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    Students with deficient vocabularies are likely to have difficulty comprehending written material. This article provides teachers of middle and high school students with empirically validated strategies and recommended activities for vocabulary instruction.

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    Students with deficient vocabularies are likely to have difficulty comprehending written material. This article provides teachers of middle and high school students with empirically validated strategies and recommended activities for vocabulary instruction.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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    72 vizualizări9 pagini

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    Încărcat de

    distanceprep
    Students with deficient vocabularies are likely to have difficulty comprehending written material. This article provides teachers of middle and high school students with empirically validated strategies and recommended activities for vocabulary instruction.

    Drepturi de autor:

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    CaRroLyn R. Foin ap Sieita R. ALBER 2 Understanding vocabulary words and how they relate to other ideas and concepts is a critical subskill that influences reading comprehension, Students with deficient vocabularies are likely to have difficulty comprehending written materi This article provides teachers of middle and high school students with empirically validated strate- gies and recommended activities for vocabulary instruction. Specifically, we discuss teaching vo- cabulary through dram: technology, the Keyword Method, and dent responding activities. semantic mapping, video stu- Some au Came Effective Ways “— £0 Build - Your Students’ Vou 37,3, Jey 2002. 131-139) 131 roficient reading depends on the development and synthesis of a complex array of eritieal ssubskills, One of these critical subskills is thorough understanding nd their connections to oth of word meanings r ideas and con- cepts. As text itself becomes more difficult in terms of such features as vocabulary, sentence complexity, density of ideas, and so on, readers’ abilities to deal with these features ‘must be well matched if comprehension isto be successful In general, children with learning disabilities often use short sentences with poor word pronunciations, and they have limited receptive and expressive overall vocabularies (Goldsworthy, 1996). One of the major avenues for ex- panding vocabulary and the general knowledge it repre- sents is reading itself, Because these children cannot or cdo not read, their vocabularies are often limited to what they experience in their immediate environment. And so begins the eycle of poor reading comprehension with im- poverished vocabulary acquisition. In order to reduce the effeets of this vicious eyele, teachers must plan and evaluate intervention strategies that emphasize the comprehension of vocabulary while capturing the interest of the student. Teachers can facili- tate a deeper level of understanding by planning instrue- tion that incorporates four important principles: 1. employing a variety of methods for teaching vocabulary, 2. actively involving students in vocabulary instruction that endeavors to facilitate deeper levels of under- standing, 3. providing instruction that enables students to see how target vocabulary words relate to other words, and 4. providing frequent opportunities to practice reading and using vocabulary words in many contexts to gain a deep and automatic comprehension of those words, Empirically: validated vocabulary building strategies and suggested activities for teaching vocabulary are pre- sented in the following eategories: drama, semantic map- ping, video technology, and the Keyword Method, Additionally, we provide suggested activities for prac ing newly acquired vocabulary. Vocabulary Building Strategies Drama Benefits derived from using: multisensory approaches with poor readers have been documented since Montes- sori introduced a visual, auditory, kinesthetie, and tactile teaching method in the early 1900s (Richardson, 1998), Since then, researchers and practitioners have developed many multisensory approaches for providing instruction, 132 veer Sina Cume and research continues to support the educational ben fits derived from using these approaches wich students who have difficulty with reading programs taught in the traditional manner (eg, Birch & Hatfield, 1995), Multi- sensory instructional approaches eapitalize on the tactile/ kinesthetic modality to enhance learning, Educators have recommended incorporating the kit esthetic approach into vocabulary instruction through drama; and a small, but promising, body of researeh has demonstrated that using drama activities is effective for creasing students’ proficiency with vocabulary (eg. C sale & Manzo, 1982; Duffelmeyer, 1980; Ranger, 1993). Teachers may incorporate drama in their vocabulary struction by using the following activities that are varia tions of empirically validated strategies by Ranger (1995) and Casale and Manzo (1982): + After directly teaching stuclents several content vo~ abulary words, write the target voeabulary words on ‘small strips of paper, and place them in a box or hat Have the students take turns selecting a word from the box and pantomiming the meaning. The rest of the students should attempt to guess which word is being pantomimed. For example, ifa student selects the word decidwons, he or she might pantomime it by standing tall with arms raised and fingers spread pen. To signify the change of seasons, he or s might sway back and forth, with hands fluttering down to the floor; then, stand tall with arms rai and hands shaped in fists. ‘+ “World Theater” (Boning, 1978) is a drama act that allows groups of students to physically demon- strate voeabulary definitions. For example, the class ‘may put on a skit pretending to be the parts of an atom (Wood & Algorzine, 1994). To simulate the helium atom, four students huddle together, two holding large red eircles over their heads to represent protons that are positively charged and two holding’ large white circles over their heads to represent neu- trons that have no electrical charge. ‘Two other stu- dents walk briskly around these students in a circular path, holding blue circles over their heads to repre= sent electrons that are negatively charged. ‘+ Write a list of vocabulary words connected with a piece of literature the students will be reading, and directly teach the definitions by providing the ing of the word and examples of the word used in context. Have the students read the story, then form teams. Fach team is given a portion of the story and instrueted to ereate a skit in which they must use the selected vocabulary words, Each team then acts out the skit they created. After each skit, the rest of the students discuss the selected voeabulary and how they were used in context * Have students form four teams to play charades, and give each team a list of vocabulary words. Members of each team take turns silently acting out one of the words on the list. The first team to correctly identify the vocabulary word earns a point. The winni is the one with the most points atthe end of the game. Many students find the element of competition very 7 + Afier presentin the definition of each new word, have all the students stand next to their desks and simultaneously use dramatic movements to illustrate the definitions. For example, if the science lesson focuses on the rotation of the earth on its axis and the revolution of the earth around the sun, students, should spin around in place when they hear the word rotation, and they should walk around their chairs when they hear the word revolttion. ‘This activity promotes active participation of all students, Semantic Mapping Semantic mapping provides students with a visual means of organizing content information. The u mapping has been empirically demonstrated to facilitate student success in vocabulary development (eg, Anderson Inman, Knox-Quinn, & Homey, 1996; Bos & Anders, 1990; Moore & Readanee, 1984). Teachers may want to use semantic mapping compu programs to help thee students build vocabulary. Soft ‘ware programs, such as Inspiration (Inspiration Software Inc, 1998) have graphic capabilities that allow students to of semanti create semantic maps with the click of the mouse Gee Fig ure 1). Research from the Center fi based concept map- ping helps students with learning disabilities understand hesize new material ‘The following variations of empirically validated se- mantic mapping activities are useful for facil cabulary development: + Present a new vocabulary word to the students, and lead a group discussion of its meaning. Hlave the stu- dents write the word (e.g, serpent) in the middle of a blank page: then guide the students through answer- ing three questions that branch out from the word (Cook, 1989): What is it? (animal, reptile, snak What is it like? (long, scaly, legless, slither, seary, cylindrical); and W (cobra, python, king, copperhead, cotton mouth) See Figure 2 for an example of this type of semantic map. Devel- ‘oping semantic maps helps students link prior know edge to new knowledge and therefore deepens students’ understanding of important vocabulary Write vocabulary words connected to a content area concept (eg. classifying rocks) on index eards. Have stuclents read a selection from their textbooks con- taining the new vocabulary words. After the students read the selection, have them arrange the vocabulary word cards into eategories (MeCormick, 1999), For Figure 1. Example of a semantic map created with Inspiration Software (1998), Wu 37, 3, Jw 2002-133 is given eards labeled “gran- : 2” “quaree,” and “ob- sidian,” he or she ean place “granite” and “obsidian” under the igneous rock category, “limestone” and “shale” under the sedimentary rock category, and “slate” and “quart?” under the metamorphic rock category based on the context of these words in the selection, + Present a semantic mapping a group-label approach (Tab, category on the board (e.g, vertel ving students name all the words that belong in the s lected category (e.g., horse, snake, sal shark). Write all of the students’ responses om the board, suspending judgment on their quality. After a tanageable list has been generated, have the students group their responses into subcategories and label them (eg., mammals, reptiles, amphi in). In addition to ascertaining whether students incorporating the new vocabulary in their thinking, this technique serves to increase the students’ mea ingful interactions with the words + Lead a semantic mapping activity that encourages both vertical (breaking down a coneept into cate- gories) and horizontal (differentiating concepts from ‘other related concepts) expansion of vocabulary words (Lerner, 1997). For vertical expansion, write a word (€g-,musie) on the board and then write studen ‘generated responses of categories that fit under that ‘word (classical, rock, pop, jazz, reggae, blues, new age). For horizontal expansion, have students genet: ate other related concepts (e.g, differentiating music from other forms of artistie expres nce, theater, painting, sculpture, poetry) and write the words next to the central concept. Figure 3 illustrates «vertical and horizontal semantic ‘example, if the stu slate, jon such as d Video Technology Using video technology to inerease vocabulary compre- hension demonstrated effective in an experimental study conducted by Nin, Glaser, and Rieth (1996). Using 10 stu- dents, they introduced 30 new vocabulary words associated with the content of videotape. The students viewed video clips from the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and partic- ipated in activities that allowed them to associate the vo- cabulary words with content of the videos. After 6 weeks, students were able to give the corre 10 60% of the targeted words, compared to videos ‘were nor used. “The following variations of video technology are higher level learning activities that may be effective for inereas- ing vorabukary comprehension. ‘+ Provide teams of students with alist of related vocab- ulary words from specific content areas (e.g., Indus- 134 vera Sx a Ce What is it? What is it like? copperhead cottonmouth Figure 2. Example of a semantic map using the follow- ing questions: What is it? What is it like? What are some examples? Music classical rock pop jazz reggae blues new age sculpture, poetry- Music dance, theatre rea. Example of a vertical and horizontal semantic map. trial Revolution, monopoly, cartel, trust, union, strike, mechanization, exploitation). ell the students that they will be creating a videotape in which they will be using the vocabulary words and demonstrat- ing what they mean. Have the students meet in groups to plan and decide what they think should be included in their videotape. For example, students ‘may decide to use one oF a combination of the fol- lowing methods of presentation: Write and act out a skit or series of skits illustrating what the vocabulary ‘words mean; interview historians or experts and pre sent the interview in the form of a documenta provide an informative presentation using charts, ta- bles, graphs, or other forms of visual representation. Encourage the students to think creatively. By using words in planning their videotape. il videotaping skits, and viewing the re: sulting video presentations, students may be able to process vocabulary word meanings at a deeper level * Provide each student or small group of students with ‘one abstract noun, such as “honesty” “justice,” “loy= alty ;” deception,” conformity,” oF “integrity.” hen have students videorape several everyday exam- ples illustrating these coneepts (eg, to illustrate “honesty” the students may videotape a skit of a child confessing to his mother that he accidentally broke an expensive vase), The students may videotape real- life situations, record incidents they see on television, for act out their own skits. When they are complete, the students may present the videotapes to the rest of the class, and explain how each example illustrates the concept. The teacher m: dents viewing the videotape to state their opinions of whether or not the examples illustrate the selected vocabulary word and explain why they agree or dis agree with each example. also encourage the stu= ‘The Keyword Method The Keyword Method (Atkinson, 1975) is a mnemonic strategy for elaborating upon an unfamiliar word or con cept by making it more meaningful and concrete. For ex- ample, student might remember that “muck” means filth by rhyming it with “yuck” or remember that “mumbo jumbo” isa meaningless ritual by picturing “mum” (Mom) in a “jum” (gym) trying to shoot a basket (that is, unless the student’ mom is very good at basketball), Evidence demonstrating that students experience increased levels ‘of academic success when teachers implement the Key- word Method! has been well documented (eg, Avila & Sadowski, 1996; Fulk, Mastropieri, & Scruggs, 1992 Guillory, 1998; King-Sears, Mereer, & Sindclar, 1992, Lawson & Hoghen, 1998; Mastropieri, Seruggs, & Full, 1990), Levin (1988) deseribed three steps for using the Key- ‘word Method: recoding, relating, and retrieving. During the recoxling step, the student changes the unfamiliar new word to a similar sounding familiar word that is eas- ily pictured. For example, the word hirsute means cov- ered with hair. Good key words for hirsute would be “hair suit.” Other examples of keywords include the fol- lowing: fetid-—having an offensive odor (keyword: “fect odor"); oF nexus—a link or tie (keyword: “connects us") Alier students have selected keywords to help them remember definitions, they should practice saying the vocabulary and keyword together to establish an associa- tion. In the relating stage, students inerease the associa tion by forming a visual image or drawing a picture in which the keyword and meaning of the vocabulary word ate interacting. For example, when visualizing the key- word for “hirsute,” students can visualize or draw a pi impecunious os at Figure 4, Example of image using the IT FITS strategy. ture of a person wearing a suit made of hair. In the re- trieving stage when the student is asked to provide the Aefinition of the vocabulary word, the student is taught to think of the keyword, think of picture involving the bulary word and the keyword, and retrieve the deti- nition from the picture (Hughes, 1996). IT FITS. ‘Teachers can use the mnemonic “IT FITS" (King-Sears, Mereer, & Sindelar, 1992) to help students create their own mnemonies for vocabulary words. IT FITS is an acronym for the following steps: *# Identify the term (e.g., “impecunious”); ‘Tell the definition of the term (¢., “having no money") Find a keyword (e.g. “penniless imp”) Imagine the definition doing something with the keyword (e.g, “An imp tried to buy some food, but when he checked his pockets he fond that he was penniless.”); * Think about the definition as it relates to the keyword; and * Study what you imagined unl you know the definition. gure 4 shows an illustration of a visual image for the word: impecuniens, ‘Teachers may either provide the students with the key- word mnemonic or have the students create their own. Al- ou 37., 3, avn 2002 135, though having students make up their own keywords has implications for dependence and ing teacher time, ie may be les eftent and effective than using teacher-generated keywords (King-S al, 1992; Seruggs & Mastropieri, 1992). yereased stud Set LINCS, The LINCS strategy (Ellis, 1992) is another way for students to independently generate keywords for tar- get vocabulary. LINCS is an acronym for the following steps 1. List the parts. Write the word on 2 study eard, and lise the most important parts of the definition on the hack. Example: Uthe vocabulary word is “lethargic,” the student would write the word “lethargie” on the front of the card and write “sluggishness, inactiv- ity, apathy” on the back. 2, Imagine a picture. Create a mental pieture and de- scribe it Example: For the word “lethargic” the student may think of a lazy slug lying down on a couch, 3. Note a reminding word. Think ofa familiar word that sounds like the vocabulary word nnple: For the wor “lethargic” the student may think of the familiar words “lary sag” and write it on the bottom half of the front side of the card, 4. Construct a LINGing story. Make up a short story atpout the meaning of the word tha inchudes the re- minding word Evemples"The lethargie slug said, “I'm so lazy.” Self-Test. "Test your memory forward and backward. Exaraple: Look at the words “lethargic” and “lazy slug” on the front of the card and say what is on the back of the card: “slugwshness, inactivity, apa- thy, The lethargic slug lay on the couch and said, “Tin so lazy" The student should also look at the back of the card to self-test the vocabulary word and the keyword. Figure 5 isan example ofa completed won card using the LINCS strategy. Vocanctany Pierre Carns. A simple variation of the keyword strategy is having students create their own vocabilary picture cards that remind them of the mean ing of the vocabulary word. Vocabulary pieture cards are index cars on which the students write the vocabulary word on one side and a draw picture representing the meaning of the word on the back. ‘The eards are then used tw study the vocabulary word meanings, 126. tmayoronw Sion. ao Ce lethargic lazy slug sluggishness, inactivity, apathy Figura 5, Example of front and back of word card using the LINCS strategy. Teachers can help students ereate their own vocab picture cards using che following procedures: + present a new vocabulary word (€4g, “optimistie”)s « tell the students what the word means (© dency to expeet the best possible outcome + provide examples of how the word is used (e.g. “The baseball team was worried about winning the game, bout the couch was optimistic”); student-generated responses in which the words used in context e.g. "I was optimistic about my mother letting me have a slumber party”); and + direct the students to write the vocabulary word and sentence using the word in context on one side of the card and draw a picture illustrating the sentence on the back: Figure 6 shows an example of vocabulary pic Suggested Activities for Practice ry words, ctivi- Once students have acquired new voeabu teachers should provide active student respond ties that will promote automatic and definition retrieval. The positive effects of active stu- dent responding (.e., response cards, choral responding, peer tutoring) have been well documented (eg, Cave- nauigh, Heward, & Donelson, 1996; Gardner, Heward, & Grossi, 1994; Gumpel & Frank, 199% Heward, 1994; y of word recognition Mortweet etal, 1999; Tam & Scott, 1996). The follow ing active student responding aetvities may be useful for helping students practice their vocabulary definitions: h studer * Preprinted response cards. Give e aset of eards with the vocabulary word printed in large letters on the front side and the definition and an ex- ample sentence printed on the back. State the defini tion of each word (e.g. “a vapor rising from marshes, foggy”), have all students respond by holding up the correct vocabulary word for the teacher to see ( niasmic”), and then provide feedback for each re sponse. The definitions and example sentences may serve asa reminder to the students if needed (see Figure 7 for an example of a preprinted response card), It is important to maintain a lively pace in order to attain high levels of student responding, Teachers may also want co call on individual students throughout the response card activity to provide a sentence or definition of a stared vocabulary word. This activity ean be followed by a voeabulary bingo game in which students receive a eard containing boxes and a vocabulary word printed in each box Fach time a definition is stated, the students place marker on the corresponding vocabulary word. The first student who marks off five down, aeross, or di- agonally wins. See Figure 8 for an example of vor ceabulary bingo card. + Write-on response boards. Provide each student with a dry-erase board and a dry-erase marker, and write alist of vocabulary we Doard to fi tion asa word bank. Fach time a definition is stated, the students write the corresponding word on their dry-erase boards, hold up theie boards when the teacher gives a signal (et, “boards up"), and receive feedback. Using write-on response boards may yield fewer responses than preprinted response cards be- cause th rudents need more time to write. But using 1 response boarcs may have implications for improved spelling performance of the vocabulary words and allow more flexibility of responding (i.e they can be used for any set of vocabulary words Without having to spend time making vocabulary cards). For additional suggestions for using pre= printed cards and write-on response boards, se Heward et al. (1996) + Classwide peer tutoring. ‘To implement a reciprocal classwide peer tutoring system as recommended by Miller, Barbetta, and Heron (1994), provide each student with a folder with two pockets att the inside, Print “go” on one pocket and “stop” on the other pocket. Provide students with index cards on which a vocabulary word is written on one side and the definition is written on the other side. All words that the st placed in the “go” pock fh word is mastered, itis Jents have not mastered a1 ad as optimistic Figure 6. Example of vocabulary picture card. miasmic ‘A vapor rising from marshes; foggy [Mark could faintly see the outline of the Jold house through the miasmic landscape. Figure 7. Example of preprinted response card, placed in the “stop” pocket. Have the students form dyads in which they take turns being the tutor and the tutee. The tutor shows each voeabulary wor to the tutee, prompts the tu provides praise for correct responses and feedback for incorrect responses via the tutee emitting the correct

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