had made Bea the weirdest of all when he named her Bea Ursula Gentry ... B.U.G.
Suddenly, Bea felt angry. She flew into the kitchen where her father sat reading Insectology. She hurled her backpack onto the table.
"You know what. Dad?" she asked, tugging on one of her pigtails. "these are not antennae! Your bumper sticker, 'Have you hugged a bug today?' is not cool! And I despise eating in the dining room with all those dead bugs pinned to the walls!"

Use your list and categorize them 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Possible ways to Introduce vocabulary

Having students look up definitions or use definitions given to them is not usually an effective strategy. Students often misinterpret the definitions by selecting a wrong definition, wrongly understanding definitions, misunderstanding the degree of the definition, and using a partial definition as complete. Dictionaries are meant to be concise, but this 1. creates weak distinctions between words, 2. creates vague language, 3. requires interpretation without sufficient limitations, and 4. uses multiple words without integration of their meaning. Electronic dictionaries can provide virtually unlimited space which might reduce some of these problems with their use.

Find examples of word entries that might be misinterpreted in the above ways.

Create friendly explanations

Introduce words by having students say the word, provide a meaning, and identifying friendly everyday explanations. Examples include - when, how, and why the word might be used? To what degrees the word be used appropriately. All with the purpose to provide enough information to fix the word in their mind.

It would seem the best time to introduce words is before students read. However, as common sensical as this seems it is not without cost to students’ self-efficacy about reading.

A better time might be teachable moments during read alouds and other opportune times. Use the moment to demonstrate how to determine a word's meaning. Use self talk to negotiate different possibilities from context that make sense and if none can be reasoned, model how to seek expert advice.

Create some possible monologues...

Ways students can engage with meanings

Word associations -

Which word goes with incredible? (extraordianary, incredulous, believable, scrupou)
Which word goes with this phrase? (sketical, unwilling, able, or disinclined to believe)
How are incredible and incredulous alike and different? (extraordianary,unbelievable or not convincing)
Describe a time when you experienced something incredible?
When you …
How might you find something incredulous?
Sort words by how much you like: a lot, a bit, little, not at all
Tell stories about words.
Write examples and non examples for a word.

Try some …

Sample Weekly / Five day Plan

Day 1 - Read the word in the story or from a list. Ask the students to repeat the word. Define and describe it.

Day 2- 4 Do any of the following - one each day.

Find other examples of the word used in the story or other places. Describe what the word means in each.
Ask for other examples where the word could be used. The teacher or students justifies their belief in their example’s accuracy.
If students have difficulty in providing examples give them a starter like Describe a time when you were ... (incredulous). or I would be … (incredulous) if ... Or any other examples from above.
Have students act out or pantomime the words.
Describe a situation that uses the word in a way demonstrates its meaning.
Find synonyms or degrees of meanings.
Write a closed ended sentence that fits each word or provide those sentences with blanks for each word for students to complete.
Match words to meanings, sentences, or pictures.
Multiple choice test with very narrow different foils.

Day 5 - After a couple of words have been introduced challenge students to see if they can combine two or three into a sentence related to the book. Or all or many of the words into a paragraph.

Try it

Maintain words with continual use

Frequent use -
Richness of use -
Extended use -
Use the Five day plan for a set of words.
Engaged in word activities - records of words, notebook entries, facets of word meanings, what words best characterize certain situations, relationships among words, read aloud quality literature - The Phantom Tollbooth, pay attention to words, encourage use of million dollar words, market it… word suggestion box for words to put on word wall, find words in the media,
Create a Word Club - Describe what a person would do at each level, then challenge students to select a level as a personal goal to achieve. Possible levels - Word Wizard, Word Wildcat, Word Whirlwind, Word Winner, Word Worker, Word Watcher,
Self evaluation - Used new words, elegant words, used a thesaurus, a dictionary, talked about words, made entries in a word journal or reading log, studied literature, poems, speeches, read a challenging book or article, noticed wizard words others used or in the media…