Is there a better way?

The best way improve most skills is practice, practice, practice. And this is definitely true of vocabulary. Students must read words to learn words. But what about those students who haven't read much? How do we increase vocabulary then?

Academic vocabulary should be taught separate from general vocabulary. Words specific to a subject should be used in daily discussions. I find it best to introduce academic vocabulary several times before students will be required to demonstrate their knowledge of the word. For example, students in my seventh grade aren't tested on diction at all. I do mention the word several times during the year. I even give the definition and tell them that they will have to know the word in future years. After a few times of mentioning it, a few students will begin to point out diction in our discussions of literature.

It helps to make connections with academic words, tie your subject to other subjects. When I teach motifs in literature, I always remind students that they have heard the word in art. I introduce infer as a math problem {knowledge already rolling around in your head + new information from passage = new knowledge}. Throughout the year when discussing infer, I remind them of the math problem. At the end of each nine weeks it helps to review the academic vocabulary taught that grading period.

For many years I used a stand alone vocabulary program. It was a word-a-day bellringer activity. Each day students would copy a word, definition, and sentence from the board. Once a week I would give a vocabulary test. Students had to spell the word correctly and match it to it's definition. A third part of the test might include use the word correctly in a sentence, write synonym or antonym, maybe even write a story using the words. Each week the test was comprehensive, working its way up from five words on the first test up to twenty words. The test always had the ten newest words. Students had to study all words but focus on the newest. After the nine weeks mark, the words would start over. This technique was successful, but very difficult on me. Each week I was making new tests. Another problem was that the words weren't tied to literature being read at the time.

Most recently, I have let students' need determine the vocabulary that we study. While reading, they are given the assignment to make a list of any unfamiliar words. From each reading assignment we have a day that students write three words (including page numbers) from their lists on the board. We read the passage containing the word; I lead students to use context clues, we discuss prefixes or suffixes used, and we discuss synonyms and antonyms of the word. I have been surprised by some of the words that are added to the board. Words that I would think the students knew. Words that are important for comprehension. Several words are chosen and added to the Word Wall; students will be tested on these words. And they are challenged to add these to their conversations, writings,  and class discussions.


What have you done to successfully teach vocabulary in your classroom?