Download well developed by Anderson and Nagy (1991) in a

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CHAPTER 9 / VOCABULARY: PRESCRIPTION FOR CONCEPT, CONTENT, AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
FIGURE
9.8
POSSIBLE SENTENCES
Potentially Difficult Vocabulary Words
Easier Words Related to Topic
evaporation
rain
condensation
snow
water cycle
clouds
precipitation
ocean
surface water
water
ground water
Students’ Possible Sentences
Rain is one kind of precipitation.
Surface water and ground water are two different types of water.
Water that collects in clouds is condensation.
Water is in the ocean.
Evaporation happens when the ocean water gets hot.
When snow melts, it is part of the water cycle.
Next, students read the text and then discuss, clarify, and correct the sentences.
well developed by Anderson and Nagy (1991) in a review of the literature
on word meanings.
STEPS IN THEMED VOCABULARY STUDY
Step 1 Identify a theme.
Step 2 Ask students to state those words they think to be related to the
designated theme, and to say what they think those words mean.
Step 3 Use dictionaries to check word meanings and to find synonyms,
antonyms, and nuances of meaning.
Step 4 Link the relevant words to one another (with brief definitions) in
the form of a semantic map (see illustration on next page).
Step 5 Reinforce and evaluate by testing students’ recall and by having
them write sentences or descriptive pieces designed to use the
new words. [Note: The once-traditional practice of having students write a sentence or two containing a new word still makes
sense. It has the diagnostic advantage of revealing whether the
students’ knowledge of the word includes the often context-
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METHODS FOR IN-DEPTH WORD STUDY
351
specific way in which a given word is used. Anderson and Nagy
(1991) give the example of the word “correlate.” The dictionary
definition says, “to be related one to the other.” This led a student
to write “Me and my parents correlate, because without them I
wouldn’t be here” (719).] In a diagnostic-teaching situation, this
would immediately reveal that the term “correlate” is not yet
within the student’s grasp.
EXAMPLE OF THEMED VOCABULARY STUDY
articulate
(well-stated)
reticent
(shy; reluctant
to speak)
gossip
(idle chatter
about others)
inarticulate
(poorly stated)
Talking
(to say words
by speech)
loquacious
(talkative, but
powerful control
of language)
chatter
(talk on aimlessly)
garrulous
(talking much
about unimportant
things)
verbose
(using too
many words to
say something)
Other themes to consider in word study:
• noncomplimentary but non-vulgar terms (pesky, brusk, prissy, antsy,
bawdy, addlebrained)
• behavior-related terms (manners, comportment, deportment,
inappropriate, maladaptive, poised, irascible)
• character traits (endurance, restraint, perseverance, reflection,
tolerance)
• thinking terms (abstract, concrete, rational, irrational, creative,
critical, cognition, diffusive, coherent)
• temperament labels (sanguine, industrious, hyper, choleric, mercurial,
pensive)
• attitudes (positive, negative, hostile, aggressive, assertive, constructive)
Vocabulary learning from themed study can be greatly amplified when
combined with Semantic Feature Analysis, Subjective/Objective Vocabulary recording, and/or Motor Imaging. Coupling student reactions to the
words in themes such as those described above also provides excellent
opportunities for diagnosing aspects of personal-social adjustment and
getting a fix on a student’s “world view”—or the way in which he or she is
experiencing reality.
All vocabulary learning is
a form of categorization
and theme study.