Exemplary Practices in
Vocabulary Instruction
Introduction Background Philosophy Research Project Summary of the Findings Results Additional Resources References Site Map
Philosophy of Vocabulary Instruction
(Power Point: Statement of Beliefs and Definition of Literacy)
Students who begin school with rich vocabularies often know and can express themselves fluently through discussions. These banks of enriched prior knowledge give children foundations for rapidly expanding the number and complexity of concepts that they learn. Vocabulary deficits especially affect less advantaged and ESL students (Hart & Risley, 1995). The more vocabulary gained in the early years the more capable students will be to comprehend "grade level" text in the upper elementary grades. Vocabulary gaps will only increase through the school years if not addressed. A serious commitment to decreasing gaps in vocabulary and comprehension includes instruction that allows all students to learn and use strategies that will enable them to discover and deepen understandings of words during independent reading. This commitment needs to begin in Kindergarten. Students can gain new vocabulary at rates required to reach "grade level" or near "grade level" vocabulary if given adequate opportunity to use new words and adequate instruction in word meanings.
Through vocabulary instruction children learn that words are more than letters . Words have meaning that are related to other words and ideas. To comprehend, a reader needs some idea of not only a word's meaning but also in which the meaning contributes to the cohesiveness of the ideas or information. Just looking words up in a dictionary and writing the definition is meaningless unless it is connected to other ideas. Students in classrooms where teachers initiate probing discussions about earlier school days, space travel, etc. have more chances of acquiring rich vocabularies than students in classrooms where teachers use formatted lessons for vocabulary instruction. It is essential that vocabulary instruction is meaningful and students are able to see connections to what they are learning.
The love of words is contagious. When the teacher loves and is aware of words the students will become aware of words and develop the desire to learn more words . A rich vocabulary is fired by a fascination with language that creates disposition and motivation for learning words. Teachers who Visually display words encourage students to compare and contrast new words to known words. Students will begin to look independently for connections between words. Students that become use to noticing, enjoying and paying tribute to words promote their own vocabulary growth.
I believe that although students may come to us with different backgrounds and abilities given the appropriate strategies and tools all students are capable of succeeding.
