Punny Books and Wordy Reads, for Kids of All Ages

I offer up a sampling from my book collection. These books might nurture interest in various aspects of language and accelerate lexipensity. Titles are listed in order, from simplistic to advanced. Enjoy!

PICTURE BOOKS

Sunshine, Moonshine, by Jennifer Armstrong. A lovely rhyming picture book, suitable for preK to 2. Use this book to develop awareness of compound words, especially how they once started as separate words. After reading and discussing the book, the class might brainstorm compounds that contain sun: sunflower, suntan, sunglasses, etc. (Another picture book for developing awareness of how compounds work is Once There Was a Bull ... (frog): Adventures in Compound Words, by Rick Walton.)  

The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown.  This picture book does not tell a story, it asks a question, prompting the reader to drill down to the heart of a thing. The author asks, "What is the most important thing about rain?" (let children brainstorm at this point). Then she provides a list of things that describe rain (characteristics and attributes are academic words teachers might eventually include in the class discussion). She arrives at the conclusion, "The most important thing about rain is that it is wet" (allow the class to debate this).  Another question: What is the most important thing about a spoon?"  Finally, my favorite, "What is the most important thing about YOU?" (Students could make a poster describing themselves or a fellow student, focusing on their most important trait.)

In Philosophy Now, Professor Thomas Wartenberg explains how to use picture books to help children reason. In the post, Picture Book Philosophy, he discusses several books that suit this goal. In the following excerpt, he refers to The Important Book:

I am repeatedly amazed by what children are able to accomplish in a philosophical discussion. I am often struck by how the children make claims that remind me of ideas I learned only after years of reading and thinking about philosophy. For example, consider The Important Book (1990) by Margaret Wise Brown. For each of a number of things, such as grass, an apple, rain, a spoon, and you, the book says that something is the important thing about it. It also lists a number of other things that the object also is. The important thing about rain, for example, is that it is wet; its other properties are falling from the sky, sounding like rain, making things shiny, and not tasting like anything. When a group of eight-year-olds were discussing the book, they were very dissatisfied with that list. They proposed a list of their own, which included: It makes puddles and ponds; it splashes; it can evaporate; and it makes mud. But the children decided that they thought the most important thing about rain was that it makes things grow.

Opposites, More Opposites, and a Few Differences, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Wilbur. It's pocket-sized with b/w line art, and clever verse. Hard to find and out of print. (Update: It's now available in ebook format!)

An excerpt:

What is the opposite of riot? 

It's lots of people, keeping quiet.

The Unbreakable Code, by Sara Hoagland Hunter. This beautifully illustrated picture book is suitable for grades 4-6. A Navajo Code Talker tells his grandson about the famous code created by the Navajos, Comanches, and Hopis during World War II. The Japanese were not able to decipher any intercepted messages. Below are several examples of how native words were used in isolation or in combination to create the code:

• paahu + kiihu = houses (on) water = paaki = ships
• a/tsá  = eagle =  transport plane
• béésh +  loo´ = metal fish = submarine

Charles Chibitty, a Comanche Code Talker, describes how the codeword for army tank was invented, after seeing a picture of a tank (source: The National Museum of the American Indian):

Well, when they first got us in there for Code Talkers, we had to work that out among our own selves, so we didn’t have a word for tank. And the one said it’s like a [Comanche words] he said, it’s just like a turtle, you know. It has a hard shell and it moves, and so we called it a wakaree´e, a turtle.

CHAPTER BOOKS

Donavan's Word Jar, by MonaLisa DeGross. In this short chapter book, a third grader collects interesting words and stores them in a glass jar. His classmates think he's a word nerd, but in the end, he (Donavan) saves the day and everyone wants to collect words, too. Some teachers read this book at the beginning of the term, presenting the class with an empty jar. Throughout the year, students insert words, written on colorful strips of paper, finishing the year with a celebration of words and language.



A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (actually, anything by Lemony Snicket). This author does not assume that readers understand idiomatic expressions, and includes the definition in the narrative, but in a conversational tone that does not seem like a distraction or an intrusion. This is exemplified in the excerpt below, from The Carnivorous Carnival:

But I always insist that the most frightening part of any beast is its belly, for the simple reason that if you are seeing the belly of the beast it means you have already seen the teeth of the beast and the claws of the beast and even the hair of the beast, and now you are trapped and there is probably no hope for you. For this reason, the phrase "in the belly of the beast" has become an expression which means "inside some terrible place with little chance of escaping safely," and it is not an expression one should look forward to using.

  
Frindle, by Andrew Clements. I cannot say enough about this chapter book, so I won't. Go get it. Read it for your own enjoyment. Read it with the class. Applicable to grades 4-12, but especially best for grades 4-6. This book has a fast-paced and highly relevant plot; the focus is on free speech, word coinage, the dictionary, etymology, and entrepreneurship.

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, now celebrating its 50th birthday, and considered to be the Alice in Wonderland of American literature.  Like Alice, this book is quite advanced and best swallowed in small doses; it requires strong verbal reasoning and extensive prior knowledge, including knowledge of idiomatic expressions.

Rather than going down the rabbit hole, Milo, a bored young adolescent, takes a trip through a magical tollbooth into a fantastical wonderland. Juster makes good fun with idioms, as when Milo JUMPS to the island of CONCLUSIONS. In this allegory, well known phrases are served tongue-in-cheek, and life lessons are couched as whimsical words of wisdom. Throughout, the relative merits of numbers and letters are debated, arriving at a happy-ever-after when both Rhyme and Reason finally prevail together, and the Kingdom is restored to sanity.  Read more at The New Yorker.

ACADEMIC BOOKS

A Little Book of Language, by David Crystal (book summary). Even though the author seems to be addressing an older adolescent, I learned a lot about how human language came to be, the components of language, and the sociocultural aspects of language. A delightful read, with a conversational style, and each chapter is only a few pages.

The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way, by Bill Bryson. In typical  style, Bill Bryson serves up history and comedy, in narrative sauce. My own interest in word origins was secured with the first chapter of this book, the first book I read on this topic. Bryson might be off about some stuff, but he makes up for it in humor.

The Pun Also Rises, by John Pollack. This new book describes "How the humble pun revolutionized language, changed history, and made WORDPLAY more than SOME ANTICS." Need I say more? For more about this book, and the punny author, visit The Morning News.

 

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester. A novel, based in fact, describing how a medical doctor, disturbed by the horrors of the Civil War, winds up in England, incarcerated. From the lunatic asylum, he answers Oxford's nationwide appeal to "men of letters" to help find specific words contextualized in published texts, thus occupying himself by locating thousands of the word quotations used in The Oxford English Dictionary, first edition. I read this book from cover to cover, with amazement at times. Not for children--some disturbing and graphic scenes.



That's all for now. I'll save the rest for another day. Drop a comment if I have missed a favorite of yours!

Best,
Susan

Making Words Stick: A Phonics-Plus Approach to Word Study

Unless they consider meaning, children are prone to forget the words they decoded last week--or indeed, only yesterday. As described further below, we must go beyond phonics to make words memorable. We might help children consider several aspects of a word:

Phonology: The sounds that make up the word. For example, cat has three sounds,  /k/  /a/  /t/ and catch has three sounds, /k/  /a/  /ch/, but brush has four sounds,  /b/  /r/  /u/  /sh/.

Orthography: The letters that represent the sounds and the word, how to spell it.

Morphology: The internal structure of words, including knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, roots and base words. This also includes knowledge of compound words like doghouse, swing set, and self-esteem and linguistic blends where words are smashed together, as in brunch and Vocabulogic.

Semantics: Word meaning, and meaning as a function of context, and also conveyed through a definition (a simple definition is best for children).

Syntax: The grammatical function of the word, how to use it in a sentence.

Berninger, Abbot, Nagy, and Carlisle (2010) argue that there are three types of linguistic insight at work in primary grades and that all three are essential for learning to read: phonological awareness (PA), morphological awareness (MA) and orthographic awareness (OA). In a longitudinal study that lasted several years, they measured growth in PA, OA, MA, and vocabulary knowledge across children in grades 1-6.  What did they discover? Their study showed that PA growth tends to taper off by the end of third grade for many children, OA continues to grow a bit beyond third grade, and MA grows rapidly from first grade through third grade, and then it continues to grow through sixth grade, at least. In measuring vocabulary growth, Berninger and her colleagues found that upper elementary students who have an understanding of derivational morphology are more likely to develop a larger vocabulary, compared to peers who do not, at least implicitly, understand how suffixes influence part of speech (e.g., words that end with the suffix -ness are usually abstract nouns, as in sadness, happiness, peacefulness).  Learn more about syntax at Derivations and Syntax.

Likewise, in their research with children in England, Bryant, Nunes, and Bindman (1997) determined that phonology is necessary but not sufficient for learning to read; morphology and orthography are also necessary. 

Along these lines, Wolf (2007) uses the acronym POSSM to suggest that if we help children integrate  phonology, orthography, semantics, syntax, and morphology, we make reading and writing more "possible" for students. We teach words in such a way that children integrate information from the various linguistic domains. Thus, the word is more likely to be established in memory.

Implications and Lesson Ideas for Teachers: 
What does this type of integrated word study look like? This blog is filled with ideas (especially see posts by Peter Bowers). Here are some brief examples:

If children try to decode tripod as trip + od, they could be prompted to look for a prefix. If the context includes a picture, the teacher could help the child see the three legs on the tripod. Children need to know the prefix tri- (and they eventually might learn that pod denotes 'foot', as in podiatrist).

If children spell the word dealt d-e-l-t, they may not explicitly realize that dealt "comes from" deal; it is the past tense of deal. This involves morphology and semantics, as well as syntax. Tell children that when they spell dealt, they should make sure it still contains the word deal, and the letters d-e-a-l, even though the vowel sound has shifted, from "long e" in deal to "short e" in dealt. (This within-word spelling applies also to heal--health and steal--stealth, BUT not to feel--felt or keep--kept.)

When teaching children to decode or "sound out" words that contain the er spelling pattern, as in sister and blister, also teach them that -er can be a suffix, and that it denotes 'one who' as in singer, or 'something that' as in toaster, or 'more'  as in faster.  Have children sort words, deciding whether a word contains the prefix -er or simply the meaningless spelling pattern er, as in sister, blister, her and butter. (For more ideas, see The Slippery Suffix -er.)

When teaching children to decode words that contain the "short u sound" as in fun, hug, puff, also teach them the prefix un-, and that it means 'not or opposite' as in unlock etc.  If they cannot read long words, such as unbreakable or unbelievable, deliver the lesson verbally. Also, teachers could read the picture book Fortunately, by Remy Charlip, to introduce the prefix un-. Here is an excerpt:

"Fortunately, Ned was invited to a surprise party.

Unfortunately, the party was a thousand miles away.

Fortunately, he borrowed an airplane.

Unfortunately, the motor exploded."

Help children form morphological families. For example, help them brainstorm words that "come from" sun, such as sunny, sunnier, sunshine, suntan, etc. (but NOT sunken). If children are not yet ready to read these words, the lesson is conveyed orally. (Click image to enlarge or download.)


Play "Will the Real Prefix Please Stand Up!" For example, after teaching children  the prefix re-, say a word in context. Students stand up and shout the word if it contains the prefix re-. If not, they remain seated. Then, depending on the grade level and/or the level of literacy, they write the word in the appropriate column of a two-column chart, as shown below. This game can be played with a variety of prefixes and suffixes (e.g., un-, pre-, tri-, -er, -ish, -est, etc.).

     Will the Real Prefix Please Stand Up!

(Teacher says)	Prefix re-	No prefix
Retell. I will retell the story.	retell
Reheat. Did you reheat the soup?	reheat
Read. Let's read a book!		read
Replay. Watch the football replay.	replay
Rested. Six kittens rested on a rug.		rested

Phonology and phonics are not enough to make words "stick" in the mental lexicon. Meaning is needed. Help children examine words in terms of morphology, orthography, and phonology, along with context and semantics. This is especially needful for students who experience reading difficulties.

References:

• Berninger, V.W., Abbott, R.D., Nagy, W., & Carlisle, J. (2010).Growth in phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in grades 1 to 6. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39, 141–163.
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS. (2000).
  Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read: Reports of the Subgroups (00-4754).Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 
• Nunes, T., Bryant, P., & Bindman, M. (1997). Morphological spelling strategies: Developmental stages and processes. Developmental Psychology, 33(4), 637-649.
• Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the squid: The story and science of the reading brain. New York: Harper

How to Read Aloud to Children to Optimize Vocabulary Growth

One established way to promote vocabulary is by reading aloud to children. Educators, including librarians and parents, are encouraged to read to children at every age, beginning in infancy. Children's books often contain rich and savory vocabulary. As shown on the chart, Hayes and Ahrens (1988) examined the words used in varied types of content. They found that, compared to the recorded conversations of college students, children's books contained nearly twice as many rare or infrequently used words. The vocabulary used in children's books also far exceeded that of television programs.

Click to enlarge chart.

What should we read to children?
This varies by age and child, but strive for variety: Read fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry, news articles, etc. Select materials that offer some unknown words and/or concepts. Younger children tend to benefit from narrative storybooks with a fairly predictable story grammar (e.g., "Once upon a time" or something similar). It is also beneficial to read nonfiction in early childhood, including books about dinosaurs or types of locomotives, for example. Select captivating children's books that contain rich vocabulary (see Where the Wild Words Are by Lucy Hart Paulson).

Also, when selecting books, bear in mind that children come to school with vastly different prior experiences with stories, based largely on the culture and language of the home. This question was explored in a previous Vocabulogic survey. Visit Twiigs Poll  to view the closed survey: "Collectively Shared Cultural Literacy and the Movie Industry."

How often and for how long should we read to children?
Read to children every day, if possible. For how long? That varies by the attention span of the child, the interest level of the child, and the competing priorities of the day. Perhaps we should strive for a minimum of 15 minutes each day. Does that sound reasonable?

Can children learn a new word from only one exposure to it?
Yes, children can learn a new word through only one exposure to it as a process called “fast mapping” takes place (Carey & Bartlett, 1978). Children mentally "map" the new word to a superficial and context-specific understanding. Fast mapping does not result in depth of knowledge, but learning does occur, and in a natural manner, through conversations or storybook reading, for example. If the child does not hear the word again within a reasonable time, it is probably forgotten. 

Do children learn words if the book is only read once?

Yes, reading a story only once to children results in word learning. This is good! However, the effect size tends to be small, the knowledge less robust, and the words are more quickly forgotten. In addition, children do not tend to learn the words well enough to produce them themselves via writing or speaking (see Coyne et al., 2010; McKeown & Beck, 2011). Word knowledge is typically receptive, not productive.

How can we improve the likelihood that, by reading aloud to children, words will be learned more deeply and remembered longer? 
Even though researchers are still debating how children learn words from read-alouds, and they take different theoretical positions, they tend to agree on three big ideas:

1) In general, reading aloud to children results in more lasting vocabulary growth if we read the book more than once in the same week. However, this varies by grade level. Repeating the same story four times has resulted in a larger effect size in kindergarten, compared to second grade (Biemiller & Boote, 2006).

2) In general, reading aloud to children results in deeper and more lasting vocabulary growth if we read the book more than once in the same week AND we directly teach the meaning of targeted words by paraphrasing them or briefly defining them at point of use in the text.

Note: Read the entire story without stopping, the first time, to better ensure enjoyment and to avoid disrupting the train of thought or losing track of the main ideas of the story. During subsequent readings, stop to briefly explain or paraphrase target words. 

3) In general, reading aloud to children results in deeper, more lasting, and more productive vocabulary growth if we read the book more than once in the same week AND we directly but briefly teach target words at point of use in the text AND we follow this with interactive word study (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Coyne et al., 2010; McKeown & Beck, 2011.)

Should we preteach a few words BEFORE we read the text to the class? 
Depending on the student's background knowledge, we may need to preteach one or two key words. Often, an understanding of a specific concept is required if the listener is to understand the piece. For example, in a kindergarten lesson, Biemiller and Boote (2006) taught circus before reading Clifford at the Circus. Preteaching key concepts is a practice that applies to every grade level and every subject area (see post by Joan Sedita).

How might we quickly teach word meanings DURING the read-aloud?
There are a number of ways to directly teach word meanings while in the midst of reading to children. Perhaps the simplest is through the use of paraphrasing. When reading aloud at any grade level, teachers paraphrase a word to ensure students understand it. This takes only a moment. For example: “Once upon a time a lass (a girl) lived with her grandmother in a cottage (a small house)." After paraphrasing, reread the sentence, but without the scaffold: "Once upon a time a lass lived with her grandmother in a cottage."

How might we help children interact with target words AFTER the read-aloud, to develop depth of knowledge and productive use of the words? What does interactive, responsive, engaging word study look like?
In follow-up lessons after the story has been read at least once, provide ways for children to engage with the word in contexts other than the story.  Help them create semantic connections and build networks of related words and concepts. For example, if children are taught the concept stubborn to augment the rather simple vocabulary in Green Eggs and Ham, they could discuss how stubborn plays out in Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Thus, they learn another application of the word, with a slightly different nuance. To prompt productive vocabulary, have children say and/or write the word. Encourage discussion and debate as children engage in word sorting activities with partners. Furthermore, have children juxtapose two learned words against each other. For example, after children have learned drenched and stubborn, ask them to use both words in the same sentence. Have them compare shades of meaning: Which word is wetter: drenched, damp, wet, watery, waterlogged, saturated, dripping, soaking, sopping? How is drenched similar to and different from damp? Tell a friend about a time you got drenched. Also, depending on the grade level, include morphology in the lesson if the word contains common prefixes, base words, or suffixes. Again, depending on the grade level, develop figurative knowledge: Could a rose be drenched in sunshine? How could a rock be stubborn?

There is a growing body of research showing the promising effects of elaborative, interactive word study, built around repeatedly reading a story aloud in primary grades (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Coyne et al., 2010; McKeown & Beck, 2011). This research has also been applied to Response to Intervention models of instruction in primary grades (see post by Michael Coyne.) Furthermore, this method of instruction has been found to be effective with English Language Learners in kindergarten (Silverman, 2007). However, by spending so much time interacting with words in responsive and meaningful ways, there is only time to explore about 3-5 words per day.

On the other hand, there is another body of research showing the effects of teaching more words per day during storybook reading (about 7-10 words per day, 3 or 4 days a week). This method teaches words fairly superficially, spending less time interacting with each word, with the goal of developing greater breadth of knowledge (e.g., Biemiller & Boote, 2006). This goal will be discussed in more depth in the next post.

References:

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press.

Biemiller, A. & Boote, C. (2006). An effective method for building meaning vocabulary in primary grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98 (1), 44-62.

Carey, S. & Bartlett, E. (1978). Acquiring a single new word. Proceedings of the Stanford Child Language Conference, 15, 17-29. (Republished in Papers and Reports on Child Language Development 15, 17-29.)

Coyne, M. D., McCoach, D. B., Loftus, S., Zipoli, R., Ruby, M., Crevecoeur, Y. & Kapp, S. (2010). Direct and extended vocabulary instruction in kindergarten: Investigating transfer effects. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 3, 93-120.

Hayes, D. P., & Ahrens, M. G. (1988). Vocabulary simplification for children: A special case of 'motherese'? Journal of Child Language, 15, 395-410.

McKeown, M.  & Beck, I. (2011, April). Two approaches to vocabulary instruction for kindergarteners: Comparing effects on comprehension. (Poster talk at American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.)

Silverman, R. (2007.) Vocabulary development of English-language and English-only learners in kindergarten. Elementary School Journal, 107(4), 365-383.

Building Prior Knowledge of Concepts (Lord)

(Please respond to the survey in the sidebar to the left.)

Kathleen Lord is an assistant professor of Literacy Education at the State University of New York - New Paltz. Her research interests include comprehension, particularly pertaining to conceptual development and knowledge acquisition. Dr. Lord can be reached at lordk@newpaltz.edu. 

Individually, I interviewed 102 fourth graders, asking them about social studies concepts. Responses varied widely, depending on the concept itself. Three examples are shown below (interviewer’s prompts are in parentheses):

1: "What does paying taxes mean?”

Results: Only 22% provided an example of paying taxes or defined the word. Some students explained that money is collected at the store and that you pay more money than the price of the item; however, students had no idea what the money is used for.
Responses included: When you buy something and it is one dollar and you pay seven cents. (What do they do with it?) They put it in the drawer. (Then what do they do with it?) They collect it and give it back as change.”

Question 2: "What does inventing something mean?”

Results: This time, 52% provided a definition or an example of “inventing something,” referring to Thomas Edison and different inventions. Among those not receiving credit for their answers, students explained inventing something as “making something” like arts and crafts or bacon and eggs, whereas four students said, “when you lie” or “making a story up.”

Question 3: "What does making a trade mean?”
Results: A whopping 80% of the students provided correct explanations for “making a trade.” Responses included trading Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon cards, and trading school items such as pencils and stickers (Lord, 2007).

Students answered questions pertaining to trade, but had difficulty answering questions about taxation and invention. Why? The difference appears to be experience. Some concepts are known to young students, whereas other concepts are either emerging or are not yet known. If students have never invented something, discovered the unknown, or been involved in a rebellion, it is unlikely that they would recognize these situations when encountered in text. Often, young readers are being introduced to concepts that they have had little or no previous exposure to, and these unknown or emerging concepts may interfere with their comprehension.

Conceptual knowledge is not only important for reading in the content areas but is crucial for reading and learning, period. It is nearly impossible to reason, interpret, analyze, infer, or answer questions that require higher-order thinking if the reader does not understand the big ideas presented in the text. Inevitably, these gaps in understanding impede learning and comprehension.

Prior knowledge: It is often thought that students gain knowledge from text. Students actually modify knowledge that they already have (Catts, 2009; Kintsch, 1998). When new information connects to an existing knowledge structure, this prior knowledge (or schema) serves as a foundation for new ideas encountered in text and leads to the construction of a situation model (van Dijk & Kintsch, 1983). This is critical to comprehension and results in a deeper understanding of the information in the text. Research has repeatedly shown that children and adults with prior knowledge about a topic have better comprehension of the text than those with no prior knowledge (Chiesi, Spilich, & Voss, 1979; Pearson, Hansen, & Gordon, 1979; Spilich, Vesonder, Chiesi, & Voss, 1979; Taylor, 1979). In fact, less skilled readers can actually outperform skilled readers when they have more prior knowledge (Kintsch, 1998; Recht & Leslie, 1988; Schneider, Korkel, & Weinert, 1989; Taylor, 1979).

But where does this prior knowledge come from? One avenue is via life experiences. When a student visits various zoos on many occasions, he/she constructs a “zoo” schema. When reading about the zoo, the zoo schema (existing knowledge structure) is activated and this schema serves as an anchor for new information about the zoo. The concept of “zoo” is fairly concrete, tangible. The Bronx Zoo and the San Diego Zoo are specific examples of the concept of zoo. We generalize the concept of zoo from specific examples.

Not all concepts are concrete. Concepts can also include ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving, e.g., democracy, conflict, exploration, justice, migration, or adaptation (Walker, 2009). Specific examples of the concept of exploration include Sally Ride and space exploration, Columbus and his discoveries, Robert Ballard and his exploration of the Titanic, and famous archeologists and their specific investigations. Again, students need specific examples in order to generalize the abstract concept of exploration.

Consider the historical period prior to the American Revolution, information introduced in fourth and fifth grades. In Table 1 below, some specific topics and events are given in the left column and the recurring concepts are listed in the right column. The abstract concepts in the right column are generic ideas generalized from the specific examples in the left column.

Table 1: Topics and events with associated concepts

Specific Topics and/or Events	Concepts
French and Indian War	Conflict; treaties; compromise
Stamp Act, Sugar Act, tea tax	Taxation
Yelling "No Taxation without representation!"	Protest
Sons of Liberty; burning down tax collectors' homes; tossing tea into harbor	Rebellion
Refusing to purchase things from Britain	Boycott
Throughout the period	Independence; democracy; freedom; liberty; colonization; representative government

These concepts recur, but not only during history instruction, throughout life. If learned deeply, students will be able to access these concepts to use as prior knowledge when learning new content. Notably, if students remain either unaware of the concept/s or have had no experience with the concept/s, their comprehension of the text will be hindered.

An instructional model: We have a dilemma. How do we teach content that will eventually become the prior knowledge needed for new learning? Below, I provide a model to guide the planning process.

1. Identify concept/s: Identify concepts within the topics or events. Determine students’ understanding, as well as their misconceptions, of the key concepts that will be encountered during instruction.

2. Plan for depth and breadth: Depth is needed for schema development. Breadth is needed for transfer. Depth involves teaching so that students understand the concept well and can utilize it in new contexts. Breadth involves providing varied experiences within the concept in order to promote transfer to new contexts.

For instance, when teaching exploration, provide in-depth instruction and experiences with exploring, and then orchestrate instruction that exposes students to varied instances of explorers and exploration. Begin instruction with a known or familiar event (Columbus). Then extend to other types of exploration, providing specific instruction concerning similarities and differences among different explorers. By linking historical explorers to present-day explorers, students’ knowledge of exploration will extend beyond their limited understanding that explorers were people from centuries ago.

3. Locate material to teach the concept: Once the concept is identified, locate material to teach the concept. Select books and other resources that expose students to various situations of the same concept in order to teach for transfer. Learning can be enriched and deepened when taught with children’s literature and biographies. Additionally, literature serves as a common classroom experience to refer to throughout the unit. For instance, reading aloud a trade book about a child immigrating or sharing a book about a child escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad provide foundations to build upon.

4. Determine essential question/s: Let the students help you form these questions. Essential questions keep the unit focused. These questions are pertinent to the “big ideas” that will be encountered throughout a unit of study. Encourage students’ questions about the concept and use these to generate essential questions concerning the big ideas. During instruction, return to the questions so that students recognize how each lesson pertains to the big ideas.

For an immigration unit, consider questions such as, “Why do people move?” “How do they get there?” “How do they assimilate?” “Where do they come from and where do they go?” provide an anchor for each lesson.

5. Vocabulary: Teach vocabulary associated with the concept and revisit this vocabulary often and throughout the unit. Beyond the obvious words taught throughout an exploration unit (e.g., explore, discover, journey, investigate), include other words pertaining to character feelings and traits (e.g., tenacious, risk-taking, adventurous, courageous, intrepid, resolute) and modes of transportation (e.g., submarine, rocket, ship, Conestoga wagon).

6. Plan authentic activities and establish a purpose: Build background knowledge by allowing students opportunities to experience the concepts, while making direct connections to the to-be-learned content. One thing we can count on is that students’ authentic experiences can serve as conceptual prior knowledge. These experiences involve exploration, invention, compromise, conflict, community building, representative government, democratic leadership, and economic decisions. They include observing cycles and adaptation, creating habitats, and experiencing motion and velocity.

In the classroom, utilize familiar experiences or create common experiences to anchor subsequent learning (e.g., designing an exploration scenario; posing a dilemma in need of an inventive solution; introducing classroom elections and government; taxing students). Additionally, establish a genuine purpose for the unit such as preparing students to interview a present-day inventor, explorer, elected official, or tax collector.

These activities, in addition to reading children’s literature, provide common classroom experiences for instruction, as well as the prior knowledge needed for new learning to take hold.

Basal reading programs: If utilizing a basal reading program, the thematic unit can be enriched in similar manner. Each unit is based on a conceptual theme. Identify or modify questions provided by the publisher, and/or develop essential questions based on students’ questions. Introduce key concept vocabulary beyond the story vocabulary. Locate relevant children’s books including chapter books beyond the weekly story selections, and begin, intentionally, to teach concepts for transfer.

(Click "Read more" for the references)

Treated to Language (with video)

If language is valued by the teacher, students know it. They sense that the teacher is unusually aware of words -- otherwise overlooked, as water streaming continuously away. Their teacher treats language like a fabulous dessert, greeting especially scrumptious expressions with delight.  It is possible for educators to ignite an interest in words and phrases that is almost tangible.

This type of teaching behavior is situated within the four-ply framework for  effective vocabulary programs, proposed by Michael Graves (2006). Creating a love for language falls under the first component: Providing rich and varied language experiences. It also falls under the fourth component: Developing word consciousness. (See description of the four components.) Helping children and adolescents learn to treasure words does not replace explicit vocabulary instruction, but it is thought to enhance such instruction. Explicit vocabulary instruction is the second instructional component in the framework proposed by Graves.

How can teachers create a love for language, especially for words and phrases? First, take a sincere interest in the words a student uses. For example, one might tell a student, "I'm so glad to hear someone say kaboodle. That word always makes me smile!" This is gratifying -- having someone pay attention to our own words. It is also motivating to realize that our words have the power to make someone smile--to feel, to think, perhaps even to take action. This type of word-power is conveyed in Donavan's Word Jar.

“Also, make a note of the word gobbledygook. I like it. I want to use it more often in conversation” (General Melchett, in the BBC comedy Black Adder).

Another way to convey the power and presence of words is through poetry, as done with deliberation and enthusiasm in an urban school in Florida, briefly described by Niles (2004). Poetry can also provide a way to showcase the playful value of words. (See prior post for resources for teaching poetry.)

Teachers also promote language through song. In one study, Hines (2010) successfully used lyrics as one tool to teach word decoding and word meaning to adolescents with learning disabilities. In similar manner, when I was a middle school teacher, I invited a different pair of students to discuss their selected song lyrics, every other Friday, for about 15 minutes. After ensuring the lyrics were not offensive, I facilitated as needed, encouraging the pair to lead the class in a discussion, explaining why the lyrics were important to them, and which words were most meaningful. The lyrics were printed in advance. The audio track was played.

Some teachers instill a love for language through storytelling and theater, including reader's theater. For instance,  Keehn, Harmon, and Shoho (2008) found that, compared to traditional (mainly definitional) means of teaching vocabulary to eighth graders, a brief theatrical enactment resulted in significantly greater word learning.

Teachers and librarians share a love for words when they read aloud from news clippings, short stories, excerpts and entire books, both fiction and nonfiction, and when they encourage learners to participate in extended discussions. When peer conversations are prompted that focus on a specific segment of text, word-learning is likely to occur, and this is true for native speakers as well as ELLs.

In a language-friendly learning atmosphere, students and teachers do not use words or rules to shame or to punish. Classroom norms can help ensure that words are used responsibly. Denning, Kessler, and Leben (2007, p. 182) stated:

Ultimately, an enhanced and enlarged vocabulary, like any part of the complex phenomenon called language, is a multipurpose tool. Like a hammer, it can be used either to build or to injure. The individual is responsible for the use to which it is put. 

These ideas are neatly captured by Stephen Fry, English author, journalist, and comedian, who holds assorted honorary titles from the University of Dundee, Cambridge University, Anglia Ruskins, etc.  Fry speaks with humor and insight on the splendor of language, arguing against pomposity and pedantry pertaining to rules and words. To hear his entire discussion, titled Language, visit Steven Fry's Podgrams at iTunes (Series 2, Episode 3). Also, visit his blog: The New Adventures of Mr. Steven Fry. This brief film was created by Matthew Rogers; he set a portion of Fry's lecture to words, cleverly creating a kinetic typography.

Enjoy!

Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - Language from Matthew Rogers on Vimeo.

References:

Denning, K., Kessler, B., & Leben, W. (2007). English Vocabulary Elements, second edition. Oxford University Press. 

Graves, M.F. (2006). The vocabulary book: Learning and instruction. New York: Teachers College Press. 

Hines, S. (2010). Name that word: Using song lyrics to improve the decoding skills of adolescents with learning disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(1), 16-21. 

Keehn, S. Harmon, J., & Shoho, A. (2008). A study of readers theater in eighth grade: Issues of fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 24(4), 335-362. 

Nile, S. (2004, April). A celebration of words. Teaching Pre K-8, 4(7), 56-57.

Processing Digital Text

As educators, we are concerned with how digital text might influence cognition, interest, and literacy. As I read downloaded e-books, I try to be aware of how I am processing--especially how well I am paying attention. What behaviors do I observe in myself as I read texts online? What does research have to say about this topic?

Vocabulary: When reading digital text, I can tap a word to make its definition appear (also called a gloss, as in glossary).  I am finding that I take advantage of the embedded pop-up gloss more than I would typically consult the glossary at the back of a printed text and far more than I would typically consult a dictionary. If I do not know how to say the word, the computer will pronounce it for me, in some programs. These features are clearly beneficial.

But I wonder...could pop-up definitions eventually inhibit readers from attempting to infer the meaning of unknown words? If used to excess, would students stop learning to utilize contextual and morphemic clues? Inferring word meanings is a critical, complex, and challenging literacy skill--one we use to understand spoken conversation as well as written communications. Nonetheless, I think the benefits of e-reader access to definitions and pronunciations will outweigh consequences, especially for English language learners.

More on glossing: One longitudinal qualitative study (Lenders, 2008) examined how upper-intermediate and advanced students use the gloss feature in e-books. By examining the results of videotaped observations during class periods, along with Likert-scale questionnaires and interviews, Lenders found that learners perceive electronic glosses as useful and appropriate, particularly if the words are perceived as relevant to their future careers. When the e-text was used in combination with a related task, the glossing feature enabled active vocabulary learning.

"media multitasking"

 "continuous partial attention"

"HYPER attention"

Tractable: As I read an e-book, I am distracted by email and attracted to the ever-tempting Web (tract is Latin for 'to pull').  I begin to lose interest in the text. This is not so good. In one related study, Salmerón, Kintsch, and Kintsch (2010) found that adult readers with little prior knowledge of the topic are especially vulnerable to making poor use of hyperlinks, randomly following their interests instead of following links in a logical, sequential order. Comprehension suffers. However, when it comes to reading (offline or online) interest can also work for us, if certain conditions are met:

The psychological state of interest, that is, being interested in a particular context or content, is characterized by rapt attention and focus. Psychologists have found that readers who are interested in the content tend to stay with the printed text --including scientific texts -- even when it becomes difficult to understand (Ainley, Corrigan, & Richardson, 2005). Interested readers draw more inferences, process more deeply and retain more information, compared to disinterested readers (Hidi, 2001; Renninger, 2009). The likelihood that an adolescent will stay focused on a printed text has been found to vary by gender, by learning goals, and by whether the text aligns with the reader's particular areas of interest and topic knowledge (Graham, Tisher, Ainley, & Kennedy, 2008). Emotion psychologist Paul Silvia found that adults will only become interested in a novelty (e.g., examining abstract artwork, interpreting sophisticated poetry and throwing darts at a board) if they feel capable of comprehending it and of eventually making sense of it; his experiments demonstrated that self-efficacy was essential to the awakening of interest as "the curious emotion" (2005).

Note-Taking:  When I read something interesting on an e-reader, I highlight or annotate. The text that I highlight -- including newly learned terms -- and the notes that I type are then automatically stored in a separate file. I can read all annotations and all text excerpts at a glance. Essentially, I have created a summary and a study guide. I find myself highlighting and annotating a lot -- maybe too much! It takes longer to read the book, but this feature has the potential to reinforce content and engage readers. 

Trust: Finally, as I read e-novels, I note a slight but persistent underlying anxiety that urges me to read ever faster and to even skip ahead at times. What is this anxiety? Simply put, I worry that I will not be able to finish the book! The more I like the book, the more I fret.

How does your own processing differ when reading e-books versus printed material? Have you noticed any differences in your students? For more information on attention, interest, cognitive space, and the digital age, visit these hyperlinks:

Here is a brief overview regarding interest and reading, written by Dr. Hidi, posted by education.com.

Here, The National Writing Project offers a collection of readings related to the topic of digital information (Digital IS).  The hyperlinks are quite interesting! Explore the brief videos (Howard Rheingold, UC Berkeley) on Paying Attention to Attention.

UCLA professor N. Katherine Hayles was co-teaching Media Theory for the 21st Century. In a blog created mainly for students, she discusses the cognitive differences in reading a book with deep attention compared to reading "stuff" online, with what she calls hyper attention. (Download Hayles' entire article, Hyper and Deep Attention, in pdf.)

A team of French scientists explore multitasking, cognition, and the problems associated with trying to split our attention as we focus on three things at once (like reading text online and attempting to remember the book as we stop to check email and decide how to respond to the email). Their research is reported in Science and summarized by National Public Radio.

Here is a brief, Divided Attention: In the Age of Classroom Multitasking... written by David Glenn for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Also, FRONTLINE (PBS.org) has published a wealth of resources pertinent to these topics. See digital_nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier. There is too much to describe...visit the website. Here is the video, Digital Nation, published in 2010.



Wishing you all a Glad Thanksgiving,

Susan

References:

• Ainley, M., Corrigan, M., & Richardson, N. (2005). Students, tasks and emotions: Identifying the contribution of emotions to students' reading of popular culture and popular science texts. Learning and instruction, 15(5 ), 433-447.
• Graham, J., Tisher, R., Ainley, M., & Kennedy, G. (2008). Staying with the text: The contribution of gender, achievement orientations, and interest to students' performance on a literacy task. Educational Psychology, 28(7), 757-776.
• Hidi, S. (2001). Interest and reading: Theoretical and practical considerations. Educational Psychology Review 13(3), 191–208.
• Lenders, O. (2008). Electronic glossing: Is it worth the effort?  Computer Assisted Language Learning, 21(5), 457-481.
• Renninger, K. A. (2009). Interest and identity development in instruction: An inductive model. Educational Psychologist, 44(2), 105-118.
• Salmerón, L., Kintsch, W. & Kintsch, E. (2010). Self-regulation and link selection strategies in hypertext. Discourse Processes, 47(3), 175-211.
• Silvia, P. J. (2005). What is interesting? Exploring the appraisal structure of interest. Emotion, 5, 89-102.

The Slippery Suffix -er (Survey)

MA stands for morphological awareness, which involves understanding the internal structure of words, including knowledge of affixes and roots. It is a type of linguistic insight. Read more about MA.

In a longitudinal study of growth curves across grades 1-6, Berninger, Abbott, Nagy, and Carlisle (2010) found that MA grew rapidly across grades 1-3 and continued to grow--more slowly--through grade 6 (at least). In contrast, growth in phonological awareness tapered off by third grade for most students. Growth in orthographic awareness (awareness of wrong-looking spellings, for example; the ability to store, form and access orthographic knowledge, knowledge of "legal" and "illegal" letter order, etc.) continued beyond third grade, especially for expressive knowledge. More pertinent to vocabulary growth, they found that students who have an understanding of derivational morphology are more likely to develop a larger vocabulary, compared to peers who do not understand the morphosyntactic principles of English words. This finding confirms prior research on the relationship between derivational morphology and vocabulary growth (see, for example, Anglin, 1993).

This makes sense, because derivational suffixes have the potential to change the part of speech and meaning of the base to which they are added. They create a different word. For example, the word boy is a noun but the derivational suffix -ish creates the adjective boyish (no longer a noun, no longer a boy--could be a girl, man, etc.). Derivations are often nuanced, abstract, academic. Learn more at Derivations and Syntax. To develop breadth of word knowledge, children must gradually understand how derivational suffixes work.

Buffalo Public Schools

We teach the suffix -er in primary grades. We teach two types of the suffix. The derivational suffix -er creates an agent noun, 'one who.' With the delightful teacher-created word tree at left, children are shown the transformation from dance (the verb) to dancer (the noun/agent/person). This same derivational suffix can also form an object-as-agent, as in cooler ('that which cools').

A second function of the suffix -er is inflectional. Unlike derivational suffixes, inflectional suffixes do not create a different word; they just create another form of the same word. They do not change the part of speech of the base word to which they are affixed. When added to an adjective, the inflectional suffix -er creates another adjective with the same basic meaning, but of greater degree. So, adding the inflectional suffix -er to the adjective warm creates the comparative adjective warmer.

A third, and far less productive function of the suffix -er, is to create a sense of jocularity, as in soccer. There are very few words of this type, but here are a few more. (Read the story of the word soccer at this link.)

A fourth possible function of -er, one that theoretically flows from Old English, was to create a verb characterized by small repetitive motions: stammer, flicker, flutter, shiver. If so, this function no longer exists; it is not productive; we cannot express stammer as stam(m) + -er. Read more.

Students need to learn to think analytically about the two main functions of the suffix -er, to better understand word formation and meaning. Teachers might have students sort the derivational -er from the inflectional -er, as begun here:
 

-er (one who)      -er (that which)      -er (more)            -er (not a suffix)

noun                    noun                      adjective            

thinker                   bobber                    greener               summer

buyer                     blender                   rougher               her

Resources: To find lists of words ending with the letters er (suffix or not), scroll down on this page to the hyperlinks listed under Morphology. There are two websites that apply, More Words and Word Searcher. To determine whether any given word ends with the suffix -er, try etymonline.com. 

Now to the survey of the slippery suffix -er: Do the two words share the same suffix? Answers are shown below the survey. The survey has closed.
If the survey does not display properly, click the question (a hyperlink).

twiigs.com

1. colder -- speaker: No. The  inflectional suffix -er in colder creates the comparative form of cold, an adjective. The derivational suffix -er in speaker creates a noun (an agent, one who).

2. seer -- fortuneteller: Yes. Both words end with the derivational suffix -er, creating an agent noun. The American Heritage Dictionary defines seer as 'one who sees' and orthographic awareness would tell us that seeer just looks wrong. Rules of spelling support this type of awareness: When a base (in this case, see) ends in a vowel, and we want to add a suffix that begins with a vowel (in this case, -er), we must first drop the vowel at the end of the base word; then we add the suffix. (Read about seer at etymonline.com.)

3. thinker -- dreamer: Yes. Both words end with the derivational suffix -er, creating an agent, a noun.

4. faster -- sweeter:  Yes. Both words end with the inflectional suffix -er, creating a comparative adjective.

 5. computer -- singer: Yes (and no, in another sense). Both words end with the derivational suffix -er, creating a noun, but the -er in computer generally implies a nonperson and the -er in singer generally implies a person. This is where morphology and semantics intersect with context.

6. steamer -- burner:  Yes. Both words end with the derivational suffix -er and in each case, the -er creates an object as an agent, not a person.

7. deer -- slipper: No. Deer does not contain a suffix at all, but slipper contains the derivational suffix -er, creating an agent noun, an object that "slips on" easily.

8. stronger -- taller:  Yes. Both words end with the inflectional suffix -er, creating a comparative adjective.

9. hammer -- hamburger:  No. Hammer does not contain a suffix.  Hamburger does; it apparently got its name from Hamburg, Germany, home of the hamburger steak. Michael Quinion provides interesting details on the origins of hamburger. Less likely: The suffix -er in hamburger may indicate jocularity (read more).

10. butter -- toaster: No. Butter does not contain a suffix at all (it may have contained two morphemes, meaning 'cow' and 'cheese,' in Old English). Toaster ends with the derivational suffix -er, creating an agent nonperson (unless, of course, we are talking about the person who works the toaster. Need context!).

In the classroom, this type of survey lends itself to critical thinking and peer discussion, followed by explicit teacher feedback. There is great value in this type of instructional conversation.

PS. At a more advanced level of morphological awareness (which includes knowledge), we come to realize that the English/Germanic suffix -er in dreamer and thinker corresponds with the Latin suffix -or in governor and senator. 

References:

• Anglin, J. M. (1993). Vocabulary development: A morphological analysis. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 58(10)[238], v-165. 
• Berninger, V.W., Abbott, R.D., Nagy, W., & Carlisle, J. (2010).Growth in phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in grades 1 to 6. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39, 141–163.

Helping Parents Become Strong Language and Literacy Partners (Berg)

Michele Berg, Ph.D. contributed the following post. Michele is the Director of the Center for Learning Disorders at the Family Service and Guidance Center in Topeka, Kansas (visit FSGC). Dr. Berg formerly founded and directed the Center for Learning Disabilities at the Menninger Clinic and served on the faculty of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry for over twenty years. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of complex learning disorders in children and adults and is a frequently invited presenter on the topics of early literacy development, dyslexia, memory disorders, nonverbal learning disorder, and ADHD at the state and national level. She served as the head of professional development for two Early Reading First grants and is a consultant to the FSGC Early Childhood Intervention Program.

When Susan asked me to write something for her awesome Vocabulogic site, I thought I would address preschool language and literacy interventions; however, Christie Cavanaugh provided such a wonderful and thorough piece on this topic that I decided to do an “infomercial” for a powerful program available through the American Library Association. And … if you have not yet read Part I and Part II of Dr. Cavanaugh’s post, I urge you to do so! 

EVERY CHILD READY TO READ @ your library is a joint project of the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children. A series of parent and caregiver workshops have been developed to help prepare parents for their critical role as their child’s first teacher; these workshops are offered by community libraries using resources incorporating the latest research. Drs. Grover C. Whitehurst and Christopher Lonigan, eminent researchers in early literacy, developed the ECRR curriculum and workshop tools which have been refined by library demonstration projects around the country. All of the information presented in the workshops has been approved by NICHD. The workshops are also appropriate for early childhood educators, child advocates, and policy makers. Three different workshops target a range of developmental needs: Early Talkers targets ages 0 to 2 years; Talkers targets 2 to 3 year olds; and Pre-Readers addresses the needs of 4 to 5 year olds.

Visit the Site

The ECRR program was developed as an outreach program to help to address the national crisis in reading. Roughly, about 35% of children who enter kindergarten do not possess the early language skills necessary for learning to read (Waldorf, 1994). Children who struggle the most come from low income/low education families regardless of race or ethnicity. These families often do not have books, newspapers, or magazines at home and live in neighborhoods that do not contain much environmental print. One study found that 47% of parents receiving public aid reported no alphabet books in their home in contrast with only 3% of professional parents. Other studies suggest that children from middle to upper income families have anywhere from 1,000 to 1,700 hours of shared book time with a parent or caring adult during their preschool years as opposed to 25 hours or less in low income or low education families (Adams, 1990).

The lack of shared reading is alarming since reading books to children is the most effective way to build vocabulary … and strong vocabulary skills are necessary for reading comprehension. Typically, an adult will use only about 9 “rare” words per 1,000 words when speaking to a child under 5 years of age. Three times as many rare words are encountered in children’s books (Trelease, 2001). While regular family conversations will help build basic vocabulary, reading books to children helps them leap into the rare words that are essential when it’s time for school and formal learning.

As a culture that values school and views education as one of the major routes to job and financial stability, we need to help parents gain access to the skills, books and other resources needed to create language-rich experiences in their homes. We cannot afford to wait until at-risk children enter kindergarten to begin efforts to level the language playing field. Pre/post testing demonstrates that parents who attend ECRR at the Library workshops make huge gains in the quality of reading and language activities they provide their children. Parents with the lowest income and parents with the least education made the largest gains in terms of implementing new skills; teen-age parents and parents of very young children also demonstrated significant gains.

What do the workshops target? The workshop curriculum stresses Six Skills to Get Ready to Read: Print Motivation, Print Awareness, Vocabulary, Phonological Awareness, Narrative Skills, and Letter Knowledge. The emphasis is on simple, fun, developmentally appropriate ways to increase language skills and comfort with books in order to better prepare children for later success in school. Participants actively explore materials and practice new skills matched to the age of their child. A broad range of resources to be used at home are provided. Parents are taught how to select books to reinforce different skills such as phonological awareness, vocabulary, or narrative skill; they learn how to read picture books with two and three year olds and/or Dialogic Hear and Say strategies to use with preschool-age children. Simple songs paired with movement are introduced. Tip sheets are sent home as are colorful activity sheets.

Community agencies around the country are pairing with local libraries to make ECRR available. Many parents of low education or low income are not comfortable with literacy environments and may visit libraries only to access music and movies. For this reason, it may be best to offer the parent workshops at other sites such as Head Start, Salvation Army, community-based preschools, or church-affiliated child care and preschools. Parents as Teachers staff can also be trained to offer the ECRR workshops. The possibilities are many. Visit the American Library Association website for additional information. Call your local library and promote the availability of ECRR in your area. Let’s support this important early literacy initiative!

And please remember … the information presented and the skills learned in the ECRR workshops are beneficial and enjoyable for all adults involved in the care of young children regardless of income or education level … parents, grandparents, early childhood educators, child care providers, Sunday school teachers … I am sure you can think of more.

Note: This post  builds on prior entries pertaining to the invaluable relationship between libraries and literacy. Fran Mancino's post urges us to support public libraries and Susie Goodin's post illustrates the relationship between school libraries and reading motivation. 

Previewing Vocabulary (Sedita)

Joan Sedita contributed this post. Joan received her Masters in Reading Education from Harvard University in 1980 and worked at the Landmark School in Massachusetts until 1998 as a teacher, diagnostician, supervisor of tutorials, and high school principal. She was the founder and director of the Landmark College Preparation Program and director of the Landmark Outreach Teacher Training Program. More recently, Joan has consulted with Massachusetts Department of Education, served as a LETRS trainer, developed curriculum for grades 4-12 and founded Keys to Literacy.

Studies have shown that pre-teaching vocabulary can improve comprehension (Laflamme, 1997; Billmeyer & Barton, 1998). Existing background knowledge is a critical component for comprehension, and word meanings are part of larger knowledge structures, or schema about a topic. Previewing the vocabulary words associated with a given topic enables students to connect their background knowledge to what they are listening to or reading. In order to comprehend while reading, a person must be familiar with at least 90 percent of the words in the text (Hirsch, 2003), and previewing also provides familiarity with unknown words. 

The goal of previewing is to:
• Activate prior knowledge;
• Clear up student misconceptions about word meaning;
• Clarify the meaning of known words in relation to the current context, especially for words with multiple meanings; and
• Provide some initial familiarity with unknown words so students can make sense of the text.

Previewing is about attaching some meaning to unfamiliar words rather than deeply teaching them. It is important to provide in-depth instruction for certain key words, but previewing before reading is not the best time to do this. Graves (2006) notes that the goal of previewing is to provide students with just enough knowledge about words so that they do not “stumble” over them while reading. 

What Words Should Be Previewed?
Teachers should preview words that may be unfamiliar to students but essential to understanding the text. Choosing which words to preview will depend on the students in the class, including issues like grade level, vocabulary and background knowledge, and English proficiency. For students in the same grade level reading the same passage, words for previewing may be different from school to school, and even from classroom to classroom. Teachers must, therefore, use common sense, sensitivity, and knowledge about their students to determine which words to preview. Here are some suggestions to help you determine which words to preview (Sedita, 2005):

• Choose words that are necessary to understand the text and the major concepts in the content lesson or unit of study.
• Choose words that are unfamiliar specialized academic words (e.g., metamorphosis, quadrilateral, oligarchy), and non-specialized academic words (e.g., analyze, relationship, synthesize) that are essential to comprehending the topic of the reading.
• Choose words that are unfamiliar to most of the students.
• Include problematic phrases or figurative language.
• Choose words that have unfamiliar multiple meanings. 

How to Preview Words
Historically, previewing has often meant looking up words in the dictionary and copying the definitions. However, this approach does not transfer knowledge about the word into useful ownership by the student, and it often does not provide enough understanding to help make sense of the reading. Frequently, dictionary definitions are confusing, and they do not connect the meaning of the word to the subject matter or the reading context. It is also a boring task that may even turn students off to wanting to learn new words.

The best way to preview words is to spend a limited amount of time providing a basic understanding about the word. Here are some ways to effectively preview vocabulary:

• Provide synonyms and antonyms: Provide words to students that are related to the preview word, either similar in meaning or opposite in meaning.

• Use everyday language to explain the words: Provide user-friendly definitions, especially as the meaning relates to the context of the reading. Based on many years of research and work with teachers on vocabulary instruction, Beck and McKeown (2007) have developed an approach to teaching words that they call “rich” instruction. This approach uses everyday language to explain the meanings of words. Rich instruction suggests the following be used during previewing:

• Introduce words through explanations in everyday connected language rather than dictionary definitions
• Provide several contexts in which the word can be used
• Provide examples, situations, and questions that are interesting
• Encourage students to interact with the word right away by asking them to relate to and talk about the word in some way

• Use discussion: Discussion has been found to be an effective way to learn unfamiliar words (McKeown & Beck, 1988; Carlisle and Katz, 2005). When teachers present unfamiliar words in context and ask students to offer possible meanings, the ensuing discussion improves students’ understanding of words. A simple way to review words on a previewing list is for the teacher to facilitate a whole class discussion about the words or to monitor small collaborative group discussions.

• Use collaborative, small groups: Encourage students to work collaboratively to make connections between the words and to check each other’s understanding of the words. 


Click "Read More" to view references