I read the article by Blachowitz & Fisher andthe article by Lane & Allen. Both articles highlighted the importance of vocabulary in regards to reading and functioning in society. They also both discussed the difference in vocabulary exposure and retention according to socioeconomic status (SES). Children from higher SES tend to be exposed to more vocabulary on a daily bases than do children from lower SES. I found this disheartening, yet the readings went on to say that if a teacher incorporates effective vocabulary instruction in the classroom, this gap can be eliminated so that all children in the class have the same vocabulary exposure and knowledge.
Blachowitz & Fisher (2004) discussed a teaching method for vocabulary called STAR: select, teach, activate, revisit. Lane & Allen (2010) really focused on the "select" stage of STAR. They said that vocabulary is broken into tiers and that the most useful vocabulary to teach are words that children will encounter in everyday life. Blachowitz & Fisher did a great job of explaining how to teach, activate, and revisit words. Teaching a word could consist of letting children hypothesize about the meaning, use context clues to discover meaning, or using a dictionary. Activating would include a writing assignment or some form of assignment where the children must use the words appropriately. The revisiting stage allows the students to once more reinforce the meaning of words in their memory. By encouraging them to use all the vocabulary words in a summary, it allows the children to express their knowledge and apply personal meaning to the word as well.
Another great way to teach vocabulary is to encourage children to use dictionaries. I saw this firsthand in a second grade classroom. One student did not know the meaning of a word, so several classmates offered to help him discover the meaning of a word. Instead of going to the teacher, the students went straight for the dictionaries. One child got the dictionary and opened to the word in question. The other three classmates circled around to read the definition and then discussed what they thought the word meant.
How might you teach vocabulary in your classroom?
Put vocabulary words on the wall and allow children to use a dictionary or personal experience to attach synonyms to the vocabulary words. This will expand your classrooms vocabulary!
I love this synonym word wall. It's such a great idea because the students can use it in an interactive way. They could just walk up to the wall and pull out a word then take it to their desk to use for writing. I'll totally use this is my classroom someday!
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