Vocabulary

Vocabulary is very important and another way to incorporate content literacy. It helps students improve their reading and create a wide range of words in their internal dictionary. I hated in middle school when we would have a different set of words each week in our Wordly Wise workbook. I never wanted to study for those quizzes each week and never had any motivation. Learning just a random set of words for the heck of it seemed pointless to me. In class we discussed different ways to incorporate a vocabulary instruction into the classroom. We came up with ways that would make it connect to what the students are learning. Vocabulary instruction needs to be a daily thing. It should not be a subject on its own. Instead it needs to be incorporated into every lesson. Students should be defining words that they need to know to understand the concepts of the subject they are studying. I think it would be a great idea to have students add on to their vocab list everyday with words they learn from lessons they had that day. We learned the Frayer Model in class which is a great tool for students to use. You place your word/concept in the middle then have four sections coming off from it. These are labeled definition, characteristics, examples, and misconceptions. I think it would be great to use in review sessions. Here is one I created for the math term “absolute value.”

This is something that is definitely very helpful in math classes because the students will have examples of how it works. They can look back at these whenever they have trouble with a problem.