VOCABULARY, vocabulary, when will I teach it? Maybe while I’m reading to the students? Research says that some vocabulary words are learned indirectly, and others can be taught directly. We’re going to discuss the latter. Read-aloud is a wonderful time for you and your students because it provides the perfect opportunity to teach words directly. Many of you are doing this already. However, new teachers or teachers changing grade levels might find this refresher helpful. Let’s prepare for read-aloud!
First of all, you need GREAT books–not just any book will do. When you select GREAT books for instruction, you need to think about what your students are interested in, background knowledge, and age, racial, and gender appropriateness, to name a few. You could just peek into the classrooms of those expert teachers around you. They always know and have the best books. That will at least get you started with titles of interest to you. Once you have chosen a book, read all or a portion of the book. Upper grades like to read chapter books, so they would probably read one chapter at a time (unless it’s too long of course).
On to vocabulary. How should you choose the words you use during your read-aloud? Let’s start by reviewing the three tiers of vocabulary:
- Tier One encompasses basic words such as to, all, of, etc.
- Tier Two words are words that we use in everyday life. (These are words such as marathon, computer, and splatter. These words can also have double meanings, such as the word “conduct.” In this case, conduct not only has multiple meanings, it’s pronounced differently too!)
- Tier Three words relate to the content areas of math, science, and social studies. Some examples of Tier Three words are biology, Fahrenheit, and genetics.
It really makes the most sense to use Tier Two words on a daily basis. So let’s think about how we may choose great Tier Two words in our read-alouds. The first thing to do is search for words while reading your book. Of course there are many cool words to choose from. However, it is important that you focus on just two or three words. Once the words are chosen, think about friendly definitions for each. Then you will create fun activities for students to interact with the words. One of my favorite activities is giving examples of the word but also including a couple of examples that do not reflect the word. Let’s use the word “splatter.” Some examples to use could be a glass filled with water falling off the counter, paint spilling from a ladder, a book falling off a shelf, and a pillow landing on the floor. You would tell the students to give you a signal in response to the examples, such as giving a thumbs up if it is an example of the word, and turning the thumb down if it is not. Other signals could include standing up or sitting down, and touching the nose or not touching the nose.
Now that you’re set, you can share the book and special vocabulary words with your students. Conduct your read-aloud as usual. After reading, go back to the page in the text where you found the first word you chose. Read the sentence containing the word. Explain the meaning of the word in context. Have the students say the word. Give students a friendly definition (one they can understand). Now it’s time for your brief activity. After the activity, have the students say the word again. Continue with your other words.
There are many ways for your students to interact with words. You can find them in professional books, online, everywhere. A reader must know most of the vocabulary words in order to comprehend a text. Read-aloud provides a wonderful opportunity for students to enjoy a great story and to learn new vocabulary words while having fun doing it!
For more information on effective vocabulary instruction and read-alouds, visit:
Effective Read-Aloud Techniques
Today, the debate at Benchmark centers around an Educational Leadership article about “worthy reading.” How are the books that our children read in school chosen, and what is desirable?
It turns out, according to the author Barry Gilmore, that there has been an accepted canon for nearly 100 years that has rarely deviated from the norm. The books we read as kids our grandparents read as kids, and now our kids are reading. This list has few surprises . . . Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Twain, and Lee. I have them dog-eared in my bookcase, and it sounds like I should be dusting them off for my elementary-school-age children.
But before I do, consider these startling statistics, which the author cites from a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts study:
- Nearly half of all 18- to 24-year-olds read no books for pleasure.
- Less than one-third of 13-year-olds read daily.
- Teens and young adults spend 60 percent less time on voluntary reading than the average adult does.
So therein lies the debate, which begs us to consider why and what our children are reading.
At Benchmark, we believe in a need for thoughtful balance. We believe that children should read to facilitate future academic and professional achievement but also for pure pleasure. Children should read to become better critical thinkers but also to just plain enrich their lives.
So, according to the author, here are some suggestions (along with some of our own) on how to incorporate some nontraditional books into your classroom, without any detriment to the classics.
- Give students a short list of popular reading to choose from and create reading discussion groups.
- Link books with other parts of the curriculum
- (e.g., history or math).
- Invite specials teachers to form book clubs around their discipline (e.g., science, sports, chess, or Spanish).
- Ask children to create and post lists of what they want to read and what they would recommend to their peers.
- Start reading logs that reward scholars with the most books read in a certain period.
- Pair contemporary texts with traditional ones and compare.
- Introduce book vs. movie comparisons.
- Encourage family book clubs.
- Develop book clubs across grades or across schools (like a pen pal but with books).
Where do you come down? If it was good enough in the 1920s, should it be good enough today? Should we choose books in school based on literary merit—or those that inspire? When time in the classroom is at a premium and budgets are tight, is it really realistic for children to read different books? Does it matter which method works better for the high-stakes tests?
For the exact text from Barry Gilmore, click here
