Download Developing Vocabulary & Enhancing Reading Comprehension

Developing Vocabulary &
Enhancing Reading
Comprehension
SPC ED 587
October 25, 2007
Vocabulary Development
• Children typically learn approximately
3,000 words per year! (that’s 7-10
words a day!!!)
• Students gain new vocabulary through
school (instruction) and through family
activities, trips, hobbies, reading
independently, etc.
Tompkins, 2007
Vocabulary: words a child understands
and uses in listening, speaking, reading,
and writing
• Listening vocabulary - words a child
understands when s/he hears them spoken;
includes words that the child understands but
may not use in his or her everyday conversation
• Speaking vocabulary - words students
understand and routinely uses when
speaking/communicating
• Reading vocabulary - words a child can read
and understand
• Writing vocabulary words child understands and
can use when composing text.
Assessing Vocabulary
Knowledge
• Formal testing
• Classroom-based assessment
• Observation
Stages of Word Learning
(adapted from Dade & O’Rourke, 1971)
• I never saw it before!
• I’ve heard of it or I can pronounce it,
but I don’t know what it means.
• I recognize it in context
• I know it.
Teaching Vocabulary
• Indirectly
–
–
–
–
Conversations
Preteaching content words for a unit
Teacher read-alouds*
Reading independently
• Directly
– Direct instruction on a small number of meaningful
words at a time, across time
– Instruction that requires active participation
– Learning to use resources (e.g., dictionaries)
* “Researchers report that children learn as many words
incidentally while listening to teachers read aloud as they
do by reading themselves.” (Stahl et al., 1991 as cited in
Word Wall targeting specific content vocabulary for a unit.
What the Student Knows
Instruction Needed
Knows word when hears it but
doesn’t recognize printed form.
Teach printed form.
Knows word’s oral and written form Promote generative knowledge.
but doesn’t use it in speech or
Give examples of its use; clarify
writing.
word; encourage its use in a safe
environment.
Knows the concept but not the
label.
Teach the label and relate it to the
concept.
Has partial knowledge of the word.
Knows definition but doesn’t have
contextual knowledge.
Develop a deeper meaning of the
word; examine the word in multiple
contexts.
Recognizes the label but has no
Develop the concept.
real conceptual knowledge of the
concept. Or knows the word’s
“everyday” meaning but not how it
might be used in a technical sense.
Does not know either concept or
Develop the concept and the label.
Teaching Vocabulary
• Build on what students know and relate new
words to students’ lives/experiences
– E.g., Word Watch
– Look up words that have entered English via students’
own linguistic background (e.g., tornado: Spanish:
tornar [to turn])
• Teach for depth and breadth
– E.g., What it Is and What it Isn’t
• Use engaging activities to create interest
– E.g., Word Posters
Teaching Vocabulary:
More ideas
• Word Study
– Concepts and meanings
– Multiple meanings
– Compound words
– Synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, figurative
meanings
• Word Walls, Word Maps
• Word Sorts – adapt these for meaning or
use
• Quiz Me Cards & Definition Cards (see
Keefe chapter in the text)
Example of Word Map
What is it?
What is it like?
An animal
fox
•sharp teeth
•bushy tail
•sneaky
What are some examples?
Hattie
Rosie’s Henny The Gingerbread
And the
Walk Penny Man
Red Fox
p. 187,Tomkins, 2007
Teaching Vocabulary
• Provide repetition and systematic review
– “children need to read, write, and/or use
words 8-10 times or more before they can
automatically recognize them and remember
their meanings”
• Teach for independence
– Teach use of resources (asking peer/teacher;
looking up a word, etc.)
Comprehension is “The Point” of
Reading
“. . . reader’s process of using prior experiences and the
author’s text to construct meaning that is useful to that
reader for a specific purpose.” (p. 252)
That is, comprehension is an ACTIVE process.
Know
Want to know
Learned
Theories of Comprehension
• Schema Theory
• Mental/Situation Models
Factors Affecting Comprehension
•
•
•
•
•
Decoding and fluency skills
Vocabulary
Background knowledge
Academic vs. conversational vocabulary
Understanding the structure of written
language
• Processing abilities
• Understanding the purpose for reading a
particular text
• Cognitive abilities/skills
Teachers who were excellent at
facilitating comprehension:
• Built language at every opportunity
• Activated/built students’ background
knowledge (schema)
• Provided a purpose for reading
• think-alouds
• Followed up on that purpose after reading
• Taught prediction
• Continuously motivated students to read
for meaning
• Taught strategies to identify the main idea