Olympia High School SIP Day – January 12, 2007 Background Knowledge and Vocabulary Acquisition.
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Olympia High SchoolSIP Day – January 12, 2007
Background Knowledge and Vocabulary Acquisition
School Improvement Team
Chris Embry Mohr Ruth McCartney Susan Mullen Connie Schroeder Beth Smith Robin Staudenmeier Lance Thurman
2003/2004
Articles on improving reading in high schools have been distributed and discussed.
Round table discussions on reading, reading strategies being used currently, and how to improve reading at OHS. A reading research committee was developed to make recommendations to OHS faculty as to the steps to be taken to improve reading at OHS.
The recommendation of three initiatives to implement:
Sustained Silent Reading Program Enhance library of non-textbook,
content related reading materials Training for reading strategies
2004/2005
Who: All sophomores and juniors What: Sustained Silent Reading twice per week When: Program begins on Monday, Sept. 13th
taking place on Monday and Wednesday during advisory time.
How: Reading materials driven by student choice – brought from home or from the OHS library.
Why: To develop greater motivation and an appreciation for reading.
2005/2006 Sustained Silent Reading All
grades once a week Development of book clubs Restructuring of NCA Team and process Begin Research of reading in content areas
2006/2007
Rewrite SIP plan to focus only on reading
Focus of research leads to information on background knowledge and essential vocabulary
SIP training on essential vocabulary Site visit from NCA
Cause for Alarm Approximately 32 percent of high school graduates are not ready
for college level English composition courses (ACT, 2005).
Approximately 40 percent of high school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek (Achieve, Inc., 2005).
Between 1996 and 2006, the average literacy required for all American occupations is projected to rise by 14 percent.
Both dropouts and high school graduates are demonstrating significantly worse reading skills than ten years ago (NCES, 2005).
A Student’s ability to learn new content is dependent on:
The skill of the teacher The interest of the student The complexity of the content The student’s Background Knowledge
The Importance of Background KnowledgeThere is a strong correlation between a
person’s background knowledge of a topic and the extent to which a person learns new
information on the topic.
Knowledge is power!
The research strongly suggests that teaching vocabulary is synonymous with teaching
background knowledge.
Why teach vocabulary? Increasing demands for higher levels
of literacy in the workforce require that we do better than we have ever done before in teaching all children to read.
Perhaps the biggest misconception is that teaching vocabulary means teaching dictionary definitions.
So Many Words, So Little Time! Vocabulary knowledge accounts for over 80% of the
variance in reading comprehension scores at grade level. Research shows that most students need to encounter a word at least
12 times before they know it well enough to improve comprehension.
Researchers estimate that students learn an average of 3,000 words per year, or 8 words a day, but some learn as few as 2 a day.
Adequate reading comprehension depends on a student already knowing 90-95% of the words in a text.
Another study found that children from advantaged homes knew five times the amount of words as children from disadvantaged homes. High School Seniors near the top of their class knew about four times as many words as their low performing classmates.
What is a word?Idea
Idea
The words we know, are tags or labels for our packets of knowledge.
Idea
The Traditional concept of vocabulary has been artificially limited in its scope.
Idea
The more words we have, the more packets of knowledge, and the more background knowledge we have.
Idea
A word does not refer to a single object, but to a group or to a class of objects.
School Improvement Timeline 2007 Background Knowledge/Vocabulary
2007-08 Summarizing
2008-09 Connecting
2009-2010 Inferring
Which list of words or phrases is most likely to help students at Olympia be
successful?
honor, responsibility, loyalty mass, endothermic reaction, ecosystem government, geography, music sex, sex, MySpace.com
Impact of Direct Vocabulary Instruction
50
62
83
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
None Vocabulary ContentRelated
Do you agree with this statement?
The best way to improve vocabulary is through wide reading.
A textbook example…
What the research supports
To learn a word requires anywhere from 6 to 10 exposures to the word in context.
Low density texts provide a 30% chance of students learning words in context
High density texts provide a 7% chance of learning words in context.
A student with a high degree of background knowledge has a greater chance of learning a new word in context then a student with a lower degree.
Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction
1. Effective vocabulary instruction does not rely on definitions
How do you typically teach new vocabulary?
Teacher provides or has students look up a definition in a dictionary.
Student writes the definition Student uses the new word in a sentence to
demonstrate the understanding
Base: The expression that is used as a factor in repeated multiplication.
Does this description of the term help?
Pictures can demonstrate deep understanding.
Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction
1. Effective vocabulary instruction does not rely on definitions
2. Students must represent their knowledge of words in linguistic and non-linguistic ways
What the research shows
For information to be placed in permanent memory, it must be dual-coded: linguistic and non-linguistic
Non-linguistic approaches produce a gain of – 37 percentile points higher than by having
students review definitions– 21 percentile points higher than having students
generate their own sentences
Types of Non-linguistic Representations
Draw the actual thing
Draw a symbol
Draw an example
Represent with graphics
Dramatize the term
Teaching Students to Write Descriptions and Draw Images
It’s going to be slow at first…..
Pick one of these terms and try describe it and draw it
English: context clue Science: control Business: compound interest Math: variable expression PE: range of motion Health: osteoporosis Music: pitch Visual Arts: negative space Civics: self-evident truths
Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction
1. Effective vocabulary instruction does not rely on definitions
2. Students must represent their knowledge of words in linguistic and non-linguistic ways
3. Effective Vocabulary instruction involves the gradual shaping of meanings through multiple exposures
What the research shows
Multiple exposures => full and flexible knowledge
During repeated exposures learning is enhanced if the students interact with vocabulary in a variety of ways– Description– Non-linguistic representation– Identify similarities and differences
Ways to Identify Similarities and Differences
Compare (and contrast) Classify Create Metaphors Create Analogies
Compare and Contrast
Classifying
Helps students better understand the content that is classified and helps them see the
content in different ways
Talk a Mile-a-Minute
Things Associated with Outer Space
SunOrbitsMars
VenusSaturnGalaxyMeteorsStar Trek
Artists
Vincent Van Gogh
Michelangelo
Picasso
Leonardo da Vinci
Monet Rembrandt
Andy Warhol
Charles Schultz
Parts of Speech
NounVerb
AdjectivePrepositionConjunction
AdverbPronoun
Expletives
Creating Metaphors
Metaphor activities help students better understand the abstract features of a concept by identifying the general principles or basic patterns that are shared between terms that are not
related literally.
Creating MetaphorsComponents of the Cell
Term General Description
Metaphor
Components of the Cell
Factory
Nucleus contains the DNA and the coded instructions
Supervisor
Ribosomes Assemble proteins Workers on the line
Components of the CellTerm General Description Metaphor
Components of the Cell
Factory
Golgi Apparatus Modify, sort, and package substances for storage or export
Mail sorter
Lysosomes Filled with enzymes that digest substances
Garbage man or janitor
Analogies (a is to b as c is to d)
Analogical thinking is perhaps the most complex activity involving similarities and differences and requires in-depth analysis
of the content.
One term missing
Bone is to skeleton as word is to _______. Inch is to foot as millimeter is to _______. Martin Luther King Jr. is to civil rights as
______ is to women’s rights.
Two Terms Missing
Harry Truman is to World War II as _____ is to _____.
Rhythm is to music as _____ is to _____. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is to
Native Americans as ______ is to _____.
Analogy Graphic
Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction
4. Teaching Word parts enhances student’s understanding of terms
– Helps students figure out words for themselves
– Not the best strategy for new learners
Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction
4. Teaching Word parts enhances student’s understanding of terms
5. Different types of words require different types of instructions
6. Students should discuss the terms they are using
7. Students should play with words
Word Play
Use as sponge activities Research
– Games provide manageable challenges– Arouse curiosity– Arouse fantasy
Characteristics of Effective Direct Vocabulary Instruction
4. Teaching Word parts enhances student’s understanding of terms
5. Different types of words require different types of instructions
6. Students should discuss the terms they are using7. Students should play with words8. Instruction should focus on terms that have a
high probability of enhancing academic success – word frequency is not the guide
Where Do We Go From Here?
Identification of 25 – 30 essential terms per course especially in grade 9 and 10 courses
Spring semester– Classroom goals – Department goals
Faculty meeting updates Next years’ goals
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