May/June
2008
Daniel Pallante, president of the Ohio
Educational Development Center and founder of the Collaborative
Language and Literacy Instruction Project (CLLIP), whose program
has been used in Ohio schools for the past decade, helps teachers
teach high-level words to children at different ages. Here are some
of his guidelines for early vocabulary building:
Preschool: Teachers should
pick out four to five Tier 2 words a week that relate to “big-time”
concepts like “ocean,” which not only connect to children’s
experiences but can be extended to touch on larger concepts and
related words.
Kindergarten: As children
get into word reading, it’s valuable to talk about the structure
of words: how words—like block towers—can be taken apart
or built from smaller pieces, and how that changes what they mean.
He suggests concentrating on four to five words a week.
First grade: Children are
ready to amplify their vocabulary learning by drawing inferences
around six to seven target words each week.
Second grade: Students
are ready to develop dictionary skills around seven to ten target
words a week to begin to investigate multiple meanings.
Third grade: Students may
target eight to ten new words weekly, extending their dictionary
skills to think about which of a target word’s multiple meanings
may be most relevant for a particular discussion.
For all students preK–3:
Teachers should use interactive strategies to engage students. For
example, if a story uses the word “risk,” a teacher
might say, “I am going to give you some scenarios and if I
describe one that is taking a risk, say, ‘Oh no!’”
A teacher might then describe going swimming without a lifeguard
(risky) and checking out a library book (not risky). Teachers can
also send students home to find all the places a certain word turns
up or make versions of Jeopardy to play in the classroom. “We
have teachers who tell us they won’t read a book any more
without doing these interactive strategies,” he says. “They
say, ‘Otherwise it’s not fun for me or for the kids.’”
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