Teaching Tipster: Clarifying Unknown Words

When I use this Predicting, Clarifying, Questioning, and Summarizing form with my students, for each book we read in small group. First, they choose the vocabulary words that are challenging for them. After they choose the words that "are tricky for them," I work with them to clarify the words.

Here's what we do:

1. We write down the words on chart paper. I check the words that are repeats. This helps me to see the words that are tricky for all of the students.
2. Then I choose words that are essential to the comprehension of the text or words that are Tier 2 words that they will encounter often. See this article from Colorin Colorado for more help on choosing vocabulary for ELLs. We talk about 5-10 of the words.
3. Next, the students read the word in context and make inferences about the meaning.
4. I draw a picture of the word, and we discuss the word togther- giving examples and non-examples.
 

I took some quick pictures of the work we did with clarifying  this week:

On the bottom are Tier 2 words (clogged, harder), up top are Tier 3 words (geysers, craters, cinder cones, shield volcanoes).

This process could always be improved on. But, I think it's esecially essential to discuss the tricky words with my students, and giving them an illustration is especially important- it helps to anchor the word for them.

How do you teach vocabulary to the kids you teach?

September Read Alouds: Everyday Animals

I read aloud to my reading intervention students every Thursday. My main instructional goals for these read alouds is to build students' background knowledge/schema, teach new vocabulary, and to build students' fluency. I strategically focus on building schema and vocabulary because many of my students are English Language Learners whom can benefit greatly from being exposed to new vocabulary through natural language experiences.

 

This year I decided to have a theme to my read alouds, so we are building a store of knowledge though out the year. This year we'll be reading about animals of the world. Each month we'll cover a different region of the world with its respective animals. I tried to find a topic that is appealing to students in grades 1-4. I also work with 4th-5th graders, but I have a different read aloud focus with them.

 

Here are the books we read in September. We started first learning about animals close to home. Before I read each book, kids shared what they knew about insects, ducks, or bees. During the reading they asked questions or fixed misconceptions about prior knowledge. After reading, they shared out what they learned. I only have about 20 minutes for the read aloud, so we move quickly.

 

Insect Detective, by Steve Voake, illustrated by Charlotte Voake

Students enjoyed learning these new words:

• dragonfly
• moth
• wasps
• earwigs
• scuttle

Facts learned:

• Insects have 6 legs
• wasps are different than bees
• wasps make their own paper nests
• insects use camouflage protect themselves

Ducks Don't Get Wet, by Augusta Goldin and Helen K. Davie

 

Students enjoyed learning these new words:

• oil glands
• preening/to preen
• bill
• waterproof

Facts learned:

• Ducks have feathers (not fur)
• Ducks migrate to warmer places in the winter
• Some ducks eat fish, other ducks eat dragonflies or other insects
• Ducks can be different colors
• Duck have bills, not beaks

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive, by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruse Degen

Students enjoyed learning these new words:

• pollen
• nectar
• beekeeper
• beehive
• guard bees

Facts learned:

• There are guard bees outside of the hive, that do not let in bees that don't belong to the hive
• The queen bee mates with the worker bees
• Bees communicate to each other by "dancing"

All in all the students enjoyed the Magic School Bus book a lot. They thought it was silly!! But each week a student brings up a connections they had to one of these read alouds, outside of the read aloud time. This month we'll be learning more about the animals of Africa!!

 

I'm linking up at Hope is the Word. Visit the link to check out other awesome read aloud posts!

Be well! Read on!

Something Old, New, Borrowed and Rescued

We're closing in on the end of first quarter, can you believe it!!?? This is my 4th year as a reading specialist, and I think I am hitting a groove with the students and with planning. Here are some things that are happening this year...

OLD

•  I have continued weekly read alouds with my intervention students. I began this last year. Research confirms time and time again the importance of reading aloud to students to build vocabulary, background knowledge, and to increase fluency. I also find that reading books aloud has increased my students motivation to read (really and truly). For most of my groups we're focusing the read alouds this year on non-fiction: animals from around the world. For my 4th-5th grade students the read alouds will focus on California history- they will all be fiction, as we will be discussing universal themes.
• Intervention programs: I am teaching SIPPS and Seeing Stars to 1st and 2nd grade students that need sight word and phonics support. Both of these intervention programs have their merits; I recommend them. I'm also reading a Read 180 class to a group of 4th and 5th grade students. Many of the students have already completed the RBooks (reading anthology of sorts) last year, but we are using the software and the Read 180's leveled books for independent reading. I'm using leveled books and thematic articles with them in small group.
• I have posted a vocabulary word wall for each group. Like last year, I have a small pocket chart for each group with the words we're learning. The charts are hung right next to our reading table.

NEW

• Teaching reading to first graders (and K soon)! I have a couple of 1st grade sweeties I see three days a week. I have to tell you, this experience is stretching me. But two books have saved me: The Next Steps in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson and Beverly Tyner's Small-Group Reading Instruction.
• RtI (Response to Intervention) weekly team meetings. It has been great to be a part of this dynamic team this year. I feel like we are finally starting to address students and teacher's needs proactively.
• Lesson Planning. For the first time as a reading specialist I have had to submit lesson plans weekly. Even though it is time consuming, this has been really good for my teaching.
• Students are borrowing books weekly. I reorganized my library with 4 levels for my intervention students (acorns, walking acorns, oak trees, oak trees with roots). Every Thursday the students use the IPICK system to pick 5-10 new books to bring home for the week. Our school library isn't leveled, many of my students can't find a lot of books at their reading level in their classrooms, and I want to make sure my students are reading books at their level at home. I hope it helps! They  all seem to really enjoy getting new books weekly.
• Daily Mantra. Me: Are you ready to Read? Students in unison: Yes, we're ready to Read. We start small group with short call and response. It gets the kids focused after transition to my room and lets them know it's "go" time. They look forward to this now.

BORROWED 

• Running Records with a 100s grid. Wow, does this save time!! A colleague sent me her template, and I am in love. I think not having to count the words a student reads save me 10 minutes a day! That's 50 saved minutes a week. If you want this grid, I'd be more than happy to pass it along.
• Theme posters from Beth Newingham's Third Grade Class. See link. Love these posters. I aim to discuss theme throughout the year with my Read 180 class.

RESCUED

• My new room! I moved from something that may have reminded you of Rapunzel's turret (a square cement room above the gym) to another odd room off the stage. The newer room is still cement and an unwelcoming peach color- but I love my new home.  I have redecorated and it has become quite a calming space. They kids often comment how much they like my room now. Good, because I like it too! It has a couple couches, and that's always a plus!

Phew! That's a lot to chew on. As for me, I am excited the direction this year is taking, and here's hoping that my instructional decisions will positively impacts students' learning.

Be well! Read on!

I Think I'm in Love with This Man!

It all started in grad school...

This is Michael Graves, well-know vocabulary researcher. I first learned about Graves when I was writing my final paper about vocabulary instruction. When I was researching the paper, his name came up constantly, since he has a strong presence in the world of teaching reading. I grew to love his pedagogical perspective.

This fall I am co-teaching a Literacy Development credential class with my husband. If you can imagine, I was ecstatic when I found out he authored one of the five recommended texts for a course on teaching reading. Of course his text is amazing and also aligned with current research and best practices. 

But wait, there's more!

I am coordinating our school's intervention aides this year. We needed to find a vocabulary intervention program that our aide could use with students. And again, Michael Graves came through with an affordable and well-researched vocabulary program (Vocabulary Builders). It is a simple program that exactly meets the needs of our school. 

This may see like an ad (or a marriage proposal??), but it's not. I just really appreciate how this one researcher has so affected my understanding of vocabulary instruction, and he has provided teachers with tools to best teach vocabulary to our students.

Thank you Michael Graves!  

For more Michael Graves, check out an article authored on Vocabulogic here.

Be well! Read on!

Teaching Tipsters: Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

Kids need to know a lot of words to be successful in school. It is estimated that materials that schoolchildren read include a total of 100,000 different words! That's a crazy amount of words. Kids learn about 3,000-4,000 words every year, and they learn these words in a lot of different ways. Students pick up a lot of words without explicit teaching- through read alouds, independent wide reading, building word consciousness (awareness) in the class, through conversations, etc... But explicit teaching is important to build your student's basic reading vocabulary.

What is Explicit Vocabulary Instruction?

Intentional, Explicit Instruction Research indicates that the intentional, explicit teaching of specific words and word-learning strategies can both add words to students’ vocabularies (see Tomeson & Aarnoutse, 1998; White et al., 1990) and improve reading comprehension of texts containing those words (see McKeown, Beck, Omanson, & Pople, 1985; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). Whereas intentional instruction can benefit all students, it is especially important for students who have not developed the decoding and comprehension skills necessary for wide reading. For these students in particular, intentional, explicit teaching of specific word meanings and of word-learning strategies is especially important (National Reading Panel, 2000). Specific word instruction refers to vocabulary instruction that enables students to develop in-depth knowledge of important words – that is, to know words well enough to access information about them from memory as they read.

Every year I dabble in vocabulary instruction. But I want to make sure next year there's a specific plan for vocabulary instruction for all my intervention groups and for our classrooms school wide. I know how valuable it is for the kids, especially English Language Learners. This past year I read aloud a book once a week in my intervention groups. I  pre-taught words before the read aloud, and just with that simple forethought I saw my students word interest and knowledge grow. It was very exciting! I want to be even more intentional next year and have use a specific method for teaching pre-selected words weekly.

Michael Graves, vocabulary instruction guru extraordinaire, suggests explicitly teaching 10 words a week, in additional to other vocabulary building activities integrated into the teaching day.



I've gathered some explicit vocabulary methods online:

Method 1

Marzano's Six Steps of Explicit Academic Vocabulary Instruction

(check out the link for more details and awesome vocab lists!)

Dr. Marzano describes a six-step process in the instruction of vocabulary (Building Academic Vocabulary).  The first three steps are to assist the teacher in direct instruction.  The last three steps are to provide the learner practice and reinforcement.

Step 1:  The teacher will give a description, explanation, or example of the new term.

Step 2:  The teacher will ask the learner to give a description, explanation, or example of the new term in his/her own words.

Step 3:  The teacher will ask the learner to draw a picture, symbol, or locate a graphic to represent the new term.

Step 4:  The learner will participate in activities that provide more knowledge of the words in their vocabulary notebooks.

Step 5:  The learner will discuss the term with other learners.

Step 6:  The learner will participate in games that provide more reinforcement of the new term.

Method 2

Early Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners
1. Choose three to five words from a story.
2. Preview the words, using definitions the student can understand.
3. Read the text (as a read aloud, shared or guided reading).
4. Put the words in context.
5. Give an example in a different context.
6. Ask students to provide their own examples.

Method 3
The STAR Model (see more detail here)
1. Select
2. Teach
3. Activate/Analyze/Apply
4. Revisit

Method 4
This is a method by Michael Graves, one of my favorite vocabulary experts in the field of teaching reading:
1. Define the words
2. Use them in context
3. Give students opportunities to contribute what they know about the words
4. Display taught words predominately in classroom
5. Review and rehearse the words in a variety of ways (games, chants, listening activities etc...)

Each one of these methods has its place in the teaching of vocabulary explicitly- and they're all similar to each other. Method 1, Marzano's method, seems a little rigid to me, but I know a lot of people like it for teaching academic vocabulary. I like that in Method 2 the words are taken from a text that the class is reading together. I think this is very powerful. Method 3 is simple, and simple is good. And finally, Method 4 is the general, but I feel like the most practical for me to use on a day-to-day basis.

I know that with a school filled with English Language Learners, vocabulary instruction must come to the forefront of my teaching. I am looking forward to being more systematic next year with my explicit vocabulary instruction- I know is will really benefit my students.

Link to these AMAZING online resources:

• Scholastic's Lesson Plan for Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
• A Good Overview on the Research of Vocabulary Instruction
• Vocabulary Instruction for English Language Learners
• How Systematic Vocabulary Instruction Can Close the Literacy Gap
• Reading Rocket's Developing Academic Vocabulary
• Integrated Vocabulary Instruction- Complete Packet of Ideas

I was inspire to write this post after reading Five-Day Plan for Developing Breadth of Vocabulary via Storybook Reading on Vocabulogic. A wonderful post, and an equally lovely blog!!

If you're a teacher, how do you explicit teach vocabulary in the classroom? Do you prefer any one of these four methods, or do you favor another method altogether? How else to you integrate vocabulary instruction into your day?

If you're an interventionist/reading specialist, how do you weave vocabulary learning into intervention?

If you're a parent, how do you find yourself teaching new words to your kids? I'd love to know!

Bridging the Widening Vocabulary Gap with TV

I went to the new Jane Eyre movie last night with my mom and sister. I was not much of a reader when I growing up, but for some reason I loved reading Jane Eyre my senior year of high school. I downloaded it onto my Kindle (for free!) when I got home from the movie, and started reading it aloud to my husband. The writing is beautiful (yet complex), using quite sophisticated (and dated) language.

Again, I was not a reader growing up. My mom said that I was a bit behind in learning how to read. I didn't gobble up series books or carry a book around with me as a kid. I was too busy playing, I suppose. Last night I was impressed with my childhood self. How did I comprehend that complex novel? How did I understand all of those words? I guess I did well because my mom used good vocabulary when speaking with me, I usually read some of what was assigned to me in school, I understood concepts well, and I had a lot of books read to me when I was young....and that was just enough to help me get by.

Knowing a lot of words and having the ability to to figure out unknown words is essential to reading well. Many of us are lucky enough to come from homes that know this: Words are spoken purposefully. Words are taught explicitly. Wordplay abounds. But all kids are not so lucky. Even many darn good parents, who want the best for their child in every way possible, don't know about the value of teaching and learning words. And the challenge is, how do we teach kids without a hearty vocabulary enough words once they get to school? How do we catch them up to speed and bridge the vocabulary gap??

I'm in love with this new blog Vocabulogic. It's a treasure trove of valuable resources all about vocabulary, with articles written by the most known and trusted vocabulary researchers. I found an article, Vocabulary for Preschoolers: The Martha Speaks Program (Biemiller), that has some good ideas about bridging this gap.

This article mentions using the Marta Speaks TV to improve students' vocabulary. I checked out the Martha Speaks TV program on PBS, and I'm loving it! Anyone can watch all of the episodes for free online.  Did you catch that? It's free! Hey parents- show these to your preschoolers! Hey teachers- use these as centers in your K-1 classroom! I know I certainly would. I love the way the program teaches vocabulary. The programs are engaging, and are proven to improve kids' vocabulary.

Read Alouds Online? Check out StoryBookOnline!

I love love love Read Alouds. Here's why:

• Read Alouds are enjoyable (entertaining) for kids of all ages
• They encourage a love of reading- who wouldn't love cuddling up and hearing a good story?
• Kids are able to listen to text above their reading level which helps them to learn new vocabulary and improve listening comprehension
• Reading Alouds improve fluency. When kids hear competent readers read, they learn how to read out loud well and began to mimic the master reader's expression, intonation, rate, phrasing, etc... 
• Read Alouds engage students that struggle with reading 
• Reading a chapter book (non picture book), can help transitional readers build confidence- so they feel ready to tackle chapter books independently
• They widen students' perspectives and build background knowledge
• Read Alouds are especially essential for non-native speakers for all the reasons mentioned above
• They are an excellent way to teach/introduce a complex subject. I especially love using read alouds to teach middle/high schoolers about history. There are moving picture books about Hiroshima, the Japanese Internment in the US, affects of radiation, civil rights, slavery, etc...

Check out Storyline Online to hear quality picture books read by members of the screen actors guild. I discovered this site a couple of months ago. My students like using this site at home to listen to the books online. Many of my students' parents do not speak English, so this is a great way for them to build their fluency, background knowledge, and vocabulary.


Here's a couple way to use this site:

• You can sit with your student/child as they listen to these books online. Then you can have a conversation about what they read. What did the characters learn? Did this remind them of another book (why?)? What was the most important part of the story? What questions do you have after reading?
• If you're a teacher, you can use this as a listening center in your classroom.
• Have your child/student listen to these books independently. Talk to them about the stories afterwards. 
• Have your child/students read the stories multiple times.
• Turn the volume off, and have your child/students retell the story in their own words.
• Turn the captions on; this helps with word learning! Seeing the words at the bottom of the screen AND hearing them read is an excellent way to build a student's vocabulary.
• Use the provided activities to extend learning.

What are your favorite books to read aloud?

Read On!

Bountiful Benefits of Biligualism

I came across the website ScienceDaily.com recently. I immediately began saving links to articles that were blog-worthy (and there were so many!). I am no science junky- but these recent studies revealed so much about language learning and bilingualism.

Most of my students know both Spanish and English, yet instead of seeing that knowledge as an asset, many of my students act like knowing Spanish is a deficit. Just today I had a student claim that he never wants to speak Spanish at home (his parents only speak Spanish)- aye aye aye! Oh how I wish I could speak Spanish well! He's so lucky, and he's yet to realize it (he's only in 2nd grade, after all)!

As the excerpts below point out, becoming bilingual encourages you to see the world differently. I completely agree. The little that I know of Spanish (I can hold a casual conversation, albeit rife with grammatical and word choice errors), I am constantly pushed to see the world from a different culture's perspective. I also feel like my knowledge of Spanish has helped me better to understand English root words, suffixes, prefixes, verb tense and conjugations, etc... Knowing Spanish has also makes me a much better teacher; using cognates in teaching builds meaningful connections for my students.

I get my 20-minute Spanish practice in daily when I drop my little one off at daycare. I have finally mastered the past tense and I'm able to say she slept? (it only took me a year!). I need to continue my bilingual efforts; I'm eager to boost my memory and cognition abilities! How about you?

Read On! And check out the links below--

Excerpts from- Bilinguals See the World in a Different Way, Study Suggests

And you don't need to be fluent in the language to feel the effects -- his research showed that it is language use, not proficiency, which makes the difference.

Most people tend to focus on how to do things such as order food or use public transport when they learn another language to help them get by, but this research has shown that there is a much deeper connection going on.

"As well as learning vocabulary and grammar you're also unconsciously learning a whole new way of seeing the world," said Dr Athanasopoulos. "There's an inextricable link between language, culture and cognition

Excerpts from- Exposure To Two Languages Carries Far-Reaching Benefits

"It's often assumed that individuals who've learned multiple languages simply have a natural aptitude for learning languages," said Viorica Marian, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders at Northwestern University. "While that is true in some cases, our research shows that the experience of becoming bilingual itself makes learning a new language easier."

And they believe the bilingual advantage is likely to generalize beyond word learning to other kinds of language learning, including learning new words in one's own language and a very basic ability to maintain verbal

Second Language Acquisition: It Takes Time

As a reading specialist in East Oakland, I work primarily with students that are struggling with language acquisition. A lack of English language knowledge tends to be the most common deficit. Secondly, many of my students do not have access to books and do not read often- which continues to keep them back. When my students' knowledge of  English sounds/patterns/words grow (in concert with a toolbox full of learned reading skills), their reading usually takes off. Makes sense, right? Yes, I have several other students that have visual/auditory processing issues- which are different issues (and hard to sort out especially when they are ALSO learning English!). But again, most of my students need intensive and explicit language and vocabulary instruction. It's hard to read and make sense of the words, when you don't know any of the words and their meaning to start with!

I like this snippet from an article on everythingesl.net (a great site, with great resources for esl/el teachers)-

Stages of Second Language Acquisition by Judie Haynes

It takes students from 4-10 years to achieve cognitive academic language proficiency in a second language. Student at this stage will be near-native in their ability to perform in content area learning. Most ELLs at this stage have been exited from ESL and other support programs. At the beginning of this stage, however, they will need continued support from classroom teachers especially in content areas such as history/social studies and in writing. 

Tell Me a Story Cards

Today I bought these Fairytale Mixups Creative Story Cards for my almost-3-year-old niece. Who would have guessed that she would love these? She did. She instantly (and without any directions or help) began using the picture cards to make up her own stories. She then preceded carry them around everywhere and play with them for the next hour or so. How wonderful is that?

As I literacy specialist, I know that activities like this are helpful for preschoolers to build important literacy skills before they enter school. Yeah for literacy! These cards encourage vocabulary development, foster creativity, help a child to understand character and story elements (beginning, middle, end, climax, etc...), and give a child the biggest gift of all- enthusiasm about stories.

If you're looking for a good birthday present go-to, or a fun, yet educational, rainy day activity for a wee one- these cards would be a fantastic choice. I am also thinking of picking up a set of these for my students that are learning English; they would be perfect to encourage speaking in complete sentences, using new vocabulary, and so much more. These cards would also be great for Speech Therapists or Special Education Teachers.

An Introduction to Dr. Anita Archer

I am fortunate enough to be attending CORE's (Consortium on Reading Excellence) Leadership Summit this week. After sitting through three meaningful sessions today, I'm motivated and encouraged to become a more effective teacher of reading.

The two sessions spent with Dr. Anita Archer (this is the first time I had heard of her) were particularly riveting. She has a lot of energy, was definitely quirky, and reminded me of best teaching practices (that I sometimes neglect to follow through on!). I'm excited to share with you what I learned about how to best teach reading. Anita focused primarily on explicit instruction, the subject of her new book. The book's website (below), has loads of videos showing Anita demonstrating many of the strategies she talked to us about today. These videos would be very helpful for the new or seasoned teacher, or any coach or school administrator. 

Check out these links about Dr. Anita Archer:
Dr. Anita Archer‘s Strategic Literacy Instruction Video Series
Details about Anita's new book: Explicit Instruction

I gathered sufficient fodder to fuel intriguing blog posts for months to come. I will try to post about all of the teaching strategies that I learn at this conference. In the meantime, I look forward to Day 2 of the Core conference tomorrow- I'm signed up for the RtI (Response to Intervention) track and hope to learn a lot!

From Amazon.com about Anita's book, Explicit Instruction:

Explicit instruction is systematic, direct, engaging, and success oriented--and has been shown to promote achievement for all students. This highly practical and accessible resource gives special and general education teachers the tools to implement explicit instruction in any grade level or content area. The authors are leading experts who provide clear guidelines for identifying key concepts, skills, and routines to teach; designing and delivering effective lessons; and giving students opportunities to practice and master new material. Sample lesson plans, lively examples, and reproducible checklists and teacher worksheets enhance the utility of the volume. Downloadable video clips demonstrating the approach in real classrooms are available at the authors' website: www.explicitinstruction.org.

Read on!