STUDY GROUP

SESSION 1
F O C U S L E S S O N S A N D VO C A B U L A RY I N S T R U C T I O N
 SURVEY RESULTS

Focus Lesson Grows:

74% of teachers said that they are only sometimes able
to differentiate during focus lessons
77% of teachers want strategies to help them use
differentiation during their focus lessons
Vocabulary Instruction Grows:
77% of teachers said that their vocabulary instruction is
only sometimes able to meet the needs of their English
Learners.
74% said they need strategies to support their ELs in
vocabulary.
 REFLECT & DISCUSS

Do these results surprise you?

What are we currently doing in first and second

grade? What are our barriers?

What next steps can we take to make sure that

we are differentiating and providing vocabulary
instruction for students?
 EFFECTIVE FOCUS LESSONS

Build background
knowledge
Provide explicit
instruction and
modeling
Use guided practice
and peer practice
Have some type of
assessment and
reflection
 DIFFERENTIATION FOR ELLS
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
When teaching content, ELLs have an especially
hard challenge. They need to learn language and
content at the same time.
ELLs can struggle in content-areas because they
haven't acquired the literacy, language skills, or
background knowledge that they need to master
new content.
 VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION FOR ELLS
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The vocabulary gap between English learners and
native English speakers is substantial because
English learners do not know many of the simpler
words or conversational words that native English
speakers acquire before they enter school or
learn in school without explicit teaching.

(Gersten et al., 2007)

 BRINGING WORDS TO LIFE

Tiers of Word Knowledge:

Tier 1: The most basic words that rarely require
instruction in school (ex: clock, baby).
Tier 2: Higher frequency words that are found
over multiple domains (ex: coincidence,
fortunate). Productive to teach.
Tier 3: Low frequency and usually limited to one
domain (ex: peninsula, refinery). Best learned for
a specific need.
(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)
WHICH SHOULD WE EXPLICITLY TEACH?

Should be Tier 2 words.

Choose words that will appear in a wide variety of
texts.
Be able to explain the meaning of the words using
words that the students already know.
When choosing from a text, choose the words
which would be most beneficial in helping them
understand the story.

(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)

 NOW WHAT?

1. We will read the excerpt from Chapter 4 in

Bringing Words to Life.
2. Discuss.
3. Use what we have learned to plan a lesson with
a partner.
 NEXT STEPS

Decide on a time to do this lesson in your

classroom.
Take anecdotal notes: What worked? What didnt?
We will come back and reflect on the lesson.

Possible Next Discussion:

How could we take the vocabulary instruction
further?
How can we assess that the students are learning
the new words?
Plan next meeting date and time.
 REFERENCES
Gersten, R., Baker, S.K., Shanahan, T., Linan-Thompson, S., Collins, P., & Scarcella, R.
(2007). Effective literacy and english language instruction for english learners in
the Elementary Grades: a practice guide (NCEE 2007-4011). Washington, DC:
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://
ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/20074011.pdf.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., Kucan, L., (2002). Bringing words to life: robust vocabulary
instruction. New York: The Guilford Press.