69传媒

Opinion
69传媒 & Literacy Opinion

Teaching Vocabulary Takes More Than Just Talking About Words During Read-Aloud

By Brittany Oakley 鈥 July 10, 2019 3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

鈥淭here just isn鈥檛 enough time in the day to teach everything our students need to know.鈥 This is a common refrain among teachers, especially in elementary grades where we are required to teach content from all subject areas. That time squeeze causes some of us to ignore important components of literacy. Explicit vocabulary instruction is one of them. But we鈥檝e got to find ways to stop ignoring it. Academic vocabulary is , so it鈥檚 definitely something we should not be overlooking.

I鈥檝e been working on my master鈥檚 degree in curriculum and instruction. Part of that work has been researching the components of effective vocabulary instruction, which has given me some great ideas for reorienting my own teaching.

As teachers, we have some misconceptions about vocabulary. Many of us think, 鈥淚f I discuss the target words during our read-aloud, I鈥檝e effectively taught new vocabulary!鈥 But that鈥檚 not true. Research shows that effective vocabulary instruction requires an . This means that we need to incorporate many opportunities throughout the day to help students retain this new information. Hearing words during a read-aloud is just not enough. We also need to make sure our students get repeated exposure to vocabulary words across different texts, repeatedly, over time.

In my 1st grade classroom, I use our read-alouds to introduce our weekly vocabulary words. Before reading, I pre-select five to seven words from the text that students really need to fully comprehend the text. I write the words on an anchor chart along with student-friendly definitions.

Next, I model application by using the words in sentences orally. I then ask students to turn and talk with a partner to come up with their own. During the reading, I make sure to stop and notice how the target words are used in the text. After reading, we reflect on what we read, and I make a point to give praise when students use a vocabulary word in their reflections.

I include target vocabulary words in every guided reading group. Doing so may take 30 seconds, or 10 minutes. Some days I ask students to create silly sentences. Other days, we read a poem or listen to a song. Just do something to include vocabulary instruction during guided reading! More interaction with the target words will help students to recall and apply them in the future.

Strategies for Determining Meaning

I try to use our words across content areas as well. My students are always delighted when I refer to our literacy anchor chart during math lessons. I make sure to keep my chart visible throughout the week so students can include words during writing, or when talking with their peers.

Teaching vocabulary strategies is another component of my vocabulary instruction. In whole and small groups, I explicitly model what I do when I am reading and come across an unfamiliar word. One strategy that is beneficial for text comprehension is using context clues. If I get stuck on a word that I don鈥檛 know the meaning of, I just skip over it and read the rest of the sentence. If that is still not helpful, I may read the sentence before and after to see if that helps me make sense of it.

Another strategy I use is teaching students : how words are formed. For example, the prefix bi- means 鈥渢wo.鈥 In the word 鈥渂ilingual,鈥 it means 鈥渦sing or knowing two languages.鈥 If students come across a word they鈥檙e aren鈥檛 familiar with, but they can identify parts of the word, this can help them to understand its meaning. This strategy is typically used more often in upper elementary, but I鈥檝e found it helpful with my 1st graders.

Vocabulary acquisition can take time and patience, but it鈥檚 essential that students acquire the skills and strategies to independently interpret the meaning of texts. Most students don鈥檛 come into the classroom with a robust vocabulary, so it鈥檚 up to us to help them develop one.

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

69传媒 & Literacy Opinion Boys Don't Love to Read. Could This Former Teacher Be on to Something?
Boys are falling behind in reading. Books with military-history themes may help reverse this trend.
7 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
69传媒 & Literacy Is Handwriting a Lost Art? What One College鈥檚 Kerfuffle Over Cursive Can Tell Us
Since 2014, there鈥檚 been a resurgence of cursive and handwriting education.
6 min read
A photograph of a close up of cursive handwriting that is undecipherable
E+
69传媒 & Literacy Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Student Literacy Data?
Answer 7 questions about the importance of student literacy data and how to collect and use it.
69传媒 & Literacy 69传媒 Interventions for Older 69传媒 May Be Missing a Key Component
Many older elementary and middle school students still struggle with foundational reading skills.
6 min read
An illustration of a high school student looking in to an open book with black, gray, and red letters circling about around him.
iStock/Getty