Content Area Reading
Chapter 8: Developing Vocabulary Instruction/Concepts
There is nothing more frustrating than beginning a paragraph in a class and realizing that you don't understand any of the vocabulary being used. Add that to the possibility that you may already be struggling in the class and you have a deadly concoction. Developing vocabulary knowledge for your students is arguably one of the most important tools needed in every content area. If students don't understand your vocabulary, then they won't understand anything you attempt to teach from that point forward. As a teacher, we must create a solid vocabulary foundation for the students to build on as the year progresses. Therefore, continuously using vocab strategies is crucial for your lesson plans.
Of course, if it were up to you as a teacher, you would want students to learn and remember ALL of the vocabulary you use throughout the school year. However, that simply doesn't happen, especially in secondary education when students have a minimum of six classes to attend every day. So, it is up to the teacher to select specific vocabulary that the students will need in order to avoid falling behind in your class. A way to help students understand a word is to show develop and understanding of the concept behind that word through experience. Concepts create mental images for the students to grasp when seeing or hearing a word. Being able to create visuals in addition to words is a great way to reach multiple intelligence's in your classroom. Graphic organizers as well as actual pictures of objects, animals or people is a great way to visually engage your students in concepts; thus words.
Some writing to learn strategies that could be used to help students understand concepts of words include:
Word Exploration: activate schemata and jog long term memory; normally used as a free write that is ungraded and a quick five minutes.
Brainstorming
List-Group-Label
Word Sorts
Knowledge Ratings
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