READING VOCABULARY INTERVENTIONS

Critical features of Vocabulary instruction: Teach Students the Meanings of Specific Words

Vocabulary Literature:

300-400 new word meanings can be taught per year through direct instruction.

Recommendations:

Selecting words to teach...

Words that are important for understanding text.

Words that students will encounter often, functionally important words.

Use both context and definitions

Encourage "deep" processing

Find a synonym or antonym

Make up a novel sentence with a word

Classify the word with other words

Relate the definition to one's own experiences

Give multiple exposures

Storybook Literature:

Recommendations: for younger children

Choose 2-5 words to teach directly from storybooks

Choose words that are important for the story or important for students to know

Give simple definitions (i.e., examples, synonyms, or definitions) & discuss them in the context of the story

Provide students with the opportunity to process the words "deeply"

Discuss the words multiple times

Recommendations: for older children

Choose words that will enhance the meaning of what students are reading or important for students to know

Use both context and definitions

Teach word meanings by using examples, synonyms, and definitions

Provide students with the opportunity to process the words "deeply"

Discuss the words multiple times

Critical features of Vocabulary instruction: Nurture a Love and Appreciation of Words and Their Use

Vocabulary Literature:

Recommendations:

Choose quality storybooks that children enjoy listening to

Model "word awareness" and show students that words are important, interesting, and fun

Provide students with rich oral language experiences

References:

Elley, W. B. (1989). Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories. Reading Research Quarterly, 14(2), 174-187.

Robbins, C., & Ehri, L. C. (1994). Reading storybooks to kindergartners helps them learn new vocabulary words. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(1), 54-64.

Stahl, S. A. (1986). Three principles of effective vocabulary instruction. Journal of Reading, 29, 662-668.

Stahl, S. A., & Shiel, T. R. (1999). Teaching meaning vocabulary: productive approaches for poor readers. In Read all about it! readings to inform the profession (pp. 291-321). Sacramento, CA: California State Board of Education.

Website: http://reading.uoregon.edu/voc/

Other Reading Vocabulary Activities and Tips

Language Development/Vocabulary Enrichment

Age: Pre-school

Materials: box with lid, items relating to theme or unit of study, i.e. cooking: various kitchen utensils, pots and pans, pot holders, measuring cups and spoons, etc., Photographs or other pictures of the items

Intervention: The student will learn and use the appropriate labels for different objects correlating to various themes and units. Collect a variety of items, objects, or toys relating to specific themes or units and place them in a covered box. During circle time, introduce the box. Ask each child to close eyes, reach in, and remove an object. Ask the child to identify the object. Discuss the various attributes of the item: size, color, function, name, etc. Continue around the circle, giving each child a turn to participate. To extend the activity, provide the children with pictures and have them match the objects to the pictures. This allows the children to make the transition from a concrete object to a semi-concrete representation. Once the children are used to this activity, hide the objects in various spots in the room and have the children find them from verbal clues. Incorporate the new vocabulary words into the activities of the day and send home the words for the parents to use in their daily activities with their children

Reference:

Good, R. H., Simmins, D.C., Smith, S.B. (1998). Effective academic intervention in the United States: Evaluating and Enhancing the Acquisition of Early Reading Skills. School Psychology Review 27 (1) 45-56.

Flip-up words

Grade: Kindergarten or First Grade

Materials: paper strips, paper squares, marker, stapler

Intervention: Write letters on separate paper squares and staple a stack of the squares over the first or last letter sounds on a word from the word family’s list. Flip up a paper square and show students how the word changes. Ask the student to identify which words are real and which words do not make sense.

Flip-up Families

Grade: First Grade through Third Grade

Materials: Paper Strips, Paper Squares, Marker, stapler, list of Word Families

Intervention: In advance select words from the list of word families to include in sentences you write on sentence strips, for example, I saw a rat sit on a log. Write letters on separate paper squares and staple a stack of these replacement letters over the beginning consonant of key words in the sentences. Read each sentence strip aloud. Flip up paper squares and show the student how to read the new words and sentences. Have the student identify which words make sense in the sentences.

Variations: Draw picture clues to help beginning readers identify the new words. Invite more advanced learners to make their own flip-up sentence strips to share with classmates.

Reference:

adapted from Reading strategies that work. (1998). Cypress, CA: Creative Teaching Press, Inc.

Website : http://www.usd.edu/cpe/reading.htm

Multisensory Vocabulary Instruction: Activities

Illustrate the words
Show pictures or video clips that demonstrate the meaning of a word.

Have students draw and label something illustrating the meaning of the word. The infamous "flashcards" can be made more meaningful with illustrations, as well. Be sure, though, that the student doesn't replace an abstract idea with a concrete example of it. This can be done by showing different ways that the idea is expressed and having the students discover what makes them valid illustrations – for instance, could news be grim? How?
Play "Quick Draw"

This doesn't have to be competitive, but it can be. See how quickly students can convey the essence of a words meaning on the board – without words. This works especially well with words describing visual concepts, like many geography terms. Again, make sure students don't oversimplify things – if you play this game repeatedly, make sure the students are using different ways to draw the words.
Play "vocabulary charades"

Have students draw a word from a hat and act it out.
Give credit for finding the word used in the real world

Provide extra credit if a student hears or sees a vocabulary word anywhere outside of the vocabulary exercises. To get the points, the student has to write down the word, what it means, and where s/he heard it. Sometimes the students will purposely use the words so someone can say they heard it – which just means they are incorporating it into their oral vocabularies.
Use the words yourself

That prominently posted list can be your cue to slip words into other class work or discussions. Students may not even need the incentive of extra credit to start listening for them.
Have students answer questions that use the words

For example: "What are three ways you could tell a person had just received grim news?" "What are three things an impertinent person might say?" "What are three things that would disconcert you?" Doing this while the student has the meaning available gives the opportunity to process the meaning instead of guessing at an answer.
Have students generate examples and non-examples for words

This can be done with visual or kinesthetic illustrations as well as verbal descriptions. Have students explain whether something is a good example of a word or not, and why they think so. For most groups, this activity should be practiced with familiar, concrete words first. It can be used to lay a solid foundation for "comparing and contrasting" and defending ideas in essays, especially if you encourage the students to use precise language and good sentences.

When you ask students to generate examples, if someone comes up with a "wrong" answer, it can be used as "a good non-example" to help clarify the meaning of a word. Remind students that learning is not about proving what you already know, but about asking questions to change what you don't know into what you do know.
Use "fill in the blank" exercises before you expect the students to use the words in sentences themselves

This is also a good way to test students, or to make the transition between working with the definitions available and recalling what the words mean on their own. Have a word bank with five vocabulary words and five sentences with blanks, and have the students decide which word goes in which blank. Your challenge will be constructing sentences which only match with one word, so small groups of words are better. These exercises are also opportunities for you to give a wider scope to a word, and discuss how that word fits into a sentence that the students might not have considered.
Compose with the words

Only after a student has heard and read a word used correctly many times should s/he be expected to compose something original with the word. This can be a fun class activity, though, once a sizable list has accumulated. Students can take turns picking words from the list to add a sentence to an ongoing story – students will get a chance to hear the words they weren't sure of used by other students, and the sentences can be revised if the words are not used correctly. Eventually, students may enjoy composing absurd tales using the words.

Reference:

Website: http:// www.resourceroom.net

Error Word Drill Activity:

The Error Word Drill is an effective way to build reading vocabulary. The procedure consists of 4 steps:

When the student misreads a word during a reading session, write down the error word and date in a separate "Error Word Log.”

At the end of the reading session, write out all error words from the reading session onto index cards. (If the student has misread more than 20 different words during the session, use just the first 20 words from your error-word list. If the student has misread fewer than 20 words, consult your "Error Word Log" and select enough additional error words from past sessions to build the review list to 20 words.)
Review the index cards with the student. Whenever the student pronounces a word correctly, remove that card from the deck and set it aside. (A word is considered correct if it is read correctly within 5 seconds. Self-corrected words are counted as correct if they are made within the 5-second period. Words read correctly after the 5-second period expires are counted as incorrect.)
When the student misses a word, pronounce the word for the student, and have the student repeat the word. Then say, "What word?" and direct the student to repeat the word once more. Place the card with the missed word at the bottom of the deck.
Error words in deck are presented until all have been read correctly. All word cards are then gathered together, reshuffled, and presented again to the student. The drill continues until either time runs out or the student has progressed through the deck without an error on two consecutive cards.

Reference:

Jenkins, J. & Larsen, D. (1979). Evaluation of error-correction procedures for oral reading. Journal of Special Education, 13, 145-156.

New Words: Practical Ideas for Parents

Learning the meanings of new words (vocabulary) helps children to read more complex books and stories and to learn wonderful new things. Children learn new words by being read to and by reading on their own; the more children read, the more words they are likely to know.

Children also learn words through lessons that focus on the meanings of words and how the words are used in written materials. When children write stories, they often use their new words.

Here are some things to try at home:

Select many kinds of books, stories, and other printed material to read to your children. Also, help them choose different types of books and stories to read on their own.
Talk with your children about daily events, about events that have happened in the past, and about plans for the future. Every once in a while, use a "hard" word and discuss the meaning of that word.
Have your children keep a list of new words they have learned. Ask them to listen for new words as people talk. Have your children find new words in newspapers, books, catalogs, and magazines. Discuss the meanings of the new words with your children and have them add these words to their list.
Give your children a word that is found in other words (for example, grow is found in growing and growth). Ask them to name other words that are related. You can call this group of words a "word family." Have your children make a book of word families by writing words from the same family on a page and by drawing pictures about the words. Clip or staple together several pages of word families and pictures to form a book.
After talking about a new word and its meaning, ask your children to write their own sentences using the word.

Reference:

Adapted from Beginning Reading Instruction: Practical Ideas for Parents . (1996). Texas Education Agency.

Sample Intervention Activities for Developing Vocabulary

(as described in Hall, Susan L. 2006. I’ve DIBEL’ed now what? Designing interventions with DIBELS data. Longmont, CO. Sopris West. )

Vocabulary Map

Introduce new vocabulary in a story using a chart to help students think about the meaning of words before and after reading.

Directions:

Before reading the story, select words that students are likely not to know well.

Make a chart with 3 columns labeled: Word, What I Think It means Before Reading, and What I Think It Means After Reading.

List the words, ask students to fill in the 2nd column.

Read the story.

Complete the 3 rd column and discuss how the word was used in the story.

Human Word Web

Students arrange cards in a web showing the relationship between the words.

Directions:

Teacher writes selected words on 5x7 inch cards – one per card.

Each student in the small group is given a couple of cards.

Students are asked to discuss how all the words relate to each other.

Students arrange the cards and use pieces of string to make a web-like design that depicts the way the words can be connected or categorized.