Chapter 7 Vocabulary

Chapter 7 Vocabulary

This week I learned about the impact of vocabulary in today’s schools.  I must admit that I love vocabulary and all of the “tricks” of the trade.  After this chapter I felt as if I had been doing a disservice to my students in the sense that I sometimes don’t let them struggle through incidental vocabulary that they encounter. I will typically define the word before we begin reading or while we are reading. I do know that at times when I am actually facilitating a lesson that I will use vocabulary that the students may not be familiar with and try to back it up with a sentence that contains its synonym  to guarantee that the students understand what they are reading.

My favorite activity was the 7.2 Word inventory. This would be a great introduction strategy. It would be an awesome assessment of what they already know. It would also help me to determine prior knowledge. (One of the things in the past that I have struggled with)

I do, however, celebrate the fact that I am good at concepts of context. When there is a word that has a different meaning across curriculum I stop to address it with the students.  We talk about the way the word was used and the context in which it was used.

One thing I would hope to grow into is vocabulary podcasts.  Being able to use podcast would be a monumental experience for the students.  The students definitely enjoy technology enhanced learning. I believe they would embrace the concept.

I wasn’t a fan of the jot chart method until I began to think about the fact that I work in a lower social economic area that has extreme challenges with vocabulary.  I think about the speech that our gifted and talented teacher gave at the beginning of the year and a parent said “I don’t have a clue what that over-educated lady is saying.” I would be interested in knowing what the students thought for the possible definition as this could shed some light on cultural differences or even economic differences. I would like to marry the jot chart with a type of dictionary game and see if the students are more motivated to complete the activity.

After reading the chapter it placed an intense need on making sure that I spend time teaching vocabulary.  I know that my students struggle in this area and the chapter made me realize that my deficiency in context clues may stem from my lack of attention to vocabulary. I also will not be using all the suggested vocabulary words as per the teacher manual, but will read the passages, stories, or poems myself and determine which words would be beneficial to focus on. OF course I love illustrations and will allow students to do that as well. I am a firm believer that if you can’t talk it out you can draw it out!