Improving students’ vocabulary Presented by Pam Powell
Jan 01, 2016
This cycle shows how we can improve students’ learning outcomes
Plan• Examine the data
•Select a learning focus
Act Implement evidence
based strategies and actions
NoticeObserve student and
teacher learning
ReflectExamine, analyse and
evaluate results
Supporting implementationBuilding capacity
LeadershipFacilitation
We have
chosen vocab
Our learning intention is to investigate some of the elements that will improve students’ use of vocabulary
We will• examine some of the easier elements today because our time is limited
• select one element to improve
• discuss what the explicit teaching of that element might look like
• consider appropriate teaching strategies
• determine a way in which we could measure students’ improvement.
Success criteria Choose one element , plan before and after writing tasks and the teaching strategy you will use to improve the use of vocabulary.
Vocabulary: from the NAPLAN marking guideScore Have you used the best words?
0 You write symbols or drawings.
1 You write a very short piece.You use a few words about the subject.
2 You use mostly simple words.You include 3 precise words or word groups.
3 You write 4 or more precise words or word groups.
4 You use precise words and word groups that add to the meaning throughout your writing.
5 You use a range of precise and effective words and word groups in a fluent and articulate manner.You match your choice of words to the style of the argument.
For more information about simple and precise words see the next slide
What are simple or precise wordsSimple words and word groups• single nouns
water, award, house, reason• noun groups
a very helpful person, a tin cage• single verbs
like, run, look, need, think, played• adjectives and adverbs
cold, always, really, very, friendly• simple comparisons
as much as she can … one of the fastest …
Precise words and word groups• single precise words
citizen, budget, consider, solution, supportive, research
• modal verbs and adjectivesultimate, certain, possibly, definitely
• precise word groupsduty of care, positive impact on society
• modal groupsit would seem that, it is unlikely that
• technical terms (depend on the topic)habitat, life expectancy, global warming, financial crisis
• nominalisationsprobability, likelihood, conservation, short sightedness
• literary devicese.g. alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification
Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5
Understand the use of vocabulary in everyday contexts as well as a growing number of school contexts, including appropriate use of formal and informal terms of address in different contexts
Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose
Learn extended and technical vocabulary and ways of expressing opinion including modal verbs and adverbs
Incorporate new vocabulary from a range of sources into students’ own texts including vocabulary encountered in research
Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that words can have different meanings in different contexts
Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10
Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion
Investigate vocabulary typical of extended and more academic texts and the role of abstract nouns, classification, description and generalisation in building specialised knowledge through language
Recognise that vocabulary choices contribute to the specificity, abstraction and style of texts
Identify how vocabulary choices contribute to specificity, abstraction and stylistic effectiveness
Refine vocabulary choices to discriminate between shades of meaning, with deliberate attention to the effect on audiences
From the language strand: expressing and developing ideas
Vocabulary The meanings of words including everyday and specialist meanings and how words take their meanings from the context of the text.
What does the curriculum say about explicit teaching?
Highlight the key ideas that will inform your explicit teaching of vocabulary
Evaluative language
Expressing attitudes• Describing emotions and how people feel (affect)
e.g. The children are very upset.
• Evaluating the worth and quality of things and processes (appreciation)
e.g. What a lovely film!
• Make judgements about people’s behaviour (judgement)e.g. She is such a cheat when playing games.
Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion. Year 6
Adjusting strength
Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning ... Year 5
We can boost or lower the strength of our messages
I’m worried.• We can add an intensifier.
I’m really worried.• Or we can lower the intensity
I’m a bit worried.
We can increase or decrease the force of a message by using• adverbs
I’m feeling slightly sick.• adjectives
You’re a complete fool.• nouns
What a stink!•Verbs
I adore strawberries.
Action verbsWhen we consider what is happening in a text, we can ask what actions are taking place? Much of our experience consists of physical activity. We find action verbs in procedures, recounts and narratives .
Common action verbsblow buy come do drive
eat fly get give live
limp make play roam rub
run shake slip take work
Saying verbs
Saying verbs
ask deny plead respond stammer
claim explain promise say suggest
continue imply reply scream tell
cry murmur report shout whisper
Sensing verbs – includes thinking verbs
Thinking Feeling and wanting
Perceiving
know decide like see
reflect consider hate taste
comprehend recall dislike hear
believe hypothesise want smell
imagine wonder wish observe
forget understand need notice
remember assume fear Sense
recollect recognise enjoy
realise infer
Bev Derewianka uses sensing verbs to reflect processes of our ‘internal world’. They are mostly used to describe what people think, feel, desire and perceive.
Relating verbsSome verbs do not represent actions, speaking, thoughts or feelings. Their job is to link two pieces of information. E.g. Alice was now more than nine feet tall.
being having
am, is, are represent have, has, had
was, were remain possess
mean is called own
become equal include
turn into symbolise comprise
seem appear lack
encompass
Try this activity
“No!” he said and left the room.
See how many precise words you can use to substitute for the simple words shown in bold.
You might like to act out your best sentence.
Teaching strategy: make some word clinesMake a feeling cline for negative feelingsMake a list of all the words you can think of that describe negative feelings, then put them into a ladder going from the least to most.See example below.
Repeat the same activity with positive feelings.
distraught
sad
unhappyLeast negativefeeling
Most negative feeling
Modality
High modality Medium modality Low modality
must will may
ought to should might
shall can could
has to need to would
definitely probably possibly
absolutely presumably perhaps
certainly in all probability maybe
positively presumably arguably
undoubtedly apparently allegedly
surely seemingly
Modals give us information about the degree of certainty involved in the action. We use low modality if we feel tentative about something e.g.
It might rain tomorrow.We use high modality to express a high degree of certainty e.g.
It must be right.
Strategies for improving vocabulary
This graphic organizer helps students to learn new vocabulary by not only defining the term in their own words, but contextualizing it through authentic examples and visual representation.www.fcrr.org/curriculum/PDF/G4-5/45VPartThree.pdfor google - student center activities vocabulary - for many activities from kindergarten to grade 5 and above
Word sorts can be useful, too Science word sortdissolve inquiry soluble
insoluble procedure investigation
hypothesis experiment substances
method evaluate science
compare conducting demonstrate
equipment safety question
planning evaluate results
variables materials prediction
Teacher sortFind all the words that . . .
Student sortFind all the words that . . .
Guess my sortOne person highlights a group of words.The others have to guess why the words have been chosen.What do the words have in common?
Plan with the end in mind – Decide what evidence will indicate student improvement.
• How will we find out what our students know already?
• How will we keep records of students’ work as they learn about vocabulary?
• How will we show what our students have learned?
• How will we measure improvement?
Determine teacher learning required to address the area of student need.
• precise and simple words?• evaluative language?• action verbs?• saying verbs?• sensing verbs?• relating verbs?• modality?• noun groups?
Which elements will we focus on?
What do we need to learn before we can improve all elements of vocabulary mentioned in the Australian Curriculum?