Teaching word meanings should be a way for students to define their world, to move from light to dark, to a more fine-grained description of the colors.

Teaching word meanings should be a way for students to define their world, to move from light to dark, to a more fine-grained description of the colors that surround us.

A RATIONALE DIRECTLY ADDRESSING VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Successful comprehension is, in some significant part, dependent on the reader's knowledge of word meanings in a given passage. Baker,

Simmons, and Kame'enui1state, "The relation between reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge is strong and unequivocal.

Although the causal direction of the relation is not understood clearly, there is evidence that the relationship is largely reciprocal

" The good news for teachers from research in vocabulary development is that vocabulary

instruction does improve reading comprehension. However, not all approaches to

teaching word meanings improve comprehension. This essay will describe some of the most practical and effective strategies that teachers can employ with diverse learners to

enhance vocabulary development and increase reading comprehension.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK?There are a number of traditional teaching practices related to vocabulary that deserve to be left in the "instructional dustbin." The key weakness in all of these practices is the limited or rote interaction students have with the new word/concept. Let us quickly review the most common of these less effective approaches.

*Look them up. Certainly dictionaries have their place, especially during writing, but the act of looking up a word

and copying a definition is not likely to result in vocabulary learning (especially if there are long lists of unrelated words to look up and for which to copy the definitions).

*Use them in a sentence. Writing sentences with new vocabulary AFTER some understanding of the word is helpful; however to assign this task before the study of word meaning is of little value.

*Use context. There is little research to suggest that context is a very reliable source of learning word meanings. Nagy3 found that students reading at grade level had about a one twentieth chance of learning the meaning of a word from context. This, of course, is not to say that context is unimportant but that students need a broader range of instructional guidance than the exhortation "Use context."

*Memorize definitions. Rote learning of word meanings is likely to results, at best, in the ability to parrot back

what is not clearly understood.

The common shortcoming in all of these less effective approaches is the lack of active student involvement in connecting the new concept/meaning to their existing knowledge base. Vocabulary learning, like most other learning, must be based on the learner's active engagement in constructing understanding, not simply on passive re-presenting of information from a text or lecture.

WHAT DOES WORK?Reviewing the research literature on vocabulary instruction leads to the conclusion that there is no single best strategy to teach word meanings but that all effective strategies require students to go beyond the definitional and forge connections between the new and the known. Nagy3 summarizes the research on effective vocabulary teaching as coming down to three critical notions:1. Integration—connecting new vocabulary to prior knowledge2. Repetition—encountering/using the word/concept many times3. Meaningful use—multiple opportunities to use new words in reading, writing and soon discussion.The following section will explore some practical strategies that secondary teachers can employ to increase the integration, repetition, and meaningful use of new vocabulary.

Increase the Amount of Independent Reading

The largest influence on students' vocabulary is the sheer volume of reading they do, especially wide reading that includes a rich variety of texts. This presents a particularly difficult challenge for students who

lack the reading habit. The following strategies can help motivate reluctant readers:

1. Matching text difficulty to student reading level and personal interests (e.g. using the Lexile system)

2. Reading incentive programs that include taking quizzes on books read (e.g., Accelerated Reader, Reading Counts)

3. Regular discussion, such as literature circles, book clubs, quick reviews, of what students are reading

4. Setting weekly/individual goals for reading volume

5. Adding more structure to Sustained Silent Reading by including a 5-minute quick-write at the end of the reading period, then randomly

selecting three or four papers to read/grade to increase student accountability.

Select the Most Important Words to TeachStudents with weak lexical skills are likely to view all new words as equally challenging and important, so it is imperative for the teacher to point out those words that are truly vital to a secondary student's academic vocabulary base. Unfortunately, teachers who gravitated toward English instruction, in great part out of a passion for language and literature, may find all words of equal merit and devote too much instructional time to interesting and unusual, yet low-frequency, words, that a less prepared reader is unlikely to encounter ever again. This lexical accessorizing is overwhelming to a reader who may be striving simply to get the gist of a novel, and it proves to be even more daunting as the student attempts to study a litany of unfamiliar terms. Graves and Graves4 make a helpful distinction between teaching vocabulary and teaching concepts. Teaching vocabulary is teaching new labels / finer distinctions for familiar concepts. In contrast, teaching concepts involves introducing students to new ideas / notions / theories / and so on that require significantly more instruction to build real understanding. Teachers can get more out of direct vocabulary work by selecting words carefully. More time-consuming and complex strategies are best saved for conceptually challenging words, while relatively expedient strategies can assist students in learning new labels or drawing finer-grained distinctions around known concepts. Making wise choices about which words to teach directly, how much time to take, and when enough is enough is essential to vocabulary building.

Tips for selecting words:

Distinguish between words that simply label concepts students know and new words that represent new concepts.

Ask yourself, "Is this concept / word generative? Will knowing it lead to important learning in other lessons / texts / units?"

Be cautious to not "accessorize" vocabulary (e.g., spend too much time going over many clever adjectives that are very story specific and not likely to occur frequently). Rather, focus attention on critical academic vocabulary that is essential to understanding the big ideas in a text (e.g., prejudicial: As students learn the meanings of pre- and judge, they can connect to other concepts they know, such as "unfair.")

Teachers:

Brief Strategies for Vocabulary Development Words that are new to students but represent familiar concepts can be addressed using a number of relatively quick instructional tactics. Many of these (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, examples) are optimal for prereading and oral reading, which call for more expedient approaches.1. Teach synonyms. Provide a synonym students know, (e.g., link stringent to the known word strict).2. Teach antonyms. Not all words have antonyms, but thinking about for those that do, opposite requires their students to evaluate the critical attributes of the words in question.3. Paraphrase definitions. Requiring students to use their own words increases connection making and provides the teacher with useful informal assessment—"Do they really get it?"4. Provide examples. The more personalized the better. An example for the new word egregious might be Ms. Kinsella's 110-page reading assignment was egregious indeed!5. Provide nonexamples. Similar to using antonyms, providing non-examples requires students to evaluate a word's attributes. Invite students to explain why it is not an example.6. Ask for sentences that "show you know." Students construct novel sentences confirming their understanding of a new word, using more than one new word per sentence to show that connections can also be useful.7. Teach word sorting. Provide a list of vocabulary words from a reading selection and have students sort them into various categories (e.g., parts of speech, branches of government). Students can re-sort words into "guess my sort" using categories of their own choosing.

List-Group-LabelThis is a form of structured brainstorming designed to help students identify what they know about a concept and the words related to the concept while provoking a degree of analysis and critical thinking. These are the directions to

students:1. Think of all the words related to ______. (a key "big

idea" in the text)2. Group the words listed by some shared characteristics

or commonalties.3. Decide on a label for each group.

4. Try to add words to the categories on the organized lists.

Working in small groups or pairs, each group shares with the class its method of categorization and the thinking behind its

choices, while adding words from other class members. Teachers can extend this activity by having students convert their organized concepts into a Semantic Map which a visual

expression of their thinking.List-group-label is an excellent pre reading activity to build on

prior knowledge, introduce critical concepts, and ensure attention during selection reading.

Common Latin and Greek Roots (Stahl)

Root Meaning Origin Examples

-aud- hear Latin audio, audition

-astro- star Greek astrology, astronaut

-bio- life Greek biography, biology

-dict- speak, tell Latin dictate, predict

-geo- earth Greek geology, geography

-meter- measure Greek thermometer

-min- small, little Latin minimize, minimum

-port- carry Latin transport, portable

-phono- sound Greek microphone

-duc(t)- lead Latin deduct, produce, educate

Tips for Word Study of Latin and Greek Roots

1. Highlight Greek and Latin roots as they come up in your readings—briefly for less important words and in more depth for essential concepts.

2. Associate the new word derived from a root with more generally known words in the students' lexicon. Visual organizers can be helpful.

3. Encourage students to look for additional words that share the newly learned root in their independent reading and reading in other content classes.

4. Encourage students to use words containing newly learned roots in their writing, conversations, or discussions.

SUMMARYIn sum, there are countless additional strategies that

teachers can employ to assist students in building their vocabularies. However, it is essential to keep in mind that

promoting extensive reading, carefully selecting which words to teach quickly and which to teach extensively, and

choosing strategies that help students make cognitive connections between the new and the known are at the heart of effective vocabulary building. Last, the more

intangible notion of taking delight in the world of words, modeling one's own love of language, pushing the "lexical

envelope" is less subject to research study but nonetheless certainly worthy of consideration.

My point of view about vocabulary• In my picture of view:

• you should pass 3 Stages to learn vocabulary skills better:

• 1-you should alter your passive new words into active by practice

• 2-after that you should learn new structures to make sentences…

• 3-at last you should write an essay and analyze it by http:/paperrater.com/

• After these three steps you can be a good student in vocabulary.