• The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists (5th ed.) by Edward B. Fry and Jacqueline E. Kress (2000)
• Vocabulary for the Common Core by Robert J. Marzano and Julia A. Simms (2013)
All word definitions appearing in the minilessons are my own paraphrases and have been developed mainly by consulting the following online resources: Merriam-Webster (www.merriam-webster.com), Dictionary.com (www.dictionary.com), Thesaurus.com (www.thesaurus.com), Cambridge Dictionary (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us), and The Free Dictionary (www.thefreedictionary.com). I have also often turned to WordHippo (www.wordhippo.com) as a go-to resource for synonyms and example sentences. The instructional strategies throughout align with either the seminal work Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001) or other influential syntheses of effective instructional strategies.
I suggest that you use this book as only one resource to help plan effective vocabulary lessons. Other resources that should impact your decisions about which words to teach include the core instructional texts that you use (textbooks and other texts), the high-stakes tests your students need to prepare for, the wisdom of colleagues who are joining you in this endeavor, your expertise about the most critical content-area words your students need to know, and your experience in effectively meeting your students where they are in their learning.
Flexibility and Adaptability
These minilessons are not a curriculum. They’re not a program or a series of lessons that you should use in any particular order. You can use any minilesson at any time and adapt it as you see fit for your curriculum and your students. The minilessons are highly flexible. The text shows only one of many ways to use the framework to teach specific words. While the minilessons in this book are organized thematically, I recognize that there may be other ways to group them. If you and your colleagues want to take the ideas herein and totally reorganize them, you can do so without compromising effectiveness. Make things make sense for you. Remember, the ultimate goal is for students to see the words, make the words, associate them, tinker with them alongside peers, and individually apply them. All these steps are designed to increase the “stickiness” of the target words so that when students encounter unfamiliar academic vocabulary, they aren’t so flummoxed that they can’t move forward—the word will have stuck with them. I also encourage you to use the framework to design your own minilessons when appropriate. So consider this book a book of possibilities.
Vocabulary in a SNAP consists of enough minilessons to use a different one several times a week during the entire school year if you wish. I’m not recommending that you implement the minilessons in any specific number or sequence, however. Use your best judgment and, if possible, undertake this work with colleagues and find what kind of implementation works best for your situation. Also, just because you teach a minilesson once doesn’t mean that it can’t be repeated later for review. Multiple exposures to unfamiliar words are important for long-term memory. Any minilesson can also be a part of your word study instruction when it might best make sense. In short, there are many ways to use these lessons along with your current literature series, balanced literacy model, and so on.
Structure and Components
Each minilesson contains four core steps, which the acronym SNAP represents.
1. S: Seeing and saying each word
2. N: Naming a category or group each word belongs to or noticing connections to related words or word families
3. A: Acting on the words (engaging in a brief task or conversation about the words)
4. P: Producing an individual, original application of the words
Each minilesson also contains a Scaffolding section with suggestions for providing additional support, and an Acceleration section with suggestions for offering enrichment opportunities. Additionally, some lessons contain a Beyond the Lesson section to offer ideas for how to reinforce knowledge and use of target words beyond the minilesson itself. Scaffolding, Acceleration, and Beyond the Lesson sections are not technically parts of the lessons themselves—they are offered as extra, optional information to support teachers if they determine these adaptations are necessary in their classrooms.
Minilessons are assigned an estimated difficulty level—either level 1 or level 2. Level 1 is appropriate for lower grade levels (K–3), many English learners, and students in grades 4–5 who struggle with language. Level 2 is appropriate for upper elementary (4–5) and some English learners. However, these are estimates, and each student and classroom will have different ability levels and needs. Many lessons may also be appropriate for some middle school students who are below grade level or who are English learners, but for the majority of students, lessons in this book are applicable for grades K–5. Readers should feel free to use this book with older students as they deem appropriate. See Vocabulary in a SNAP: 100+ Lessons for Secondary Instruction (Peery, in press) for lessons designed for secondary-grades students. Teachers may also want to adjust the content of the examples to fit their students’ maturity levels and experiences. For example, recent school events might be easily connected to the content of lessons. Teachers will know what’s best in their individual classrooms. Allow your students to be your guide, and consider the designations and content in this book only as broad suggestions. Lastly, each minilesson uses icons to identify its components, as the following sections show.
Estimated Difficulty Levels
Level 1: Lower grade levels (K–3), many English learners, and students in grades 4–5 who struggle with language
Level 2: Upper elementary (4–5) and some English learners
Seeing and Saying
S represents seeing and saying each word. It’s essential that every student see how the word is formed and spelled. Visual representations of words can aid in memory and help students connect their current phonological knowledge to the new words (Marzano, 2004). The teacher must also provide a correct pronunciation in this first step, repeatedly if necessary. Each student should then create a pronunciation with his or her own mouth. In this way, each student “owns” the word because he or she can say it aloud. Just as babies and toddlers repeat what adults say in order to practice with new words, so should students in this step. This way, they become active learners and shapers of their vocabulary knowledge.
The recommended strategy for students saying the word is often a choral response in several minilessons throughout this book. However, choral responses can be hard to monitor for individual participation. Do what you feel works best with your students, but do all you can to get every student to form the target words with his or her own mouth. As most of us who teach language know from experience, moving muscles and making sounds with one’s own mouth are important in mastering new words.
Naming and Noticing
N stands for naming a category or group that each word fits into, noticing a connection to other words or concepts, or making other associations with familiar information. Students need to make initial connections in order to get at least a surface-level or temporary meaning of the