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Creative Vocabulary Instruction- Spark their Interest, Ignite the Spark!
"Use the dictionary to define your new vocabulary words for the week. Then show me what you have learned by writing one sentence for each word." Does this work? A huge, resounding, NO! My second graders, armed with their First Dictionaries, get so lost in the wording of dictionary definitions that their learning gets muddled and confused! There are far better approaches to the acquisition of new vocabulary, some of which has been studied by Marzzano. One of the first things that I do when I want to introduce my students to new vocabulary is bring in real items. I want them to see, hear, feel, touch, and if poosible, taste the new word. Multisensory experiences help all learners, especially those learners who haven't had a langauage- rich background at home. For example- last week one of our vocabulary words was "impatient". I brought in a few photos from old magazines of people waiting in line for the bathroom at an airport- a long line of people, some of whom were stamping their feet, arms crossed indignantly. I opened up a discussion about the photo, and before introducing the word "impatient", had my students describe the photo. After recording their responses on chart paper, I told them the word. We all said it aloud, counting the number of vowel sounds in it, and writing it in the air with our fingers. The following day, as we read our story in our textbooks, we came across the word again. In context, my students were able to call up the mental image of the photo from the day before to remember the meaning of the word! The third day, we add the word to our Word Wall. We all have to be able to create our own sentence for the word, one that will help us remember what the word means. But here is the fun part- we create the sentences on index cards- one word to a card. Next, we go around the room, handing out one index card randomly. I call 3-2-1-Go! and hte stdents scramble trying to fit their sentences together, often with wacky and hilarious results! Finally, we record our sentences on sentence strips to hang around the room. The fourth day I ask the students to fold a piece of white unlined paper into 6ths. In each square, we write one of our new vocabulary words. In the space allowed, we draw a picture of what the word means, again, using a multi-modal approac to vocabulary acquisition. This helps the students REALLY remember the word! The final day of the week I assess their learning. Not by a standard spelling and vocabulary test, however, but in a way that my students really enjoy. I challenge them to create a mural on butcher paper of all their new vocabulary words frm the week. We then post these around the room, and my students are surrounded with words, and can SEE for themselves the learning that they are doing! This approach to vocabulary instruction seems to have worked well for my students. They feel far more confident tackling more difficult texts in their indepenedent reading, and have shown a higher level of comprehension when given the IRI. As always, not one approach will work for all learners. Try it out, give it a go, and see if you can get your students to become hungry for new words! |
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May, 2012
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