Week 9: Build Up That Vocabulary (Deja Shelton)
How did we get the
vocabulary we all have today? As babies/ toddlers we learned our first word
through hearing them from the ones that raised us and the other people that surrounded
us. We also learned vocabulary through
experiences. The more experiences you
had as a child the better because you were being exposed to a ton of different
words.
“Because students derive the meanings of many words
incidentally, without instruction, another possible role of instruction is to
enhance the strategies readers use when they do learn words incidentally” (Kame’
enui, Dixon, & Carnine 1987, 250). This means some guiding is needed for readers when they come across a word they do not know or recognize.
Strategies:
Graphic organizers Word
of the Day
Dramatizing Labeling
Constructing Memorable Events Comparing Word meanings
Determining Shades of Meaning Word- Building References
Exploring Word Histories Predicting
Vocabulary Words
Enjoying Words Reconstructing
Stories with Vocabulary
Discovering Sesquipedalian Words Word Sorts
Vocabulary Self- Collection Strategy (VSS) Wide Reading
Reading to Students Speaking
and Writing
Using a Thesaurus
Questions:
- Do techniques with teaching ELL student's vocabulary look different? What are some ways to teach ELL students vocabulary?
- What are some strategies you remember learning to help with learning new words?
- Why is having a large vocabulary important?
- Is there a way to assess someones vocabulary? If so how?
“Do techniques with teaching ELL student's vocabulary look different? What are some ways to teach ELL students vocabulary?” Yes, techniques differ because ELLs need more supports in order to build their word and meaning knowledge, there are different approaches one must take than with native speakers. One of the simplest ways to help ELLs with vocabulary building is by reading to them, this provides several instances for a vocabulary word to be introduced to them. In the chapter it mentions that a word can be briefly introduced prior to or during a reading if it’s needed to understand the context of a story, then again after with the students getting practice hearing the definition, it used in a sentence, and then actually saying it themselves (Gunning, p.263). It also mentions to explicitly teach academic vocabulary and use graphic organizers so that ELLs can have the constant exposure to and be able to make connections with words.
ReplyDeleteI agree! There are many different techniques to teach ELL students english and they all include higher support. I had some friends in high school that were in ELL classes and graphic organizers were their best friends for everything!
Delete- Deja Shelton
Delete"Why is having a large vocabulary important?" I think having a large vocabulary is important because it helps you advance your reading, writing, and speaking abilities. I was always a really slow reader in school and had a hard time comprehending what I was reading. I think this is partially because I wasn't always great with vocabulary and didn't practice my vocabulary words a lot. I think when a students has a wide range of vocabulary, it helps them become better readers, but it also helps them comprehend what they are reading better because they know what all of the words they are reading mean. I also think vocabulary is important because it helps students become better writers. When a student is able to fully get across what they are trying to say through their vocabulary, it makes their writing easier to read.
ReplyDeleteThis is almost exactly what I was thinking when I thought of this question. A large vocabulary can put someone so far ahead when it comes to speaking, reading, writing, and comprehending. Without a decent sized vocabulary, one could be extremely lost in life in general because it is a part of our everyday lives.
Delete- Deja Shelton
DeleteIn regards to question number three, why is having a large vocabulary important I would say I agree with Kirsten. I was also a slow reader and had trouble expanding my vocabulary. Exposing children to rich vocabulary will help them be better at speaking, reading, writing, and comprehending. When I was in elementary I wanted to use better vocabulary in my writing but I sometimes didn't use the word correctly in my sentence so it would stop me from using higher vocabulary. As I grew older, when I read and stumble across a word I didn't know I would look it up and read the definition to help me. I believe to help students have a large vocabulary, as teachers we should give students for example words from their reading that they might have trouble with and provide them with the definition at the bottom that way they can have that as a reference for help when they come across the words. This can also help students use the words in their writing.
Delete“Is there a way to assess someone's vocabulary? If so how?” I think there are multiple ways to assess someone’s vocabulary even though it’s stated in Chapter 6 Building Vocabulary, “Because there are so many words and many words have multiple meanings, vocabulary is extremely difficult to assess. (pg. 286)” For example, verbal communication is one method that vocabulary can be assessed with due to the level of words exchanged and the way someone’s sentences are formed. This tells the person who is listening to the meaning of a word if the word has different definitions, and provides the knowledge that the person knows the word in the right context.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this to a certain extent. This can definitely assess that someone knows the word and the meaning depending on the context but how do we set a standard of vocabulary to assess students? What I mean by this is because there are so many words, how do we pick words that are most important to know and assess?
Delete- Deja Shelton
DeleteI believe all words are important to know and assess. Its amazing if a student knows what the word uncanny means but its also very important that's students know and understand how to use words like is, are, and, their, there, and they're. As these are important stepping stones in vocabulary and the English language.
DeleteWith what your teacher did, for me as a student, I would not have been able to focus if the book was too hard for me. I remember when I was not put in the highest reading group, I felt really discouraged, and not as smart as everyone else in my class. I do like the idea of having a paper to write down everything that someone did not understand. For your question, "What are some strategies you remember learning to help with learning new words?", I always struggled with learning vocabulary. I remember in high school taking an etymology class, and it made me learn the breakdown of words more. I wish I learned some of this in elementary school, because it would have helped me with my vocabulary skills.
ReplyDeleteShe always made sure to explain the chapter to us to make sure we knew what was going on which is what kept me on track. I also took an etymology class in high school but it did not help me very much because I just memorized everything instead of learning the words due to the constant quizzes.
Delete- Deja Shelton
DeleteWhat are some strategies you remember learning to help with learning new words?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, drawing pictures of the meaning of the new word I was learning helped me a lot. Any way that I count connect the word with anything else. I am a visual learner so writing the word over and over helped me remember the definition and how to spell the word. For the definition I often tried to connect it to real life scenarios as well. Give the words meaning other than the true definition!
Why is having a large vocabulary important?
Having a large vocabulary is important because it allows you to know plenty of synonyms! It allows someone to expand their communication by being able to explain something, multiple ways! When helping people understand what you are saying- if they do not understand what you mean. You can explain it differently with easier or more complex words!
That is a great way to memorize new words but does that help you truly understand the words? When I was in high school, my junior year we had vocabulary tests once a week. We had to know how to spell and the definition of the words and I used your method but I probably would not know half of those words today. I was really just memorizing for short term reasons but connecting the word to real life scenarios really brings the word to life.
Delete- Deja Shelton
DeleteTo answer question 2, some strategies I remember to learn new vocabulary words were playing games inside the classroom. We played a game called all around the world where the whole class would all stand in a circle and one person would walk around inside the circle, the person would stop in front of one person and they would say a vocab word, then other person would have to say the meaning or spell the word. This kept the whole class engaged and also helped with spelling as well.
ReplyDeleteThe strategies that you listed above are really helpful for when we are teachers as well! thanks for that.
I remember that game but we played it a little different. The teacher would say the word and each student had to spell it going in a circle. I absolutely loved that game and it also helped me a lot with my vocabulary. Thanks for bringing that memory back!
Delete- Deja Shelton
I remember when I was younger, our teacher would have independent reading. But our independent reading would be above our reading level. She would have us write down words that we didn't know and find those specific words in the dictionary. This was one strategy that I remember participating in when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteHaving a large vocabulary will help with learning even more words because by then, you can use previous knowledge about words to help.
That is similar to what my teacher did but I do not know if I could independently read a book over my reading level only because the content would also confuse me.
Delete- Deja Shelton
I wanted to answer one of your questions, Why is having a large vocabulary important? I think having a large vocabulary is important because it helps you when you're reading and later on in life as well. I feel like when you have a large vocabulary you can articulate a lot more words and express yourself better. It even looks great for the future when you have a resume for a job and want to look more professional and intelligent. When I was younger, whenever I would be reading a book and found a word I didn't know I would always search it up immediately because I wanted to know what it meant. That later on, helped increase my knowledge and understanding whenever I saw that word some other time.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! That is something my teachers always did in jus about every grade. If we were reading a book we had to write down the words we did not know and find out the definition as well as how it can be used in another sentence. This made me realize how important it is to continuously expand my vocabulary.
Delete- Deja Shelton
"What are some strategies you remember learning to help with learning new words?"
ReplyDeleteMy teacher used to tell us to use the words we were learning in class during conversations. She would give us a green dot on our charts if we did. To this day, if I'm trying to learn a new word, the best way for me to learn it is one of two things: first is using it in a sentence or using it whenever possible, and the second is using parts of the word to learn the definition. For example, in running we have a workout called a "threshold". I could never remember what the pace was for it, so I made a way to remember it: "If you're running a threshold, you're at the threshold of 5k pace." This way, I use the word, but I also can remember what the word means. I've always liked that trick.
When reading, going over the meaning of the words and the readings is a great way for students to learn vocab words and learn how to you them in context. When I did HOST with my students, I would have them read and then I would ask them what they read about and sometimes they would have no idea. I would then have them read it again and stop at the words they didn't know, we go over the words and read the story one more time. Once we did that, they would know the words and they would know, somewhat, how to use them in their own sentences. In HOST we would also make the students look at a word and use it in their own sentences to see if they knew what it meant, if they didn't, than we would talk about it.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to assess someones vocabulary? If so how?
ReplyDeleteThe first response that came to my head was to talk to them. This made me think of when i had my nephew for the summer. We would talk to each other a lot. He would hear me say certain words or phrases and try to incorporate them into his vocabulary. Sometimes he would use the "big words" i said when talking. It would make sense sometimes, then sometimes it wouldn't. Overall I'm trying to say educators could assess students vocabulary through talking to them, but know students are good at mimicking actions and words. So just because they used a word correctly in a sentence doesn't necessarily mean they understand the word.
Just like you, my teacher also read to us at the end of the day. It was a nice way to wrap up and relax before we headed home. My teacher would read a book from a different genre everyday in order for us to be exposed to them and later on choose which genre caught our attention the most. When she read, she allowed us to raise our hand and ask questions if we didn't understand the meaning of a word. A method that she used when introducing a new word would be breaking it up and using its root/prefix in order to guess the meaning behind of it. Then, she told us the actual definition. To answer your first question, I think techniques do differ when teaching ELL students vocabulary. ELLs need more support in order to expand their vocabulary and learn the meaning. It would be beneficial to have a word wall with vocabulary words that they are currently learning so they can have a reminder of those words. In addition, having a visual/real object of the vocabulary word they are learning would be helpful. They'd know what the picture/object is in their native tongue which will help them make the connection in English.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your blog in many ways. My teacher also used to read to us the harder books and go over what certain things meant that we didn't completely understand. My teacher would also try to push us by grabbing books that were above our reading level so help challenge us and I believe that was a good way that helped me learn certain words and increase my vocab. We would have weekly spelling test and my teacher would throw in challenging words that we didn't learn but it was put in there for an extra point. Another way that helped me remember new words was when my teacher would break down the word given, put in a picture, in a sentence, and just different examples would help me get a better understanding of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some strategies you remember learning to help with learning new words?
ReplyDeleteThe strategies I remember using to help develop my vocabulary are writing the words three times, writing the definition, putting the words in alphabetical order, and writing sentences. When I got into higher grade levels (4th-6th) we had to chose one creative way to use our spelling words, such as writing a story, creating a crossword, or making a word searches, which we had to use all the spelling words for any activity we chose to do. Doing these activities weekly got me into the habit of looking up words I didn't know or understand. To this day if there is a word I'm unsure of I will look it up and put the synonym above it so I know what it means.
I do remember my former teachers using several of the strategies you listed above. I think the strategy that was most beneficial for me was when my teachers would read to the class. I really enjoyed this because as a child I did not feel as if I was a strong reader. I would get discouraged if I didn't know a word and I would also get lost in the text. When my teachers read to the class I would have a better understanding of what was going on and be able to hear words I didn't know or had never heard before. When I would hear a word I would usually be able to figure out what it meant by the context around it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really remember any of my elementary school teachers focusing on learning vocabulary. As an ELL students I would have liked to be taught new vocabulary in English by the teacher telling me what the word meant in my language which in my case is Spanish and then I would learn it in English. It the strategies I think would be the same to teach any student because they all have to practice, learn how to use it in a sentence and what are other words that mean the same thing. The only thing that varies is the language that you first teach them the word in.
ReplyDeleteWhy is having a large vocabulary important?
ReplyDeleteHaving a large vocabulary is important because it allows you to communicate on different levels. Being versatile in language is an advantage. When you're able to apply different types of vocabulary to different situations, to me, it helps you. To me it means that you can communicate to a variety of people and reach them where they're at.
Having a large vocabulary is important because it allows the student to be able to communicate fluently. The more words they know is the better because it shows that they learned a lot. Some strategies that helped me growing up is listening to songs that have those words because music does increase memorization.
ReplyDeleteI remember having to sound out words in order to learn new words. My teacher would have us look at the word and create what we thought each sound was based on prior knowledge. It is important to have a large vocabulary because it helps you express yourself and lets you know other material in more depth. I don't think there is really a way to assess someones vocabulary. You could listen to them talk to see what words they use naturally, but that's as much as it goes I would think.
ReplyDelete