Bringing Words to Life: Differentiating Vocabulary Instruction

Did you notice something at the top of my blog? I created a new page that grouped all of my posts in this book study together! If you joined halfway through or just want to refer back to them, now you can go straight to the page and find them a lot faster. I will also be adding activities that I do in my class to show real-life examples once the school year starts. We have 3 more weeks before kids come...eek! I'm so not ready. I haven't even been to my classroom yet (although I really just have to pull paper off of my bookshelves and throw up a few posters. No biggie.)!

But back to the reason you're here (I hope): Chapter 9 of Bringing Words to Life, which is all about differentiation. One of those other buzz words. I know.

The chapter focuses on two specific groups: struggling readers and LEP (or ELL) students. I guess there isn't as much need for focus on your advanced students because this type of robust instruction will hopefully be challenging for them as well as your average students.

The authors give a great little format for helping these students close the gap between them and their peers.

1. Whole group instruction on the target words the way it has been discussed in previous chapters (please go back and check them out if you haven't already)
2. Identify students who did not show mastery over these words in the end-of-the-unit assessment, and provide additional instruction in smaller groups. The book recommends 15-minute sessions for three more days.
3. Any students who still have not mastered the understanding of these words will receive 3 more days of instruction. Be sure to use different instructional activities so they have more chances of understanding.

During these additional sessions described in steps 2 and 3, students should be given opportunities to talk about word meanings in different contexts and also to use the words appropriately in discussion. As you continue with this format, fewer and fewer students should need the additional instruction.

Another way to help these struggling readers (and LEP students) is to provide more explicit questioning and scaffolding in the initial instruction for the word. These students will need more guidance and explanations as they learn new words, so we need to be ready to provide it until they are ready for us to cut back.

One quote that really stood out to me from the book was this one about how we should teach:

The two main concerns with English learners are which words should be taught and what kinds of activities are most effective.

Which Words to Teach:
Just like with traditional students, we want to focus on those Tier Two words that appear frequently in literature but are not as common in oral language. The key is to begin this instruction AS SOON AS the student can manage everyday conversation. Don't wait until they know all of the basics. They will pick it up naturally!
The big thing to consider here is that ALL students need to be able to understand the concept of the words being introduced.

What Instructional Activities are Best:
Once again, remember that different is not necessary. What works fir LEP students will also work for the rest if the class. All students need frequent interaction with the target words. There are some adaptations that will make things a lot easier, though.

• Provide text previews in student's first language, if possible, before reading text in English
• Use high-interest texts for your students
• Provide visuals or multimedia texts for extra support

Another major strategy to consider is to use cognates (words such as dictionary and diccionario which have the same meaning AND are very similar). Focus in on the roots of these words, which are often Latin or Greek and have to be taught in the upper grades anyway (at least in Virginia), then students will be able to recognize the relationships between those words and also identify other words.

Can you believe that there's only one more chapter to cover? I feel like I've learned SO much, and I hope this has been helpful to you, as well! Next week is about energizing the verbal environment!

Oh, and before I go, I wanted to mention a fantastic giveaway for you to check out. My friend and fellow VA Blogger, Rachel from Mrs. O Knows is celebrating her 2nd blogiversarry this week with a different giveaway every day. Today's winner can score one of my mystery packs along with some other great stuff!

A Two for Tuesday You Don't Want to Miss

 

It's that time of the week again, and I think you'll be really excited with my choices today!

For those who are new to this linky, every Tuesday bloggers choose two items in their store to put up for 50% off regular price FOR THAT DAY ONLY! This is a great chance to score some amazing products, so I would recommend clicking on the picture above to see who else is participating. Of course, that is, after you finish seeing what I have to offer. :-)

 

This is my newest product and includes all 9 of my popular "Case of" mysteries for drawing conclusions. I have also created a preview for this file so you can see the exact format for each mystery. Two of my most popular mysteries that are included are:

 

   

 

This file is regularly priced at $30, so it's a STEAL today for $15! I almost can't believe I'm doing it.



 

 

My other choice for this week is much smaller but still great for those planning for specific skills. I know our 5th grade students begin the year with a lot of character analysis. I created this file to really help them dig deeper into character. It's only $1 today!

 

Go check out what else is on sale, and be sure to come back tomorrow for my second to last book talk!

 

Monday Made It

My summer is drawing to a close with only 1 1/2 weeks left, so I'm starting to think about school a little more. Specifically, I've been trying to clean up and advertise my store a little better to help promote my products (without driving you all crazy). This week I have two things to share, and both of them are technology related. I'm so proud!

I made a banner for my TPT store! Now when you click on it, it immediately takes you to all of my literacy center packs (which I am slowly upgrading just a little to have more coherence and to have a cleaner look). 

Hover over this image:

Did you notice something cool? I used Megan's tutorial (I Teach. What's Your Superpower?) from her Blog Baby Blog tips to create a pin it button, and here it is! I've been wanting to add one for a while, but I just had no idea how to do it. Megan made it pretty simple. She's amazing!

What have you made recently?

Five for Friday: August 8

It's August! Eek! I'm still not quite ready to get back into the routine of school, although I'm slowly making some adjustments to be a little more prepared in 2 weeks...

I skipped out on this linky last week because I spent the entire week working on an SOL (VA state tests) Committee for 5th Grade Reading. I know that probably sounds pretty boring, but I actually love it! We spend the week looking at test items and deciding if they are fair or if changes should be made to them. Plus they host it at this really nice hotel that I don't get to stay in because I live too close that has yummy snacks all the time, they pay us (as long as we aren't contracted to work over the summer), AND I get to meet other teachers from around the state! This was actually my second year serving on the committee, and it really gives you an appreciation and understanding for how these tests are created. A LOT goes into it!

Another reason I didn't post last Friday is because my little brother and his girlfriend came to visit! Wade is finishing his last year at Georgia Tech, and this was my first time to meet Devan. She was so sweet, and Keagan is in love with her, I think! We had a lot of fun exploring Richmond with them and just hanging out.

Of course I was terrible and didn't take a single picture, so I'm stealing one my dad took since he's visiting the rest of our family right now. This is Wade and Devan with my sister, Lauren, and my adorable little niece!

This week, we've been interviewing babysitters. Can I just say I HATE that process? I'll be so excited to send him to preschool so we don't have to do this anymore. Good news is that we found one we really like, so hopefully it will work for the rest of this year. He turns 3 in December, so he can go to preschool after that!

Tuesday was National Night Out, which focuses on getting to know your neighbors and being safe. Target sponsors the event, and they had all of the Emergency Response teams (Police, Fire, Ambulance) in the parking lot for families to enjoy. Keagan loved the fire truck, but his favorite part was watching the LifEvac helicopter land! He got to sit in it, too, but I think that made him a little nervous...

Today we made a tent just because, and then Keagan and I had lunch under the tent. He had a blast! I'm going to be sad to leave him with the sitter in a few weeks. We've had a lot of fun this summer, but there's still so much that we didn't get a chance to do!

To those of you who have started school already or are almost there, I hope it is going well for you! We go back August 21, and then students begin September 2. I've got a lot of work to do before then!

Bringing Words to Life: Vocabulary and Writing

Chapter 8 was all about vocabulary and writing, which I was very excited to read. Unfortunately it was one of the shortest chapters because there is VERY little research that has been done on how robust vocabulary affects writing. If we think about it as teachers, though, we know that stronger vocabulary instruction will naturally produce stronger writers. You've probably heard millions of times that the best writers are great readers. They are exposed to better writing and therefore are better at modeling it on their own.

This is going to be a slightly different post because I mainly want to share some examples of how to intentionally work in some strong vocabulary instruction to help with writing.

One way that I've seen a lot in person and online is to focus on specific verbs that are overused and give students synonyms to use in their place.

It's important to leave these words up so students have the visual reminder. This holds true for any new vocabulary (remember last week's chapter about maintaining vocabulary?)

Another way that the book mentioned was looking at specific ideas that are frequently mentioned and teach target words for those ideas. This especially works if you're giving a prompt or discussing a certain topic. For example, teach students the word hazardous to describe road conditions during icy weather. Or choose from words you notice them specifically overusing in their writing (or in your classroom in general). Then encourage students to use these target words in their writing.

One thing to consider before I go: It's not enough to simply introduce these words and teach them traditionally. Yes, they may try to use them and may even get it. But you may notice that they don't truly understand how to use the word correctly. If you're just starting to follow me, check back with my earlier posts to learn ways to incorporate robust vocabulary instruction into your day.

What are some ways that you work to improve students' word choice (vocabulary) in their writing?

TPT Sale: What I Bought

You've probably already heard (and maybe already made your first round of purchases), but just in case you haven't, TPT is having their huge back to school sale! Most products are 28% off after entering the code BTW14 at checkout (20% from the store and 10% from TPT). I spent all of the rest of my July sales last night on two products, but I think they will be more than worth it!!

I'm a huge fan of Erin's products (Lovin Lit), and have had my eye on this interactive notebook set since she posted about making it earlier this summer. I already use a lot of her stuff with my 5th graders, so I'm thrilled to have something awesome for my 3rd graders as well now!

Ideas by Jivey is another amazing resource for upper grades, and I already have all of her mentor sentences. She created lessons to go with ALL of her mentor texts that will last through th  year! I am SO excited about this and need to start choosing which books I'll use with which grades so I can keep it going for a while!

And here are some of my top recommendations from my own store:

Some of my most popular products are my "Case of..." mysteries for practicing drawing conclusions. I now have nine of them and had a request to put them all in a bundle. If you buy today, it will be a little under $24!

These literacy centers are very popular with my kids. They don't even think about how they're really doing "work". I have lots of these packs, but this I'd one of my newest!

And don't forget my new bundles by skill that each include 12 centers to last all year! I have them in my store for Main Idea, Cause and Effect, Fact and Opinion, and Synonyms and Antonyms.

Help Raise the Parr!!

Okay guys. I did this committee all week and forgot how to manage my time we'll enough to check blogs in the evening. So when I pulled up my blog feed today, it had 249 unread posts!?! Yeah, I can't handle that. So I'm probably going to just delete almost everything I have in there. So I'm very sorry if I miss whatever amazing stuff you posted. It's going to kill me to hit "Mark as read" that many times, but I've just got to start fresh.

I also realize that it's Friday. I thought about doing Five for Friday (and think I could probably come up with five good things), but I decided to skip out and focus on just one major thing.

A few weeks ago, one of our local schools lost a very well-loved teacher unexpectedly. Renee was a 30-year-old, seemingly healthy mother and first grade teacher. Although I did not know her personally, she was very close to some of my friends. One of my husband's classmates put together a fundraiser for her family, and she was able to get some AMAZING products donated!

Click on the link to read more about Renee's story and see the bundles available. There are 5 different sets for only $10 each, and ALL of the proceeds will go into a fund for her daughter who is right about Keagan's age (2 or 3). My Case of the Missing Backpack is included in the 3-5 bundle if you've had you eye on it!

Thank you ahead of time for your help! I feel Luke the teaching community is always so generous. Please also consider passing on this information so more people can help (plus you get an extra boost right before school begins).