Teaching+Vocabulary

 =7 Principle of Vocabulary Development = =Building Experiential Background= =Relating Vocabulary to Background= =Building Relationships= =Developing Depth of Meaning= =Presenting Several Exposures= =Creating an Interest in Words= =Teaching Student How to Learn New Words= = = = Wo rds Are Wonderful Activities = __**Story Impressions__**__ Students internalize vocab. meanings by using words in a certain order to compose their own story before they read a published story. This is done whole-group. An overhead projector or computer display monitor are used.
 * Experiences form the foundations of vocabulary. Students must be given the concepts/labels to talk over their experiences.
 * Class trips, projects, experiments, handling artifacts, viewing computer simulations and demos, films, video, TV.
 * The key is to make the activity as concrete as possible.
 * Dramatizing words adds interest and reality when direct experience is not available.
 * Relate new words to experiences that students may have had.
 * Ask students to respond to new words with some sort of personal judgement or observation. For example, "Where have you seen a __?"__ "Tell about something or someone that is --- ." "Describe the most _ __person/place/thing that you can think of."__
 * Show how new words are related to each other.
 * Synonyms, antonyms, classifying words, completing graphic organizers.
 * Semantic maps, pictorial maps, word webs, venn diagram, semantic feature analysis charts
 * Definitions are superficial and do not clearly indicate how a word should be used.
 * Students should be asked to place new vocab. words in context, and NOT to write sentences.
 * Experience with words in several contexts broadens and deepens understanding.
 * Exploring word histories helps shed light on meaning and can function as a memory device for that word.
 * Words should appear in different contexts so that students experience their shades of meaning.
 * 2-10 exposures are necessary for new vocab.
 * Vocab. knowledge is the most important predictor of reading comprehension.
 * "Word Wizards" get credit by noting examples of new vocab. outside the classroom and reporting it to the group.
 * Puns, limericks, riddles and jokes encourage students to have fun with words.
 * Sesquipedalian words (Sesqui=one and one half, ped=foot) foot and a half or very long words.
 * Word of the day
 * Predict-o-gram Students predict which words would be used to describe the setting, characters, problem, plot, and solution before reading a text.
 * Independent word-learning skills
 * context clues, morphemic analysis, dictionary skills
 * direct teaching of strategies readers use to learn words independently.
 * 1) The teacher chooses key words (5-20) from a story or chapter and lists them (vertically) in order they appear in the story.
 * 2) Briefly discuss each one, asking if anyone knows what it means or can use it in a sentence. Refine concepts or supplement ideas.
 * 3) Next, tell the students that they are going to compose a story using the words. They must be used in the order in which they appear, but after a word in introduced it may be used again.
 * 4) Students work as a whole-group and compose a sensible---if at times fanciful--story using the words. The story must have a beginning, middle and end. Clarify meanings of words as necessary. The story is written for all to see. (approx. 20 min.)
 * 5) Reread, revise and edit the story. Add "juicy" details and adjectives, combine short sentences, create paragraphs and provide motives for actions in the story.
 * 6) Publish the story, add illustrations if desired.