MO 3:Vocabulary Practice and Discussion

John B. Coffey

University of Kansas

C&T740
 2

MO 3: Vocabulary Practice and Discussion

The following discussion examines Graves four components of vocabulary and

their use within my classroom.

Provisions for rich and varied language experiences

I teach fifth grade, so I am fortunate that most of my students are able to read

fluently on their own; however, as a teacher, I think I have become a bit complacent

about providing varied reading experiences for my students.

Thus, I used this weeks assignment to try a new experience for this years class. I

decided to print out copies of the Greek myth The Minotaur from the website Storynory.

Normally, we would read such a story as a class, but Graves reminded me that even the

older students need to be exposed to professional readings. It allowed them to focus on

the content rather than worry about who was going to read next.

I think the results were very positive. My students were able to hear the

words clearly, including the complex words and unique vocabulary: labyrinth, intervals,

marooned, architect, and many more. I would use this technique again because the kids

enjoyed the variety, and their responses to my follow-up assessment were more accurate

and detailed.

Instruction in individual words:

This aspect of Graves four components has always been the hardest for me. As

noted in the Zaption presentation about Emergent Literacy, students across the United

States are not learning enough words in the classroom. They need to be learning a couple

thousand each year, yet educators are only providing them with a fraction of this number.

I could easily blame our districts curriculum because vocabulary is clearly not a
 3

priority; however, I have often struggled with an alternative. Should I teach, testing

vocabulary? Should I teach vocabulary from a fifth-grade list off the Internet? Should I

just ignore the issue and hope students glean enough words from their daily readings in

math, reading, science, and social studies? Tough choices, especially since these words

need to be shown in context as well.

After reading Graves recommendations on this subject, I decided on Tuesday to

focus the Academic Word List provided in this module. It makes sense because

students will use these words all the time, and I can find examples to show them in

context. I also love the fact that the headwords can be expanded to include over 3,000

words altogether.

I gave the first 10 words to the kids on Tuesday. We practiced them this week and

used them in a variety of activities, games, and assignments, including many Kagan

Cooperative Learning activities; however, it is still too early to see the full effects of this

paradigm shift in vocabulary.

I have decided to focus on individual words from our stories as well because I

want to ensure that my students are introduced to more of the Tier II and Tier III words.

When we listened to Storynory, I had the kids focus on ten of the words I underlined in

the text, including labyrinth, intervals, marooned, and architect. I am going to try and

balance some of these words with the ones I am pulling from the Academic Word List.

It is also too early to tell if this model will be successful in the classroom.

Yes, the kids aced their assessments and did well in our activities, but I will not judge my

instruction as successful, unless my students are using these words in the weeks ahead. I

hope to sustain our progress this week by recycling the words through weekly
 4

assignments and morning work. The words will also be kept on our Word Wall as a

reminder, although space is limited.

Instruction in word-learning strategies

I think that Graves thoughts on word-learning strategies were acute. We cannot

expect students to memorize 2,000-3,000 words a year, especially since we have so many

other things to do; however, I do agree with him that students will benefit greatly from

learning the 40 prefixes and suffixes listed in this module.

We were already starting to learn some of the prefixes and suffixes before

this assignment, but I tried new strategies with them this week to help them remember

and use them. Initially, I tried Flocabulary, but I could not find a module on word parts,

so I had to abandoned it; however, on Wednesday, I gave half the class prefix cards and

the other half root word cards. We did a modified quiz-quiz-trade, where students

rotated around the room, paired-up, matched their prefix and root cards, and wrote down

their new words with definitions from the dictionary. Once we got going, the kids really

enjoyed using a combination of skills to discover new words. We then came back

together and shared our new words.

Yes, I would use this strategy again. Next time, I may do the suffixes. The kids

really enjoyed moving around the classroom and working together. Of course, the

expectations for this activity had to be clear, but it worked well. The kids learned new

words, used word-building skills, and utilized our large collection of dictionaries.

I also gave the kids an exercise this week in the use of a thesaurus. I

introduced them to one of my favorite books: Banish Boring Words. We are going to be

using it to retire overused words in our classroom. Yes, I feel a tad awkward censoring
 5

words, but it is for the good of my students. Thus, the words like and said cannot be

used in writing assignments. Instead, the kids must find alternatives for these words in the

thesauruses I gave them. I am excited to see how this will change their

writing/vocabulary.

Fostering word consciousness

The last component of Graves program is word consciousness, which

may be the most important. I do not think that many of our greatest writers and speakers

sat around practicing prefixes. For example, Lincoln had barely any formal education, but

he loved books and he marveled over their words.

This week I gave my kids their annual vocabulary booklet. During the

year, they have to fill the book with 500 special vocabulary words; words they do not

readily recognize and are challenging. Each week I will challenge them to find words

from certain fields/topics, as noted in this module. For example, next week I may tell

them to focus on scientific words. The following week I may choose slang. Each week

will be different, but the purpose will remain consistent: discover new words.

These words can be from books, class videos, oral conversation, or

other resources. They must write the words clearly, cite their source (where they

heard/saw the words, write a definition, write a sentence, and draw a picture. They are

free to work on the booklet as they see fit, but they must be making progress: ten words a

week. The kids seemed very excited about their task and started writing

words immediately from their chapter books. This enthusiasm continued throughout the

week; however, I did have to remind a few students that the words must be challenging

words, rather than common words such as chicken or fight.

 6

As with the other concepts I introduced this week, I am sue this one will

require reflection and modification, but overall I am pleased with the beginning. As we

continue, I want each kid to share one word a week with the class. These words will be

placed above our whiteboard for all to see, so we can celebrate them.