WRSD Academic Vocabulary Tools Why Should We Focus on Vocabulary Instruction?

Our Gates-MacGinitie scores for vocabulary reveal that many of our students lack adequate knowledge of vocabulary words. Particularly as students advance through the grades, texts begin to include increasingly complex language features and concepts. Many of these features and concepts are conveyed through less common vocabulary words. While sight word instruction provides a background words seen most frequently, vocabulary instruction is needed for those terms that are not necessarily frequent in typical reading, but inherent to certain genres, purposes, and topics.

As students engage in more and more content-area reading, their knowledge of specific vocabulary terms becomes more important. Explicit vocabulary instruction is necessary to improve comprehension and fluency when engaging with nonfiction text or content related materials.

In his research, Robert Marzano categorized nearly 8,000 vocabulary words that appear throughout national and state standards. These words also appear in content-related texts, on standardized assessments, and in environmental print. Marzano classified these vocabulary words by subject in order to assist teachers in designing explicit instruction that will accomplish the following:

 Prepare students to engage with nonfiction texts  Support students in text-based content acquisition  Improve achievement on standardized assessments  Support fluency and understanding of themes and genre studies

In the WRSD, we will work to support students who lack adequate vocabulary knowledge through explicit teaching of some of the most important words from Marzano’s lists.

What Does Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Look Like in the WRSD?

Teachers in the WRSD should employ a research-based approach to vocabulary instruction. This involves explicit teaching of vocabulary words that will appear in the context of student reading. The lists that follow in this document represent some of the important words from Marzano’s lists. Teachers should select the words they feel will be most relevant to students based on the expected reading material (e.g, independent reading books, small-group texts, content-area textbooks, research materials) and grade level curriculum standards. Vocabulary word selection is typically differentiated to meet the individual needs of each student.

Once the important words have been selected, explicit instruction might proceed in the following sequence according to Marzano’s research:

Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term in a whole class, small-group, or 1:1 setting. Step 2: Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.

Step 3: Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representation of the word.

Step 4: Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in a vocabulary journal or similar tool.

Step 5: Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.

Step 6: Involve students in games that allow them to play with the terms.

When Might Teachers Provide Explicit Vocabulary Instruction?

In the balanced literacy model, vocabulary instruction might happen during the following times:

 15-minute phonics/word study block  15-minute RW focus lesson (e.g., Good readers learn about new vocabulary words they encounter while reading.)  Small-group RW instruction  Interactive read aloud  1:1 conferring opportunities

In addition, homework assignments might allow students ample opportunity to create drawings or graphic representations of words, locate vocabulary in environmental print, or record quotes from at-home reading that include new terms. Homework experiences with vocabulary should follow explicit classroom instruction.

Are There Suggestions for Tools that Promote Vocabulary Acquisition?

Marzano, as well as other school districts, state education departments, and Internet sites, offer a number of ideas that correspond to the six step approach to explicit vocabulary instruction. The following represent some of these ideas in no particular order. Vocabulary Journal Page

Word Cards for Paired Practice or Homework Review Twister Vocabulary Game

Vocabulary Log WORDO Bingo Game

(Insert the vocabulary words in the WORDO boxes. As you call out the definitions, students identify and mark the related terms. You can also put definitions in the boxes and call out matching terms.)

Clue Card Train Car Analogies

New Word Record Sheet Independent Reading Book Dictionary

Word Maps How Should Teachers Assess Vocabulary Knowledge?

Periodically assess vocabulary knowledge in formal and informal ways. The following are some examples of approaches to vocabulary assessment:

 Assessing student vocabulary journal pages  Recording observations of student vocabulary discussions  Asking students to tell you about a term as they encounter it while reading a text with/to you  Formal vocabulary assessments that require students to describe the meaning of a word, match words with meanings or graphic representations, or select appropriate definitions from a multiple choice list

What Words are Suggested for Explicit Academic Vocabulary Instruction?

The following lists are drawn from Marzano’s compilation of nearly 8,000 important academic terms. They are grouped in primary lists and upper elementary lists. Select the words from the following lists that you feel are most relevant to what your students will be reading. K-2 Word Lists

Science

Air Ocean Animal features Parent Balance Pebble Behavior pattern Plant Boulder Position Burning Precipitation Chart Predication Cloud Prehistoric Color Properties Computer Pulling Daily weather pattern Pushing Day Reasoning Dinosaur Ruler Dissolving Sand Distance Science Diversity of life Scientist Egg Seasonal Energy Shape Food Shelter Freezing Similarities Gas Size Growth Sky Habitat Soil Heat Solid Insect Sound Light Star Liquid Teamwork Location Temperature Machine The senses Magnet Thermometer Magnification Universe Magnifier Vibration Mammoth Water Mixture Weather Month Weather patterns Moon Week Motion Weight Night Wind Observation Year English Language Arts

Alphabet Rhyme Author Sentence Back cover Short vowel Beginning consonant Sight word Blend Sign Book Speech Cartoon Spelling Chapter Symbol Character Table of contents Composition Textbook Comprehension Theater Consonant blend Title Conversation Title page Cover Typing Date Uppercase Dictionary Villain Discussion Vocabulary Drawing Vowel combination Ending consonant Vowel sound Fairy tale Folktale Follow directions Front cover Language Letter Letter-sound relationship Long vowel Lowercase Magazine Main character Main idea Map Margin Mental image Message Movie Newspaper Order of events Photographer Picture book Poem Prewriting Print Publish Purpose Question Reread Respond to literature Retell Civics

Agreement Authority Citizen Control Duty Education Election Flag Government Honesty Individual Justice Law Leader Nation National anthem Official Order Pledge of Allegiance Power Privacy Qualifications Race Religion Responsibility Rights Rule School Symbol Territory Trade Transportation Truth United States Volunteer Vote War Economics

Advertising Bank Business Buyer Coin Cost Debt Dime Dollar Earn Goods Job Labor Loss Money Needs Penny Poverty Price Quarter Sale Save Sell Seller Services Skills Spending Wants Worker Geography

Airport Location America Map Area Measurement Barrier Mile Body of water Mountain City Museum Climate Nation Climate change Neighborhood Coast Ocean Cold climate Park Community Pattern Competition Pipeline Construction Place Country Plant population Creek Population Crop Position Custom Railroad Dam Rainfall Desert Region Direction River Distance Road Downtown Rural region Elevation Seasons Exploration Settlement Factory Shelter Family Ship Farming Shopping center Fishing Soil Flood Sports stadium Forest State Fuel Stream Globe Temperature Government Timber Graph Town Highway Transportation Hill United States Home Urban area Hospital Vegetation Hotel Village Housing Weather Lake Wildlife Land World Local community History

Abraham Lincoln Folktale Pledge of Allegiance America Fourth of July Plymouth American Revolution Freedom Prairie Ancient time Future Present Argument Generation Radio Automobile Geography Recent past Beginning George Washington Recreation Behavior Goods Region Belief Government Religion Benjamin Franklin Group membership Resistance Bow and arrow Harvest festival Responsibility Bridge Heroism Revolution Building History Role Calendar time Holiday Rules Cause Houses of worship Sculpture Celebration Housing Services Ceremony Human rights Society Chariot Hunger State Christmas Hunter/gatherer Steam engine Christopher Columbus Idea Surplus food City Independence Symbol Community Individual rights Tall tale Country Invention Technology Cowboy Job Telegraph Crop Journey Temple Cultural tradition Law Territory Daily life Leader Thanksgiving Dance Legend Thomas Jefferson Day Liberty Time line Decade Lifestyle Today tomorrow Democracy Local history Tool Disagreement Martin Luther King Jr. Town Domesticated animal Memorial Day Trade Education Middle Trail Ending date Money Transportation England Month Travel English colony Monument United States Environment Myth War Equality Nation Week Event National holiday Wheel Expansion Native American White House Explorer Oral tradition Worker Fable Origin World Family history Past Year Family life Photograph Yesterday Farm Pioneer 3-5 Word Lists

Science

Acceleration Glacier Astronomy Graph Battery Herbivore Birth Landslide Calculator Life cycle Cause and effect Mass Competition Metal Condensation Microscope Conduction Migration Conductivity Mineral Conductor Nutrients Constellation Offspring Cooling Oil Core Omnivore Density Organism Disease Outer space Drought Pitch Earthquake Planet Electricity Pollution Engineering Population Environment Predator Erosion Recycle Evaporation Reproduction Extinction Rock cycle Food chain Solar system Food web Technology Formula Telescope Fossil Tide Friction Volcanic eruption Generator Weathering English Language Arts

Abbreviation Definition Listening comprehension Action verb Detail Literature Action word Diary Meaning Actor Direct quote Memory aid Adjective Directions Minor character Adverb Director Miscue Advertisement Discussion leader Mood Affix Double negative Motive Animation Draft Multiple sources Antonym Drama Mystery Apology Edit Myth Apostrophe Encyclopedia Negative Appendix Ending News Audience Essay Nonfiction Audiotape Example Notes Auxiliary verb Explanation Noun Brainstorm Expression Novel Capitalization Gable Object Card catalog Facial expression Opinion Cause and effect Fantasy Oral presentation Central idea Fiction Oral report Chapter title First person Organization Character development Form Outline Chart Friendly letter Pamphlet Checklist Genre Paragraph Children’s literature Gesture Passage Chronological order Glossary Past tense Citation Grammar Peer review Closing sentence Graphic organizer Pen pal Colon Graphic Period Comma Heading Personal letter Command Headline Personal pronoun Commercial Host Phrase Common noun Hostess Pitch Compare and contrast Humor Plot Compete sentence Illustration Plot development Complex sentence Imagery Pint of view Compound word Indentation Posing a question Concluding statement Index Possessive noun Conclusion Inference Possessive pronoun Construct meaning Internet Posture Content-area vocabulary Interrogative sentence Preface Context clue Introduction Prefix Contraction Investigate Preposition Contrast Invitation Presentation Cue Journal Preview Cursive Key word Prior knowledge Custom Legend Pronoun Declarative sentence Linking verb Pronunciation Decode List Proofread Prop Proper noun Punctuation Question mark Quotation Quotation marks Rating Reading strategy Regular verb Request Revise Role playing Root word Science fiction Second person Sensory image Sentence structure Sequential order Setting short story Signature Singular noun Skim Sound effect Source Special effect Story element Story map Story structure Subject Subject-verb agreement Suffix Summarize Summary Supporting detail Suspense Syllabication Syllable Symbolism Synonym Table Tall tale Tense Text Thank you letter Theme Thesaurus Third person Time line Tone Topic sentence Usage Verb

Voice Volume Web site Word family Economics

Advantage Barter Benefit Borrow Capital Capital goods Capital resource Competition Consumer Consumption Contract Credit Currency Earnings Economy Employer Employment Entrepreneur Funds Goods/services exchange Household Income Income tax Innovation Invention Investment Investor Limited resources Loan Market Natural resource Partnership Payment Penalty Producer Product Profit Rent Resource Revenue Reward Risk Salary Savings Scarcity Shortage Surplus Tax Trade Value Wage Civics

Abuse of power Petition Alien Political office Benefits Political party Bill of Rights Politics Campaign Pollution Candidate Population growth Citizenship Poverty Civic responsibility Prejudice Columbus Day President Common good Presidential election Community Privilege Compromise Public servant Congress Public utilities Courts Quality of life Declaration of Independence Racial discrimination Democracy Racial diversity Diplomacy Reform Discrimination Refugee Diversity Religious belief Elected representative Religious discrimination Equal opportunity Representation Evidence Representative Executive branch Revolution Fourth of July Royalty Governor Senator Human rights Slavery Individual liberty Special interest group Individual rights State government Invasion of privacy State legislature Jury duty State senator Labor Day Supreme Court Labor union Taxes Law enforcement Thanksgiving Lawmaker Trade agreement Leadership Treaty Legislator Tribal council Martin Luther King Jr. Tribal government Mayor Uncle Sam Memorial Day Unemployment Military force United States citizenship National security United States Constitution Negotiation Value Nobility Veterans Day Oath of office Welfare Patriotism World leader Geography

Accessibility Food supply North America Aerial photograph Food web North Pole Africa Force Nuclear power plant Agriculture Forest cover Ocean current Air conditioning Forest fire Pacific Rim Air pollution Forestry Parallel Alaska Fossil fuel Pennsylvania Antarctic circle France Physical feature Appalachian mountains Ganges River Valley Place of origin Arizona artifacts Ghost town Plain Asia Grassland Plantation Atmosphere Harbor Plateau Boomtown Hindus Plot Boundary Historic site Pollution Canada Indian Ocean Prot Capacity Inhabitants Port city Capital cardinal direction Invasion Precipitation Chart Iron Preservation City center Iron ore Protection Civil war Irrigation Province Coal mining Japan Rain forest Coastal area Kilometer Recycling Colonization Land clearing Reusable Conservation issue Land use River system Contagious disease Landform Running water Continent Landlocked country Russia County Landscape Satellite image Crop failure Latitude Scale Crop yield Legend Scarce resource Cultural tradition Life cycle Section Culture Life expectancy Site Discovery Lifestyle Situation Downwind Local water Smog Drought Logging Social class Earthquake Longitude Society East Asia Louisiana Soil conservation East Coast Manufacturing plant Solar energy Education system Map projection South Energy consumption Marketplace South America England Mexico South Pole Environment Mining Spain Environmental conditions Mississippi River Storage Equator Monsoon Suburban area Erosion Mountain range Technology Europe Mud slide Territory Expansion National capital Texas Famine National forest Time zone Farmland Native Americans Topographic map Fertile soil Natural disaster Tornado Food chain New Jersey Township Trade route Volume West Coast Trade wind Water basin Wetland Transportation route Water pollution Wind storm Volcano Waterway History

A.D. Cinco de Mayo Empire Abolitionist Citizenship Employment Adolf Hitler Civil rights Equal rights Africa Civil War Era African American Clara Barton Erie Canal Agriculture Class Ethnic diversity Alaska Climate changes Europe Alexander Graham Bell Coal mining European Crusades Alliance Coffee trade Expedition Amelia Earhart Cold War Extended family American society Colonial government Factory American symbol Colonial period Famine Ancient Greece Colonist Far West Ancient Rome Colony Farming methods Annexation Columbus Ferdinand Magellan Aqueduct Communism Fertilizer Archeologist Compass Fishing community Archeology Computer technology Food production Architect Conquest Food storage Architecture Constitution Foreign policy Armed forces Convent Foreign trade Artifact Corruption Former slave Asia Court France Asian American Craft Franklin D. Roosevelt Attitudes Cuneiform Frederick Douglas Autobiography Custom Freedom of expression Aviation Daniel Boone Freedom of religion Aztec Davey Crockett Freedom of speech Ballad Debt French revolution B.C. Declaration of Independence Frontier Bill of Rights Developing country Galileo Biography Development Geographic border Boston Tea Party Diplomacy Geology Britain Discovery George Bush California Disease George W. Bush Camel Document George Washington Campaign Early Middle Ages Germany Canada Earnings Geronimo Caribbean Earthquake Great Depression Caste system East Asia Harriet Tubman Castle Eastern Europe Hawaii Central Africa Eastern Hemisphere Hemisphere Central America Economic interdependence Henry Ford Century Economic system Hieroglyphic Character trait Egypt Historian China Elected representative Homeless Chinese New Year Electricity Hopi Christian Ellis Island Immigrant Christianity Emancipation Immigration Chronology Emperor Incan Empire Indigenous people National symbol Rail transportation Industrial development Native American tribe Railroad construction Industrial Revolution Natural resource Ranching Interpretation Navigation Rapid transit Iron New England Reconstruction Iroquois New England colonies Reform Islam New York Religious freedom Israel Nonviolent resistance Reservation Italy Norm Right to vote Jackie Robinson North America Right to work Japan Nuclear technology Ritual Jew Occupation Road system John Glenn Ocean currents Roman Empire Judaism Official Roman Republic Justice Outlaw Rome Kingdom Overland trade route Rosa parks Labor Overseas trade Ruling class Landowner Pacific Rural area Landscape Parables Russia Latin America Paris Scientific breakthrough League of Nations Patriot Secondary source Literacy Pattern of change Separation of church and London Peasant state Luxury goods Period of history Settlement Manor Personal values Settler Manufacturing Philadelphia Slave Marco Polo Physical geography Slave holder Marie Curie Pictograph Slave rebellion Mass production Plague Slave trade Mayflower compact Plantation Slogan Media Point of view Smuggling Medieval Europe Political cartoon Social class Merchant Political geography Social reform Mexico Pollution Solar system Middle class Popular culture Sojourner Truth Middle East Population Southeast Asia Migrant Population growth Southwest Migration Postwar period Southwest Asia Military power Pottery Soviet Union Mill Poverty Space exploration Mining town Power by the people Spain Minority rights Principles Spanish-American War Missionary Primary source Statehood Modernization Production Statue of Liberty Monk Property ownership Steam locomotive Mother country Protest Steel construction Motive Proverb Submarine Motorized vehicle Puerto Rico Suburb Motto Puritan values Sugar cane Mummification Pyramids Superstition Muslim Race relations Susan B. Anthony National park Racial group Tactic Tax Unites Dates Constitution Western Europe Tenant University Western Hemisphere Textile industry Urban center Women’s movement Tobacco Vaccine Working conditions Tolerance Versailles Workplace Trade route Veterans Day World economy Tradition Vietnam World population growth Transport system Vietnam War World War I Twentieth century Volunteer World War II Unification Voting rights Written code United Nations Weaving Written language