Vocabulary

All four of our readings for this week provided that vocabulary and reading are interdependent. A vivid vocabulary is vital for comprehending texts and for decoding words in texts that are unfamiliar; in addition, reading is one of the best ways, if not the best way, to develop a broader and more diverse vocabulary. When students first enter school, they vary in exposure to language and experiences with reading, and as Hart and Risley observed, children from less-educated homes tend to lag behind those from the working and professional socio-economic classes. Dalton and Grisham offer that what occurs as these students progress through school is known as the Matthew Effect, students with strong vocabulary and reading skills get stronger and students with weaker skills get weaker. To prevent this or to lower the numbers of students experiencing this, the articles suggest different teaching strategies and corresponding actives which will help with vocabulary development.

In Chapter 6, Allington and Cunningham claim that real, direct experience is best for retention of new words. Teachers can do activities with objects that they bring into the classroom from the "real world", like spatulas and ladders, then have descriptive and intensified discussions with the class about what the object is, what it does, what various activities it is used for, what stories students have with the object, etc. The objective is to create concrete ideas and provide evidence that will provide reinforcement of the word's meaning in different contexts. I liked the idea of teaching morphemes because I think it would be beneficial for students to understand root words. Knowing roots will help deconstruct unfamilar words as they read, and knowing how certain prefixes and suffixes create new meanings is also important for comprehension.

The chapter mention word dramatization, and I found this activity on Pinterest. I have used beach balls in the past in a similar way for class discussions, and I like activities like this because they add a little excitement and encourage more engagement from all the students.  

 Also, as if my previous posts haven't alluded to this already, I really like journals. The suggested "Vocabulary Journal" is great because students would have to find the meaning of words within the text, rather than looking in dictionaries and indexes. This would develop a really practical and vital skill that is used frequently at higher levels of education.

Lane and Allen describe classrooms with routine times designated to engaging the classroom community; of these, what I liked most were the classroom chores that can begin the year as simple, well-known and understand descriptions and names and then progressively become more advanced through synonyms and connections made during this designated time.

They also mention modeling sophisticated vocabulary which led my thought, once again, to Mrs. Tina. She describes to her students that those who are playing on their own on the playground or in the classroom are playing "independently". She reinforces that sometimes this is something that students choose to do, so overtime when I was leading her class in the afternoons, students would come up to tell me that "they just want to play independently, but so and so is trying to play with them, too". I remember being caught off guard by their choice of vocabulary the first time I first experienced a five year old complain about his hindered independence.

Which technology-based strategy did you find most useful of the ones provided by Dalton and Grisham?
Do you have any experience with Word Play or other activities that you found to be successful?