Vocabulary instruction is something that has rarely been in the forefront of teachers' thinking at the secondary level. When vocabulary has been taught it is often a painful experience of worksheets or wordlists copied from a novel study edu-pack.
Students in my grade 11 course really struggle to "tighten" up their writing because they have limited, and often non-expressive, vocabulary. I recently read "Mastering the Art of Effective Vocabulary Instruction" by Janet Allen and found it helped to develop the beginning of a plan for my students. The reminder that "direct vocabulary instruction improves comprehension" and that "context clues vary in degree of 'helpfulness' to readers" have assisted in providing me a focus. Personally, context clues have always been my primary resource and I've slacked off on direct instruction in favour of hoping students were being successful through context clues.
My goals for the next month in terms of classroom instruction include having students co-create a word wall as we read a wide variety of text. Using greater direct instruction by pointing out word construction and context clues will definitely occur as we start Macbeth. I had already created a class group on FreeRice.com to get the class playing and actively thinking about words. I have a number of former students who I heard lamenting their preparation for the SATs. "Who uses these words?" one exclaimed as I was walking past in the hall. I stopped to find out what kinds of words they were struggling with. After our discussion I decided I would choose days when I actively modeled a wider range of vocabulary and would encourage the students to do so orally as well.
I have my students spend a fair bit of time self assessing and articulating metacognitive reflection (a concept reinforced by Hattie's research) so the four stages of word knowledge Allen outlines:
1) I have never seen or heard the word
2) I've seen or heard the word, but don't know what it means.
3) I have some knowledge of the word and could use it in a limited context.
4) I know the word: multiple meanings, multiple uses, contexts, and word forms
is a framework I could see introducing to my students for them to gauge their own vocabulary comfort. (I am thinking I will create a google form where they can quickly rate themselves via their phones, and then we both can have access to their responses to words as we go.)
My hope is that through direct instruction, wide reading and formative feedback my students will begin to use a wider range of vocabulary in their blogs. I find their blogs to be a great way to look at an evolution of writing style over time.
I want my students to be aware that it is "the difference between a surface-level knowledge of a word, and an in depth knowledge of a word that allows us to extend the meaning in discussion and writing". Hopefully that will help them value the vocabulary focus we will be taking.
Rief, Linda, ed. "Mastering the Art of Effective Vocabulary Instruction." Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. Ed. Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2007. 87-104. Print.
Students in my grade 11 course really struggle to "tighten" up their writing because they have limited, and often non-expressive, vocabulary. I recently read "Mastering the Art of Effective Vocabulary Instruction" by Janet Allen and found it helped to develop the beginning of a plan for my students. The reminder that "direct vocabulary instruction improves comprehension" and that "context clues vary in degree of 'helpfulness' to readers" have assisted in providing me a focus. Personally, context clues have always been my primary resource and I've slacked off on direct instruction in favour of hoping students were being successful through context clues.
My goals for the next month in terms of classroom instruction include having students co-create a word wall as we read a wide variety of text. Using greater direct instruction by pointing out word construction and context clues will definitely occur as we start Macbeth. I had already created a class group on FreeRice.com to get the class playing and actively thinking about words. I have a number of former students who I heard lamenting their preparation for the SATs. "Who uses these words?" one exclaimed as I was walking past in the hall. I stopped to find out what kinds of words they were struggling with. After our discussion I decided I would choose days when I actively modeled a wider range of vocabulary and would encourage the students to do so orally as well.
I have my students spend a fair bit of time self assessing and articulating metacognitive reflection (a concept reinforced by Hattie's research) so the four stages of word knowledge Allen outlines:
1) I have never seen or heard the word
2) I've seen or heard the word, but don't know what it means.
3) I have some knowledge of the word and could use it in a limited context.
4) I know the word: multiple meanings, multiple uses, contexts, and word forms
is a framework I could see introducing to my students for them to gauge their own vocabulary comfort. (I am thinking I will create a google form where they can quickly rate themselves via their phones, and then we both can have access to their responses to words as we go.)
My hope is that through direct instruction, wide reading and formative feedback my students will begin to use a wider range of vocabulary in their blogs. I find their blogs to be a great way to look at an evolution of writing style over time.
I want my students to be aware that it is "the difference between a surface-level knowledge of a word, and an in depth knowledge of a word that allows us to extend the meaning in discussion and writing". Hopefully that will help them value the vocabulary focus we will be taking.
Rief, Linda, ed. "Mastering the Art of Effective Vocabulary Instruction." Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. Ed. Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2007. 87-104. Print.