Wow! I was impressed with the collaboration and instructional discussions that took place at our Vocabulary PD! Thank you all for your insight, questions, and positive mindsets!
I was happy to receive many questions and requests for more activity ideas via the exit tickets. Below are a few questions with responses and I will share more activity ideas to specific grade levels in the upcoming weeks! Thank you all for jumping in whole heartedly and reflecting on your practice! We work at a great school!
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1. When you teach all subjects, which types of words (Tiers 1-3) are most effective for students to have in the classroom word walls?
Tier 2 words would be best for word walls -- remember Tier 1 words are words that students speak with on a daily basis. Yet, for kindergarten or first grade, sight words would be beneficial (which probably fall under Tier 1). It's always a good idea to display or make Tier 3 words available to students as well, but word walls should focus on high frequency words. Students could also have personal word walls in folders, that they keep different words than those on display on a word wall.
Here is a link to a great article/site about word walls and making them interactive!
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2. How do you know what words they don't know?
There is no way to know every students' vocabulary knowledge. But after working with students and conferring with them on different topics/activities, you can start to do some formative assessments. Tier 2 words are those words that can be used across contexts and are high frequency words, but that doesn't mean that they understand the meaning. Here's an idea from the article "Doing It Differently: Tips for Teaching Vocabulary":
- Ask each child to create a chart where he/she writes down words of choice, and rates each one as "know it," "sort of know it," or "don't know it at all."
- Then, on the same paper, have them write a definition or "my guess on meaning" for the words they know and kind of know (No dictionaries!)
Before they turn in these pre-reading charts, be sure to emphasize this is not about "being right" but that they are providing you with information to guide next steps in class vocabulary instruction.
This would be a great formative assessment piece before reading a text and could be adjusted for any grade level or content area!
You can read more on this through the following link to the article on edutopia:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/vocabulary-instruction-teaching-tips-rebecca-alber
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3. What are some ideas that can be used for vocabulary notebooks?
Below are a few links to different ways to set up vocabulary notebooks, or templates to use. If you are interested in finding out more, send me an email and I will happily book a time to come and sit with you to develop something that works for you and your students!
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If you've made it to the end of this long blog post, HOORAY! Thank you for taking the time to look at my follow up on vocabulary. For a chance to win a trip to my Teacher Treasure Box, post a comment with a reaction to this post, a way you've incorporated something from our Vocabulary PD, or share a vocabulary tip that you use in your classroom (you could even post a picture!). Happy posting!!
