Blended Vocabulary for K--12 Classrooms. Kimberly a. Tyson

vocabularies.

NEXT STEPS

      Consider the following questions individually or discuss them with colleagues or in literacy leadership team settings.

       Teachers

      • Review the frameworks for vocabulary instruction in this chapter. Were you already familiar with any of them?

      • Do you see any advantages or disadvantages of aligning with a specific model for vocabulary instruction? Why or why not?

      • What component or components of the models are most important to you?

      • What resonates with you regarding the three-part blended vocabulary model? How does this model align with your current vocabulary instruction?

       Literacy Leadership Teams

      • Do you think aligning your school with a model for vocabulary instruction is important? Why or why not?

      • Look closely at the chart summarizing the four models for vocabulary instruction (table 2.1, page 22). Discuss similarities and differences as outlined within this chapter. Which model aligns best with your schoolwide goals? Why?

      • How could you present a model or models to teaching staff and allow time for discussion?

      • The blended vocabulary model provides a new way of thinking about vocabulary instruction by integrating digital tools to support practice and review. How does this model support your goals for word learning?

      • Discuss how the literacy leadership team can support teachers as they implement instructional strategies that align with one of the models to support schoolwide vocabulary development.

      • Consider creating a shared Google Doc or wiki or hosting a Twitter chat to encourage discussion and go deeper into frameworks, content, and strategies.

       CHAPTER 3

      Methods for Classifying and Selecting Vocabulary Words

      As we discussed previously, many students enter our classrooms with limited vocabulary knowledge. That deficiency motivates teachers to select specific vocabulary to deliberately and routinely teach and assess within lessons. While the task of teaching vocabulary is important, it can sometimes feel daunting. So many words! So little time! How do you choose? In this chapter, we’ll break down this task into something less overwhelming and more manageable. Because selecting words for study is a crucial initial step in designing effective instruction, we’ll begin this chapter with a discussion of the tiered vocabulary structure and its pertinent implications. Then, we’ll share several different categories for classifying vocabulary words that will help teachers navigate their options and choose words based on their lesson objectives.

Understanding Tiered Vocabulary

      Tiered vocabulary is an organizational structure for categorizing words into three levels and has implications for identifying the academic vocabulary that might be most useful for your students. Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan (2013) developed the structure and published it in their seminal work Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction.