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Dec 13, 2021 · There’s nothing negative that comes about when anyone grows their vocabulary—and for students, there are many, many positives. By adding even a few of these strategies to your repertoire, you’ll help students build vocabularies that will support them no matter what path they choose to pursue.
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How can we help students develop vocabulary?
How is vocabulary taught?
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Does vocabulary instruction start with a definition?
Effective vocabulary teaching has five key principles. 1. Focus on rich meanings, not just dictionary definitions. Too often vocabulary instruction is no more than kids copying definitions from the dictionary. But researchers have identified a number of instructional approaches that outdo any learning that may accrue from copying definitions.
- Sing or rhyme it: Ask students to create a short song or poem that includes a chosen vocabulary word and its definition, suggests Sprenger. Students can work in pairs to develop the song or rhyme.
- Let students choose their own words: “One of the biggest mistakes we teachers make in vocabulary instruction is selecting all the words for the students and not giving them a say in the matter,” says Alber.
- Pick three: Choose three words to focus on that day, and post the words and their definitions prominently in class. “Ask students to set a goal with a partner for how many times they will use the words.
- Act it out: In small groups or pairs, have students briefly act out one of the week’s vocabulary words, says Sprenger. Research shows that the body often remembers what the mind forgets: When researchers asked 8-year-olds to mimic the words they were learning in another language by using their hands and bodies to act out the word’s meaning—spreading their arms and pretending to fly while they learned the German word for airplane, for example—the students were 73 percent more likely to recall them, even two months later.
Vocabulary development starts early, before children learn to read. Young children who hear more words spoken at home and in their community, and engage in more conversations with adults, enter school with more word knowledge.
- Read Extensively. Reading is the most effective way to build your vocabulary. Read books, magazines, and newspapers that cover a wide range of topics, and pay attention to unfamiliar words.
- Keep a Vocabulary Journal. Making a vocabulary journal is a great place to collect and interact with words your child hears or sees in their reading. Each page should be dedicated to a singular new word, including its definitions, synonyms, and antonyms.
- Use Vocabulary Apps. Vocabulary apps are helpful tools for memorizing and expanding your vocabulary. These apps can help build your child’s confidence and increase your standing among your peers.
- Play Word Games. One of the most effective ways for young children to gain knowledge and develop crucial abilities is through play, so word games make it fun and easy for kids to build a larger vocabulary.
To develop vocabulary intentionally, students should be explicitly taught both specific words and word-learning strategies. To deepen students’ knowledge of word meanings, specific word instruction should be robust (Beck et al., 2002).
Drawing on instructional materials, classroom images, and observational data from research, the authors illustrate these principles: establishing efficient, rich routines for introducing target word meanings; providing review activities that promote deep processing of word meanings; responding directly to student confusion; and fostering univers...
