Vocabulary http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/ET/essentials/components/vocab.

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Vocabulary refers to the pronunciation and meanings of words necessary for communication.
Vocabulary knowledge is often divided into two categories: oral vocabulary (listening and speaking) and print vocabulary (reading and writing). The role of vocabulary instruction in the classroom is to expand the oral vocabulary while developing an extensive print vocabulary. The ultimate goal of vocabulary instruction, within the context of reading instruction, is to help students learn the meanings of many words in order to improve reading comprehension.

Listening (Receptive) Vocabulary- words we understand when we hear them Speaking (Expressive) Vocabulary- words we use in our speech Reading Vocabulary- words we understand when we read them Writing Vocabulary- words we use in our writing

Vocabulary instruction should provide students with an understanding of the meaning and use of words. This enables them to comprehend what they read and communicate effectively. Components of an effective vocabulary program include indirect and direct methods. Vocabulary can be acquired indirectly by engaging in discussion sessions after listening to recorded books on audio, teacher read-alouds, or reading independently. Direct methods include the explicit teaching of specific words and word-learning strategies. When teaching vocabulary, select 12 15 words per week that are outside of the students current oral vocabulary and that the students are likely to encounter frequently in text. The words should be interesting, useful, and offer students a more sophisticated way of expressing familiar concepts. Multiple exposures to the meaning of unfamiliar words deepen students understanding of a specific word and how it functions in different contexts. Word-learning strategies include morphemic analysis to understand the meaningful parts of words and contextual analysis to infer the meaning from the surrounding text and definitions. Teachers should be aware that dictionary definitions are frequently not helpful to young students and the teacher will need to provide a student-friendly definition (e.g., fortunate when you are lucky, or absurd" -when something is silly or goofy). Students develop an increased interest in and awareness of words when rich and varied vocabulary experiences are provided.

Powerful Vocabulary Instruction Includes:

Teacher Read-Aloud Activities

Word-learning occurs for students through teacher read-aloud activities.
Indirect word-learning occurs during teacher read-alouds when:

Students are read to and exposed to rich and descriptive language through an abundance of different types of texts Students are exposed to the same word though multiple texts

Direct word-learning occurs during teacher read-alouds when:

Picture walks are used to promote discussion around vocabulary in the text Sophisticated vocabulary that may be present is defined and discussed prior to reading Lively, interactive, and challenging higher level discussions about the text occur Multiple exposures to words and their meanings occur in different texts Immediate discussions and interactions with vocabulary which may include writing following the teacher read-aloud Continued exposure and use of the words in activities throughout the week

Develop and Maintain Word Meanings

Develop and Maintain Word Meanings

Specific Word Knowledge

A students specific word knowledge is developed by selecting appropriate words to teach based on the needs of the students in the classroom. The following activities may be used to actively involve the students in developing their specific word knowledge, but are not limited to:

Identifying the new word, pronouncing the new word, spelling the new word Writing the new word Describing the new word using other words that the student already knows Using semantic maps to categorize the new word with other familiar words Verbally using the new word in sentences Writing the new word in sentences Creating student-friendly definitions for the new word Identifying antonyms, synonyms, and homophones of the new word

Word-Learning Strategies
Word-learning strategies are tools students use during teacher read-aloud activities, specific word instruction, and independent reading. The following activities may be used to actively involve the students in developing their word learning strategies, but are not limited to:

Using context clues in text and illustrations to determine the word meaning Using word-part clues (morphology) to determine the meaning of a word: root words, prefixes, and suffixes Lively, interactive, and challenging higher level discussions about the text occur