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Making Words Work:
Building Vocabulary and
Comprehension through
Primary Read-Alouds
Michael C. McKenna
University of Virginia
Sharon Walpole
University of Delaware
DERF asks teachers to use
high-quality children’s
literature in interactive read
alouds . . . How well is that
concept implemented in
real life?

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Children’s books are fun . . . But that’s not
all they are
Listen to some children and think about all
of the work they do to “make it make
sense”
T:
C1:
T:
C2:
C1:
T:
C2:
“In 1612, French explorers saw some Iroquois people
popping corn in clay pots. They would fill the pots
with hot sand, throw in some popcorn and stir it with a
stick. When the corn popped, it came to the top of the
sand and made it easy to get.”
Look at the bowl!
Okay, now it’s hot enough to add a few kernels.
What’s a kernel?
Like when you pop.
It’s a seed.
What if you, like, would you think … a popcorn seed.
Like a popcorn seed. Could you grow popcorn?
Smolkin & Donovan, 2002
T:
Oh, excellent, excellent question! Let’s read and we’ll
see if this book answers that question, and if not, we’ll
talk about it at the end.
Smolkin & Donovan, 2002
T: “And 1000-year-old popcorn
kernels were found in Peru that
could still be popped.” Now. This
guy is doing different . . . It’s kind
of like two stories are going on.
What is this part giving us?
Cs: (together) Information
T:
It is. And what is this doing?
C: It is telling you.
T: It’s giving us, right, steps of
how to make the popcorn.
C: And he has a big old speech
bubble.
T: Yes, because he’s reading
about this, remember? And so his
speech bubble is him reading this
book about this (pointing to
pictures of native peoples).
Today’s Goals
 Understand why we need to teach
vocabulary to young students
 Learn strategies for teaching
vocabulary
 Examine differences between fiction
and nonfiction read-alouds
 Be able to plan, conduct, and followup a read-aloud lesson focused on
vocabulary instruction.
Why are read-alouds
the best way to build
vocabulary and
comprehension?
They may actually
be the only way!
Let’s look at some
reasons.
Why Read-Alouds ?
 The teacher does the decoding.
 Natural contexts for words are provided.
 Authentic opportunities for modeling
comprehension strategies occur.
 Student engagement is likely.
 Discussion is facilitated.
 Words and strategies can be reinforced
in new contexts all year long.
But I can introduce
vocabulary more
efficiently without
read-alouds.
Maybe, but if you
did, you’d have to
create an entire
curriculum. That’s
why so little is done.
“Vocabulary levels diverge
greatly during the primary
years, and virtually nothing
effective is done about this
in schools.” (p. 29)
Andy
Biemiller
Biemiller, A. (2004). Teaching vocabulary in the primary grades.In J.F. Baumann &
E.J. Kame’enui (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp. 2840). New York: Guilford.
But the kids know lots of
words. Why not just focus
on teaching them to
recognize the ones they
know?
Why not do both? If
you ignore vocabulary,
the Matthew effect can
be terrible.
50K
45,000
40K
30K
17,000
20K
10K
0
5,000
1,500
K
12
Oral vocabulary at the end of first
grade is a significant predictor of
comprehension ten years later.
Cunningham, A.E., & Stanovich, K.E. (1997). Early reading
acquisition and its relation to experience and ability 10
years later. Developmental Psychology, 33, 934-945.
But how can a few readalouds make a dent in
that huge number of
words?
The cumulative effect
might surprise you.
“Adding three root words a day is the
average daily number of words
learned by primary age children with
the largest vocabularies.” (p. 37)
Andy
Biemiller
Biemiller, A. (2004). Teaching vocabulary in the primary grades.In J.F. Baumann &
E.J. Kame’enui (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp.
28-40). New York: Guilford.
“Adding three root words a day is the
average daily number of words
learned by primary age children with
the largest vocabularies.” (p. 37)
3 words x 140 days  400 words per year
Biemiller, A. (2004). Teaching vocabulary in the primary grades.In J.F. Baumann &
E.J. Kame’enui (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp. 2840). New York: Guilford.
But why can’t we just
have them look up the
definitions?
You’ll find that
definitions alone are
not enough.
Let’s try …
Read the Wye Delta passage
 What can you synthesize from the
text?
 Now read the dictionary definitions of
the underlined words
 Do the definitions help?

Why be systematic?
Why can’t the kids just
rely on context?
Context may not be as
powerful as you think.
And besides, many
kids don’t use it.
Four Types of Contexts
1. Directive (provides powerful clues)
“Sue was talkative but Bill was taciturn.”
2. General (helps categorize a word)
“She’d had measles, mumps, and varicella.”
3. Nondirective (offers very little help)
“The dress was taupe.”
4. Misdirective (can be misleading)
“He was huge, muscular, and adroit.”
Beck & McKeown (2004)
Let’s try …
Read the excerpt from When Marian
Sang
 Fill in the missing words based on
context clues
 Compare your answers
 Are context clues enough?
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Teaching Students about Context
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Remember that many students may have
difficulty making inferences about words from
context
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Remind them that context does not always
provide strong clues
Model the process when possible
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Beck & McKeown (2004)
But what about
comprehension? How
do you teach strategies
to kids who can’t read?
The alternative is to
wait until they can
read. If you do that, it
may be too late.
The Domino Theory
Teach children to decode first, and put
off vocabulary and comprehension
instruction until later.
“[R]esearch has almost universally
supported the idea that reading
aloud to children leads to improved
reading comprehension.” (p. 144)
Smolkin & Donovan, 2002
For a fiction read-aloud,
how do I know which
words to teach?
Target what Beck
and McKeown call
Tier Two words.
Two characteristics that make a
word appropriate for teaching:
1.
2.
We can define it in terms that the
students know
The students are likely to find the
word useful or interesting
Beck & McKeown (2004)
Beck and McKeown’s Three Tiers
Beck and McKeown’s Three Tiers
Tier 3
Tier 2
Tier 1
• Rare words
• 73,500 word families K-12
• Often content-area related
• Examples: isotope, estuary
• Important to academic success
• 7,000 word families
• Not limited to one content area
• Examples: fortunate, ridiculous
• The most familiar words
• 8,000 word families
• Known by average 3rd grader
• Examples: happy, go
Beck and Mckeown’s Three Tiers
Tier 2
• Important to academic success
• 7,000 word families
• Not limited to one content area
• Examples: fortunate, ridiculous
“Goldilocks” Words
Stahl & Stahl (2004)
Steps in a Bringing Words to
Life Vocab Lesson
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Say the word. Children repeat.
Tell how the word was used in the text.
Tell a child-friendly definition.
Give example of the word used in
multiple, unrelated contexts.
Invite the children to construct an
example.
Have children repeat the word.
Let’s Try It
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Read the Daedalus passage
In small groups, sort the words into tier 1,
tier 2, or tier 3 level categories
Remember, tier 2 level words are words
that are found across contexts and are
more challenging than words found in our
spoken vocabulary
Reading Time: “Text Talk”
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Read “Text Talk” by Isabel Beck and
Margaret McKeown. It’s an article about
effective read-alouds for young children.
Set a purpose for your reading that
connects to what we’ve discussed so far.
Form a reading group of 3-4 people with
whom you can discuss these ideas.
Attached is a reading guide to help focus
your reading and guide your discussion.
What’s the difference
between a fiction and a
nonfiction read-aloud?
There are
differences in both
vocabulary and
comprehension
strategy use.
Nonfiction Read-Alouds
Take advantage of clusters of related
terms
 Stress the connections among words
 Preteach a few key terms
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Nonfiction Read-Aouds
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All strategies may be useful, but
especially
- Focusing on text structure
- Graphic organizers
- Comprehension monitoring (using
“think-alouds to model “fix-up”
strategies for confusing text)
Using “Fix-Up” Strategies
Rereading
 Reading on
 Reflecting
 Seeking outside
information
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Let’s try …
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Listen while we demonstrate a read-aloud
with a simple nonfiction text.
Notice that it follows the structure that you
know and love -- we do some things
before reading, some during, and some
after.
Think about that structure.
What did you think?
In terms of vocabulary instruction . . .
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What did we do before reading?
What did we do during reading?
What did we do after reading?
Fiction Read-Alouds
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Since the words will not be related and will not
be the essential to comprehending, do not
preteach them
After the read-aloud, create clusters by linking a
new word to familiar words, if you can
Use research-based methods to review, such as
- silly questions
- wordwizards
Familiar Words
lucky
chance
frown
stare
careful
afraid
Words Chosen
From the Book
fortunate
scowl
wary
OK, I’ll give it a try.
Where do I start?
Let’s start with
planning.
Can you really plan to
focus on comprehension
and vocabulary in the
same read-aloud?
Yes. We’re not trying to
accomplish everything
at once. But we can
still target both areas
with each read-aloud.
Fiction Read-Alouds
 Rely
on such research-based
techniques as:
- Time Lines
- Story Maps
 Plan to review words
Goldilocks
finds
cottage
Goldilocks
eats
porridge
Goldilocks
goes
upstairs
Example of a Story Map
Setting
Characters: Jack, his mother, the giant
Place: Jack’s home, road, giant’s castle
When and where did this story occur?
Who is the main character?
Problem
Jack must sell cow but trades for beans
Why did Jack trade?
Goal
To see if bean stalk is worth the bad trade
What did Jack do when he found the stalk?
Ending
Jack steals from giant, flees, cuts down stalk
What did Jack do in the giant’s castle?
What did the giant do?
What happened to the giant?
Was Jack a good guy or a bad guy?
Let’s watch Sara try …
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Let’s eavesdrop on a few narrative readalouds
Remember that they always have a
before-during-after structure
Think about management and
engagement
Think about opportunities to build
vocabulary
First-Grade Vocabulary Video
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Sara taught a lesson on developing a story
map during reading and ended the lesson
teaching two vocabulary words from the
story.
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At the end of the day she pulled a group of
students who struggled with the story map
and vocabulary and repeated the lesson.
While watching the video
notice …
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How does Sara set the purpose for the
lesson?
How does she maintain a focus on
enjoying the story and learning?
How does she plan for students to talk
during the reading?
How does she maintain focus on the
purpose of the lesson?
Before the small group …
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When Sara repeats the same lesson with
the same book on the same day with a
group of students struggling with
comprehension and vocabulary, what do
you think will happen?
After the 1st-grade video
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What are the similarities and differences
between the whole-group and small- group
lesson?
How did she introduce the purpose for
revisiting the book again with the small
group?
Planning a Read-Aloud
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Choose engaging, well-illustrated books
A number of words should be unknown to about
half the students
Choose 3 target words that are likely to be
unfamiliar but useful later (in fiction, these words
will be unrelated; in nonfiction, they will be key
terms)
For nonfiction, decide how you will introduce the
words and whether they must be introduced first
in order to ensure comprehension
Keep track of the words you choose
Planning a Read-Aloud
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Plan to repeat the read-aloud
Plan for small-group sessions (3-5
students) to repeat the story
Plan multiple exposures to the vocabulary
items you chose in the days following
During the Read-Aloud
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Introduce (or review) a comprehension
strategy or focus
Build prior knowledge
Preteach key concepts if the read-aloud is
nonfiction
Focus children’s attention
During the Read-Aloud
Be “performance oriented”;
read with expression.
During the Read-Aloud
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Include “rich, dialogic discussion”
- Activate relevant prior knowledge
- Link the story to experiences of
students
- Elicit responses from students
Give synonyms or quick explanations of
Tier 3 words as you go (Biemiller)
During the Read-Aloud
Display pictures after reading a page,
not while reading it (Beck et al., 2004)
During the Read-Aloud
 Pause at the places you’ve chosen to model
comprehension strategies.
 Remember to prompt children about strategies
that are becoming familiar.
 Keep the children interacting and focused on the
the text
After the Read-Aloud
 Conduct a discussion.
 Get beyond the literal level!
 Elicit thoughtful responses.
 Don’t just question–encourage questioning!
 Practice summarizing.
 Review the comprehension strategy.
 In nonfiction, review the vocabulary.
 In fiction, teach the vocabulary.
After the Read-Aloud
 Keep track of the words you teach.
 Make a chart with words, dates and books.
 Look for chances to revisit words.
 Record when you do.
Ask “silly questions.”
Would a fortunate person scowl?
Beck & McKeown (2004)
Be a Word Wizard!
Tom
Sue
Ed
Juan
Maria
Lakesha
Paul
Jack
wary
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scowl ridiculous fortunate
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
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
Beck & McKeown (2004)
9-10
fortunate
scowl
I
I
willing
resist
restful
joyous
I
9-11
9-12
9-13
9-14
9-17
9-18
9-19
R
R
I
I
I
wander
gloomy
beam
I
I
I
I = Introduce
R
R
R = Reinforce
Let’s try …
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Work with a partner to choose a trade
book to use
Read the book together, and take a minute
to think about it
Decide what you would do before, during,
and after reading to build children’s
vocabulary
Let’s watch Sara with 3rd
Graders
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Notice the difference in level of
independence in completing a story map
What evidence do we have that the
children need the graphic organizer?
After viewing both videos
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How are the whole group read-alouds
similar and different in the first- and thirdgrade classes?
What opportunities could Sara provide in
the small group that she could not provide
in the whole-group setting?
What evidence do you have that the
children actually do need re-teaching?
Building it into instruction
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How could you improve your use of read
alouds to build vocabulary next year
What support would you need? How
could you work together as a team?
How do I know when the
kids actually know the
new words?
Knowing a word isn’t all
or nothing. It’s a matter
of degree.
A Continuum of Word Knowledge
No knowledge
A vague sense of the meaning
Narrow knowledge with aid of context
Good knowledge but shaky recall
Rich, decontextualized knowledge,
connected to other word meanings
That’s a lot to process.
Can you sum it up?
Sure.
Primary Read-Aloud Planner
Choose an engaging book.
Planning
Decide what to do before, during, and
after the read-aloud to build
comprehension and vocabulary.
a comprehension strategy.
Before Reading Introduce
Develop prior knowledge.
Prepare!
Focus attention.
During Reading
Guide!
After Reading
Extend!
Model the strategy by thinking aloud.
Ask and answer questions.
Provide synonyms and explanations
for Tier Three words.
Discuss and respond.
Summarize the book.
Review the comprehension strategy.
Teach the Tier Two words you chose.