Vocabulary Worksheet

Tips:

  1. Favor indirect vocabulary learning. Choose as few words as possible to teach directly. Maximize opportunities to learn words through reading and using context clues (i.e., synonyms, antonyms, analogies, inference).
  2. There are too many words. Reduce the vocabulary load:
  3. Havestudents select words and rank them (see table below). This formative assessment will help you target just the words needed.
  4. Choosefew words to teach directlythe words that have few context clues. If it can be learned in text, let them.
  5. Focus on the words needed to understand author’s meaning and learning goals.

Steps:

  1. Preview text and select vocabulary words you think 1) students will find unfamiliar, AND 2) are important for students to understand the text
  2. Teach words prior to reading that 1), are not defined in the text (direct or contextual), 2) are frequently encountered in text, and 3) are not part of student’s prior knowledge

Teacher Word Selection:

Direct vocabulary instruction (adapted from Marzano):
  1. Teacher provides contextual explanation of word
  2. Student describe word in own words
  3. Student create picture or symbolic memory clue
  4. Extension activities: examine root word, create analogies, list antonyms/synonyms, note common confusions
  5. Students share with peers: Think-pair-share; discussing, comparing notes, pictures, descriptions, what they learned; making revisions
/ Indirect vocabulary instruction:
  1. Students read and use contextual clues
  2. Teacher reads aloud: Example: As the teacher reads, she pauses and briefly explains (rather than a dictionary definition) each teacher-selected vocabulary word. These quickly-paced explanations do not interrupt the flow of the story. The teacher reads, “Using a worn cotton rope, Jake tethered the old boat to a tree on the riverbank.” She immediately stops and says, “‘Tethered’ means the boat was tied to the tree with a rope.” She continues to read, stopping to similarly explain other vocabulary words.
  3. Oral learning: Find opportunities to discuss words

Before (Direct) / During (Indirect)
Deep / Shallow / Deep / Shallow
Tier 2: Academic / Tier 2: Academic / Tier 2: Academic / Tier 2: Academic
Tier 3: Domain / Tier 3: Domain / Tier 3: Domain / Tier 3: Domain

Student Word Selection:

Vocabulary word / I don’t know / Seen/heard, maybe know / I know / What I think or know the word means. Guess if needed

Preston W. Webster 928-243-1927 Preston Webster Education Solutions 2013