Week 9: Learning Vocabulary
Almost everyone's first word is either mama or dada. When we become toddlers we hear people speak and create sentences. Children are like sponges, they soak up everything they see and hear. A child who is around someone who has a large vocabulary and is read too often will have greater chances of having a higher level of reading. A child whose vocabulary is not being expanded or read too often will have a harder time reading at a higher level. A teachers job is to provide a range of words that will guide children to help them in reading and writing.
In elementary school I remember having word walls. A few of my teachers used large paper boards and we would create a word web. We would also go over the words as a class along with what they mean. I also remember having to do worksheets throughout the week to get some practice. On Monday we would have a practice test to see what we already know. I always hated this because I never did well and it made me feel stupid. Throughout the week we would have a lot of practice and a take home test for practice to do with our parents. This method seemed to work for me. One game we would play in class to practice is Sparkle.
Sparkle is a game where you are given a word and everyone adds the next correct letter until the word has been spelled. After the word is spelled someone will repeat the word and the next person says sparkle. Who ever is after the person that said sparkle is out.
Chapter 6 in Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students it explains how to teach the words.
- Graphic Organizers - Creating venn diagrams
- Dramatizing - Using the word in a sentence
- Construct memorable events - Act out the meaning of the word
- Determine shades of meaning - Students can find words that have the same meaning
- Exploring word histories - Apply a historical background to the word. An example is where a word can be represented in history.
- Enjoying words - The books example is a crossword puzzle.
- Discovering sesquipedalian words
- Implementing a word of the day
- Labeling
- Comparing word meanings
- Using word-building references
- Predicting vocabulary words
- Reconstructing stories with vocabulary
- Using word sorts
- Introducing new words
- Developing the vocabulary of English Language Learners
The way I was able to learn words the best is to break the words apart into syllables and to pick certain words out of the definition to associate it with the word. My mom showed me that when you spell together it looks like to-get-her. By doing this I was able to remember how to spell the word for my test.
Questions:
1. Which strategy or strategies do you feel are the best when it comes to teaching vocabulary?
2. Do you believe that ELL students should work in a separate environment other than their classroom so they can do better?
3. Was there something your teachers did that you felt was a good or bad way to learn vocabulary?
4. What are ways students can create a larger vocabulary at home?
5. Do you think there is another or better way to test a child's knowledge on vocabulary words?
"Which strategy or strategies do you feel are the best when it comes to teaching vocabulary?" Something I always found helpful when doing vocabulary practice was dramatizing, using the word in a sentence. I think this helped me better understand what the vocabulary words meant, and I think this is a good strategy to use with students who are struggling to understand the meanings of vocabulary words. I also think having a word of the day is a good way to implement vocabulary words because it allows for you to allocate a time each day to introduce a new word. I think this can be done by having a wall in the classroom to continue each day so the students can continuously see the words and use them throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteI agree about dramatizing, I don't know if it's necessarily the best strategy to teach vocabulary, but I do know that it personally helped and still helps me learn words. When I was younger, I believe it was 3rd-5th grade, I was in UIL spelling and was pretty darn good at spelling, but I couldn't tell you the first thing about certain word's meanings. As I got older I really wanted to expand my vocabulary, so I was almost obsessed with looking up meanings and it truly helped me build my vocabulary. I was then able to help my mom who was an English language learner build up her vocabulary as well.
DeleteI agree with your statement about the dramatization strategy Kirsten but I also think that there are other or probably better engaging ways to build our students vocabulary. One way that I believe might be better is teaching vocabulary in the context connecting to a subject or a story. If you base certain subjects like "airplane"and cant connect them to any other adjectives that help describe their features its a wrong approach to take on. We as future teachers can ask students questions based on descriptions or even let them create their own on a fill in the blank worksheets. Also inputting games and crossword puzzles can actively increase their knowledge of vocabulary and expand on new words.
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ReplyDeleteWhich strategy or strategies do you feel are the best when it comes to teaching vocabulary?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Chapter 6 Building Vocabulary, “Generating interest in words, the sixth principle of vocabulary building, can have a significant impact on vocabulary development. (pg. 249)” I think this is a great strategy because it get students excited. When students are excited about something it provides a better interest in the material. As future teachers we have to come up with fun educational strategies that will have our students wanting to learn, or in this situation wanting to learn new words. The Chapter talked about how two teaches awarded students with the title “Word Wizard” if they showed examples of taught words outside of the classroom. I think that was an excellent way of getting students involved and learning new words because it made them work for that title within the classroom, and provided them with a positive challenge.
In regards to your question, "What are ways students can create a larger vocabulary at home? ", I think parents have a big influence on their children's vocabulary. I know that a lot of people do a word-of-the-day and I think that could be fun for the children. It could get them involved in picking them, and then they can broaden their vocabulary by doing that simple thing everyday.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1- I think the best way to teach vocabulary is to use word building references by using the vocabulary word in a sentence. When I was in elementary school the best way for me to learn vocabulary words was writing the words down and making a fun way to remember the meaning of the words. I had a word wall in my class rooms all through fifth grade. Those were helpful for spelling tests when I was younger. The game you mentioned, I have never heard before! But it sounds like a great way to learn how to spell- I would love to learn that game!!! It sounds efficient.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your third question "Was there something your teachers did that you felt was a good or bad way to learn vocabulary?" I remember one of the best ways my teachers helped to enhance my vocabulary skills was playing word games. Back in the second grade, my teacher would always allow us to play vocab activities after she had read out loud the literacy book we had to read everday. One of the games that was most beneficial was called "Boggle". It starts with a group of students and each having a pencil and paper. After the game was set up, each of us had to scramble the container of letters and find a word we could find in just 3 minutes.We would write down words we already new and words that we made that turned out to new ones. I thought that was a fun and engaging game to learn new words.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question 3, some ways students can expand their vocabulary is to simply read books at home or in the library near their house. Anytime you read a book, there’s always a new word to learn about. The student can either look the word up in a thesaurus or ask their parents what it means. Another way a student can expand their vocabulary at home is to watch videos or play games on the internet or TV. There are a lot of kid shows that teach elementary aged kids new words and the shows make it fun and enjoyable to learn. The strategies you gave from the book are very helpful for when we will be teachers one day.
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DeleteI'm glad that you included the game of sparkle because I totally forgot about that game. One time, my class was playing sparkle and I spelled coffee wrong when it was my turn. Integrating games like these to learn vocabulary and spelling words is such a good strategy because it is not something that you tend to forget (like in my case). Another strategy that I liked when I was younger was to use the vocab word in a sentence. It really boosted my confidence on knowing the real context behind a word.
ReplyDeleteI really like the game sparkle! Its a game you can play in your classroom, but also a game that the students can play at home with their family to make homework more fun. I think it's also a great way to learn the spelling of a word if you make a mistake in the game. This is just a great game to play anywhere you go. I also really enjoyed learning vocab words in a sentence. When I was younger, i actually enjoyed taking home a vocab list and learning the words. We would take practice tests which I thought were really fun.
DeleteI wanted to answer number 3, Was there something your teachers did that you felt was a good or bad way to learn vocabulary? I remember one of my teachers sending home a list of vocab words we were supposed to memorize whenever we got home and then later on we would be quizzed on it. I remember that I rarely looked at them and didn't do too well on the tests but I also read a lot of books during that time so it wasn't too bad. I feel like just handing students a piece of paper and expecting them to memorize is not good for anyone. If my teacher made it more fun and engaging and the whole class learned together, then I feel like it wouldn't have been so hard.
ReplyDeleteI think that dramatizing is a great way to learn vocab! I think that by hearing the word and knowing how it will be used in a sentence is great way for students to be able to remember the word and get a sense of the meaning too. I think it is also important to make it fun and turn learning vocab words into games. This gets the students engaged and also makes them want to learn and memorize the words.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question one "Which strategy or strategies do you feel are the best when it comes to teaching vocabulary? I believe using Graphic organizers will be a great way to help students. In the reading on page 251 it shows and explains how semantic mapping can help students use a graphic organizer to show the relationships among words. The example in the book was about snakes. The teacher writes the word and ask the class to tell what words come to mind when they think of snakes. Figure 6.1 I think this would be a great way for students to build more meaning and understanding of the words. I think I would also use dramatizing - Using the word in a sentence. In elementary I remember using this to help me study for my word wall test. this will help me know how to use the word in a sentence. It also encourage me to use the word in my writing.
ReplyDeleteReading to our students is probably the best was to broaden then vocabulary. Like you said, they soal up everything they hear and say. Children want to learn, they want to know as much as they possibly can, they want to ask so many questions and they want to know the answers immediately. When need to be educated enough to answer the questions that they are going to have for us, which there will be many. Students may not get read to at home, which is where we have to step up and do reading in class and let students venture out and read on their own. If possible, we need to provide them with books to talk how that could better help them learn different vocabulary terms. When reading, if we struggle, the first thing we do is sound out a word. This is great for if a students is struggling because they are determined to learn the word and by sounded it out, they will.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a word wall in class as well. I always liked it because the words were right there for me to think about all the time, and also because if I needed help spelling it, I could just look right there. "What are ways students can create a larger vocabulary at home? " My parents always used to have us read books that were a little bit too difficult for us so that we could learn new words. I would sit with a parent and if I didn't know a word or didn't understand something, my mom and dad would hand me a dictionary (and then if I still didn't understand, they would try to explain it to me). I still remember, one of the hardest word for me to learn was "juxtapose". I used it all the time after I learned what it meant. I think it's really important for children to have large vocabularies because it helps them be more concise when writing papers, and it also helps them when explaining ideas that are intricate or just have a lot of "moving parts" if you will.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your third question, a method that my teacher used to learn vocabulary would be having spelling tests. For me, this made me panic at times because sometimes I would know what the word meant but I didn't know how to spell it so I would get points taken off because of it. In addition, one of my teachers gave us quizzes that would be short answer so we had to write out the definition for each word. I think this method made it harder for those students whose strongest area was not writing.Verbally saying the definition or matching would have been a better method. A method that I did like that a teacher used was that she would provide us with a sentence and we had to circle the vocabulary word that fit the sentence best. For ELL's, it would be more beneficial for them if they had to match pictures to the vocabulary word they were trying to learn.
ReplyDeleteDo you think there is another or better way to test a child's knowledge on vocabulary words?
ReplyDeleteI know for me in elementary I was always tested through a vocabulary test but I feel like there could be a better way to to test a child knowledge without there actually being a test. I believe playing a game to see where your students knowledge is at can be beneficial. I also believe doing like a spelling packet with different activities can help test a child's knowledge. It's not all about testing students with test and giving them a time limit but by just giving them activities and playing vocab game's with them I feel like it would be more helpful for the students who are big test takers.
Was there something your teachers did that you felt was a good or bad way to learn vocabulary?
ReplyDeleteA couple of things that my teachers did to help me learn vocabulary was let me be creative by writing a story or create a crossword using the spelling words of the week. Although my 10, 11,and 12 year old self didn't much appreciate it at times (Ithink because of some of the words) it helped me to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone to really use the words in the right context. It made me pay attention to words more closely when people were speaking to learn how a word should be use. Doing these things help me to become more confident in my writing and allowed me to delve deeper into vocabulary on my own time. It made reading and writing more interesting to me using these techniques.
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ReplyDeleteI remember my teachers using the spelling game Sparkle too! I remember times where I liked this game because I thought it was fun and I also remember times when I hated it because I didn't like to be put on the spot in fear of getting the wrong answer. To your third question, "Was there something your teachers did that you felt was a good or bad way to learn vocabulary?", yes the game Sparkle in my sixth grade Language Arts class. My teacher had my class playing this game and it was my turn to go, I answered the next letter that I thought was correct. Immediately after I answered the next letter my teacher said "You seriously didn't know the next letter? That one was so easy!". This absolutely crushed me, I was so embarrassed! After this incident, this spelling and vocabulary strategy was a very bad way for me to learn.
ReplyDeleteI remember one of my teachers introduced me to Sparkle. I liked the concept of the game but for some reason I was always the one that was after sparkle so I was always out which meant I never got to participate or practice my spelling. After I was out my teacher didn't have me do anything I would just stand there and watch the other kids play. I wanted to get better at new vocabulary and learning new words but in my opinion that game is not a good way for students to practice their spelling. Maybe just modify it and have the students that are out do another kind of activity with learning new vocabulary so everyone in the classroom is practicing their spelling and learning new things.
ReplyDeleteSome ways that I remember my teachers teaching vocabulary are by pre-tests, having a word wall so we could see the spelling words throughout the week before the test, having review worksheets to use the spelling words and get use to them, and having some of us that were having trouble with the words and on spelling tests work one on one with a helper in the classroom. I think having the helper in the classroom really helped some students do better on the spelling tests.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that ELL students should work in a separate environment other than their classroom so they can do better?
ReplyDeleteNo, I believe that the best way for an ELL student to learn English is by being in the general classroom with their other peers. They don't need to feel isolated and less than just because they are trying to learn a different language. If a student needs some additional attention outside of the classroom then that's fine but don't take out all ELL students.
Some strategies that can help teach vocabulary is activities, books, music, and practice. If they were to read a book that they enjoy it can help them remember the vocabulary that was new to them. Class activities can help as well so that they are engaged because they are having fun and learning at the same time.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your question, “how can students create a larger vocabulary at home?,” I believe that it is important for parents to use bigger words around their child to expand their knowledge on words they already know. For example, using the word “sorrowful” instead of “sad.” Additionally, having a child read a story can be useful in giving them to see how words are pronounced as well as how they are spelled. Some things that my teachers did that I felt were a good way to learn new vocabulary words are having word maps in the classroom and using music for memorization (for example, watching Schoolhouse Rock).
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