Vocabulary Rich Classrooms!
Natalie Yancey- Section B- 9/10/15
The Importance of Vocab...
The article I read talked about the importance of implementing vocabulary within the classroom. Did you know…
- Vocab is a critical factor in the development of reading skills?
- Your vocabulary predicts how well you will be able to comprehend readings
- Vocabulary building needs to happen everyday so that gaps for struggling readers will not begin
- By 3rd grade, an average student knows 8000 words
- By high school, a student knows between 25,000-50,000 words
- Students learn 3,000-4,000 new words each year
Here is the Deal, People-
As future teachers, it is our job to implement new vocabulary into our everyday lessons. There are 3 tiers of words: common words (the, she, it) , words used in everyday speech (school, girl, car) and then not normal, everyday words (valiant, cylinder, simplicity). We can incorporate new words into our daily routines with our students. We must understand that if we do not take the initiative in teaching our students new words, they may not every reach the potential of their vocabulary knowledge. I think this article is right on and points our some important things we should do in our classrooms. For example, it is easy to "dumb down," words to our students. For example, telling first graders to line up in, "ABC," order instead of saying, line up in ,"alphabetical," order. We need to be brave with our vocabulary and push our students to expand their vocabulary. I think this article should be taken very seriously and there needs to be some action taken by teachers to implement these ideas.
How do I Teach New Words?
Word of the Day
Choose a word of the day and have students look up the definition. Then, have them use the word in a sentence and give points for students who use the word throughout the day. *Make sure to encourage students to use words while speaking and writing because they will better recall them later if they do this.
Word Wall
Have a section of the wall in your classroom used for hanging up new words the students learn. Every time you come across a new word, hang it up on the word wall. This way, the students will always be able to see and remember the new words they have learned.
Kindergarten
Help the little ones learn basic letters and words with repetition, songs and books. Singing a song with new words and talking about what they mean is a great way to teach students new words at a younger grade level.
Questions
- What are some ways you can implement new vocabulary in your classroom?
- Why is it important to implement vocabulary?
- What does it mean to start with simple vocab and to introduce new vocab?