Vocabulary

Fabulous Five Topic Vocabulary

  • Nov. 15, 2024, 11:39 a.m.
Using this table, students select the 5 most important words related to the central idea. They write a sentence explaining the importance of the word. As an extension, students revise the sentence to create a complex or compound sentence that elaborates on the original sentence idea.

Guess in 10 Directions

  • Nov. 15, 2024, 10:06 a.m.
A game designed to help young children develop critical thinking and conclusion-drawing skills while learning about animals, places, or other topics.

The Educator's Playbook-Vocabulary Instruction

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 4:11 p.m.
The Educator's Playbook for Vocabulary Instruction is a comprehensive resource designed to provide teachers with strategies and techniques to support vocabulary development in their students. In the playbook, teachers will find a variety of direct and indirect instructional methods. Each strategy is tailored to specific student needs, from activating prior knowledge to synthesizing new learning and using vocabulary in writing and discussions.

Using Anticipation Guides

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 4:09 p.m.
The purpose of an anticipation guide is to activate students' prior knowledge and engage them with key vocabulary and concepts before reading a text. This strategy is particularly helpful for struggling learners, as it provides a structured way to preview important terms and ideas, allowing them to approach the reading with a better understanding of what to expect.

My New Words Vocabulary Journal

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 3:22 p.m.
A vocabulary journal is a valuable tool that allows students to actively engage with new words and concepts in a personal, organized way. The purpose of the journal is to provide a space where students can record, explore, and reflect on vocabulary they encounter, helping them to reinforce their understanding and make meaningful connections. By consistently documenting new words, their definitions, examples, non-examples, and even illustrations, students are able to deepen their comprehension and track their learning progress over time. This practice benefits students by encouraging regular reflection, supporting retention, and allowing them to review and revisit vocabulary in context, making it easier to transfer knowledge to other subjects. Additionally, vocabulary journals promote ownership of learning and can be especially helpful for students who struggle with retention or need additional support in building their vocabulary.

Reflecting and Revising Understanding

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 2:37 p.m.
The Reflecting and Revising Schema strategy helps students encode new vocabulary into long-term memory by encouraging them to actively revisit and refine their understanding of words. This process involves reflecting on their initial knowledge, connecting new vocabulary to prior experiences, and continuously updating their mental frameworks (schema) as they gain more information. By reflecting on how new words fit within what they already know, students make deeper connections, which strengthens retention. Revising schema allows them to correct misconceptions and adjust their understanding, ensuring that new vocabulary is meaningfully integrated into their permanent memory. This reflective process supports better recall and application of the terms in various contexts.

5-3-1 Vocabulary Discussion

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 2:27 p.m.
The 5-3-1 instructional strategy is a collaborative vocabulary activity that helps students prioritize key concepts and terms from a lesson or text. This strategy encourages critical thinking and collaborative discussion, as students must justify their choices and listen to others' perspectives. It is particularly beneficial for vocabulary development because it requires students to evaluate the significance of terms and reflect on their relevance, which deepens their understanding of the content.

Word Associations Vocabulary Strategy

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 2:18 p.m.
The Word Associations strategy is designed to help students make meaningful connections between new vocabulary and familiar concepts, enhancing both comprehension and retention. By linking new words to existing knowledge or personal experiences, students are better able to understand and remember the meanings of unfamiliar terms. This strategy is particularly effective for students who struggle with vocabulary because it encourages active thinking about how words relate to each other.

Frayer Model

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 2:10 p.m.
The Frayer Model is a graphic organizer designed to help students build and deepen their understanding of vocabulary by organizing key elements of a word. Developed by Dorothy Frayer and her colleagues in 1969, this strategy prompts students to define a word, list its characteristics, provide examples, and note non-examples. It is especially beneficial for students who lack a larger vocabulary or prior knowledge, as it breaks down complex terms into more manageable parts. By actively engaging with the word in multiple ways, students can connect new vocabulary to their existing knowledge, reinforcing retention and comprehension. The Frayer Model is also highly visual, making it accessible for language learners and those who struggle with traditional memorization techniques.

Bricks and Mortar Vocabulary Activity

  • Oct. 17, 2024, 2:02 p.m.
The Bricks and Mortar strategy is designed to help students develop and strengthen their vocabulary by encouraging them to construct meaningful sentences using key vocabulary words, referred to as the "bricks."