I have been reading quite a bit lately on vocabulary instruction and the connection to student learning. I have found a lot of interesting research and wanted to share a few tips researchers have published. Researchers suggest teachers do the following in order to make vocabulary instruction meaningful for students learning:
- Providing multiple opportunities to use words
- Relating unfamiliar words to familiar words
- Presenting words within a meaningful context or theme
- Providing explicit definitions of words
- Scaffolding children’s language through meaningful feedback
Teachers should also think about what type of questions they are asking their students. Using a variety of opened ended questions allow the students to have meaningful conversation, which will then improve a students vocabulary. Here are a list of question prompts:
- Can you tell me more about…?
- Explain why….; Describe what….
- I wonder why…?
- Can you tell me why you think or feel that way?
- What else can you say about …?
