Vocabulary is a key to reading comprehension and content learning. English language learners (ELLs) will benefit from direct instruction of vocabulary, and their peers can benefit from this instruction as well. Here are some ideas to help you get started, along with several links to our ELL Strategy Library.
Classroom strategies: Vocabulary
1. Plan ahead.
Before teaching a new lesson or unit, identify a select group of key vocabulary words you want to teach. Look for words that:
- Students will see frequently
- Support students' understanding of text or new content
- May appear in other content areas
Keep the list limited to a manageable number of new words.
2. Pre-teach vocabulary
Pre-teaching vocabulary before a lesson or reading a new text gives students a chance to get familiar with the words before encountering them in content. Here are some ideas, along with links to strategies that provide more information on how to use these strategies:
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3. Practice, practice, practice!
Students need multiple opportunities to practice using new words across all four language domains: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. You can ask students to:
- Highlight key words in text
- Listen for the words in a read-aloud or audio recording
- Write sample sentences with the key words
- Use key words in discussion
In addition, review word meanings regularly with strategies such as:
- Comprehension Checks: These are quick, real-time checks on students' understanding such as thumbs up/thumbs down and exit tickets
- Match, Sort, and Order: Students can match words with their definition or photo; sort words into categories; put words in alphabetical order; or put words in a correct sequence.
- Photo Gallery: Students must match words and pictures, but there are multiple options that might be correct. After matching, they must explain their match.
- Sentence Frames and Sentence Starters: Sentence frames and sentence starters provide a fill-in-the-blank phrase or sentence students can use, which scaffolds their language development.
4. Keep words visible.
- Provide word lists that students can keep in a folder or binder.
- Post new vocabulary on a word wall, and review the words regularly.
- Use anchor charts to introduce new concepts and thematic vocabulary.
- Label drawings and pictures to help students make the connection between oral and written English. Point to these visuals to clarify meaning when using these words.
5. Teach students how to use word tools.
- Teach students how to use tools such as glossaries and dictionaries, whether in print or in a digital format.
- Make sure students know where they can go to look up new word meanings.
Finally, keep students curious about new words.
- Ask students to bring new words into the classroom that they hear at home, on TV, or anywhere else and drop these words into a word wizard box. At the end of class, pull out a word and ask who wrote it. Have students tell you where they heard the words and how they were used. Ask students to use these new words in their discussions and writing.
- Use strategies such as Word-Phrase-Sentence to explore new words that students are curious about.
Comments
leahz replied on Permalink
halu
can u give an example of vocabulary use in a sentence?
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