Word Study Examples

Introduction

“I have observed teachers with a passionate interest in words and watched how they share this love with children, and I find it very hard to describe how they do what they do. No book on vocabulary instruction or set of activities can accomplish what these teachers do, spontaneously in the classroom.” Thus, Ellin Keene in To Understand provides teachers with a reality check before engaging with the following material. The word study activities offered here are simply recipes for preparing students to ingest words in a variety of ways. Choose and use what works. This guide is designed to increase word consciousness through robust vocabulary instruction so that, in the words of one state’s standards: “Students use the power of language ethically and creatively.” Relying heavily on Janet Allen’s philosophy, “…as a teacher I should not be teaching one way to teach vocabulary for all words, for all my students, for the whole year. Rather, I should be creating a language-rich environment with lots of reading, talking, and writing in which varying levels of instruction occur.” This guide seeks to help teachers create that environment. In Allen’s books (Words, Words, Words and Inside Words) she lists the ingredients to help students learn and use academic and specialized vocabulary.

If teachers desire language-rich classrooms, they need to:  Build background knowledge  Teach words that are critical to comprehension  Provide support during reading and writing  Develop a conceptual framework for themes, topics, and units of study  Assess students’ understanding of words and concepts.

It is wise to listen to Ellin Keene again before studying the succeeding pages. She reminds teachers that,

We have long understood the need for vocabulary instruction that creates a conceptual base for new words, helps children build a personal set of associations for the words they know, and encourages students to use increasingly subtle and complex words in their spoken and written language. Sadly, there is still too much focus in American classrooms on handing out long weekly word lists, then asking children to look up their meanings and write sentences that use the words in an appropriate context.

To counteract this negative focus, Keene describes a lively snapshot of teachers who continually gift their students with the joy of words:

They pause during a read-aloud to marvel at an author’s word choice; they reread lines just to let children appreciate the cadence of the language; they interrupt everyone during composing to share the word one writer has chosen because it perfectly captures the meaning he strives for. There are words and quotes posted throughout their classrooms, pulled from children’s writing and well-loved books. They share their pleasure when the words the author uses surprise them. They wisely select a few very relevant words to study at a given time, helping children to build a conceptual (rather than a definitional) understanding of each word, associating other terms with it. They create situations in which kids discover and teach each other words, and they ensure that children are hearing—and using—an ever more sophisticated vocabulary as they speak and write.”

Peter Johnston’s Choice Words also is a valuable guide to understanding the power of words. It is our hope that teachers will discover new ways to enrich their students by unlocking the power of words.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY Adapted from Words, Words, Words by Janet Allen

Increase Decrease

A language-rich environment Looking up definitions as a single source of word knowledge The variety of instructional approaches Asking students to write sentences for new words before they’ve studied the Opportunities for learning new word in depth words through wide reading Notion that all words in a text need to be Strategies to learn unfamiliar words defined for comprehension

Language/word awareness Using context as a highly reliable tool for increasing comprehension Building of background knowledge to increase vocabulary Assessments that ask students for single definitions Highlighting relationships between difficulty of words and Drill-and-practice methods comprehension

Direct instruction

Awareness that context clues vary in degree of helpfulness to readers

Awareness that knowing a word means more than knowing a definition of a word

Exposure to words in meaningful context

Immersion in vocabulary discussion

Teaching of word parts

Instructional Strategies and Tools

Within the following pages you will find Word Study tools designed to develop word consciousness in students. The instructional strategies and tools are not an end-all but a suggestion for use. The expectation is that you will take them and use them in a manner that will foster life-long word study skills.

The FRAYER MODEL

This graphic organizer takes some time, so you would probably choose it when you are introducing a concept or beginning a unit. The teacher would directly teach the critical attributes. This could become an anchor chart and used as a reference throughout the unit, adding information as the learning progresses.

In the example that follows, the teacher is introducing the word “anarchist” preceding a unit on the 1920’s.

Frayer Model

Define the Concept Is different from similar concepts

An anarchist is someone who Someone who criticizes authority advocates (supports or defends) or government, but wouldn’t want the absence of political authority to destroy it.

Examples of the Concept are Nonexamples of the concept are

Sacco and Vanzetti A patriot Emma Goldman A senator or representative Some rock groups like Anyone who votes or runs The Dead Kennedys for office

I’ll remember the word by

I know that “-ist” refers to a person, like a “dentist” or “pharmacist”. “an-“ means without and “-arkos” means ruler.

3 In comic books there sometimes is an “arch” villain. An anarchist would maybe not care if others got hurt if they got in the way of the overthrow of authority.

CONCEPTS AND VOCABULARY: CATEGORIES AND LABELS

This activity helps students focus on the particular vocabulary for a unit or novel by asking them to see connections, patterns, and relationships between the words. They decide how to categorize the words into logical groups.

One of the best ways to use this strategy is to have the words on cards and allow the students to work in groups. As they arrange the cards, they will explain, argue, persuade, and teach themselves and each other a great deal. This involvement with the words will help them create a structure to remember the words.

This procedure is a good way to introduce a unit or to review at the end. The following chart can be used instead of, or along with, the cards. Once a group has their organizational pattern completed, they can present their rationale to the whole class. Many different possibilities provide further awareness of how the words relate to each other and to the topic itself. If this is an introduction, students can create questions about the possible use of the words.

The example that follows could be used by a teacher introducing or reviewing a unit on the Civil Rights Movement. Multiple categories are possible.

Concepts and Vocabularies Categories and Labels

Read and think about each of the words you have been given. Now, group the words into categories that make logical sense to you. Ask yourself which words would logically go together. After you group the words, give each list a label. Be ready to explain or justify the rationale behind your groups and labels. Words: Lunch counter sit-ins Bus boycott Langston Hughes Martin Luther King, Jr. Emmett Till Ruby Bridges Rosa Parks Brown v. Board of Education March to Selma Separate But Equal Little Rock Nine 4 Little Girls Jackie Robinson Garbage Workers’ Strike Jim Crow Laws KKK George Wallace Lyndon Johnson

4 Labels and Categories: Events That Brought About Change Negative forces Inspirational People More Info Needed Lunch Counter sit-ins KKK MLK, Jr. Lyndon Johnson Bus boycott Separate But Equal Rosa Parks Emmett Till George Wallace Little Rock Nine Brown V. Board of Education Jim Crow laws Langston Hughes Garbage Workers’ Strike Ruby Bridges March to Selma Jackie Robinson Four Little Girls

LEAD: EXPERIENCE-BASED VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION

The three steps in this strategy are:

L List specialized or academic vocabulary related to the topic

EA Provide students with an experience activity where they would use the specialized words highlighted

D Discuss the topic using the specialized vocabulary

This might be a good way to introduce students to the intricate vocabulary of The Scarlet Letter, The Odyssey, or Great Expectations. The teacher would first go over the specialized words; then provide an activity that generates involvement with the words; and then, through a discussion, create even more interaction with the new vocabulary.

The following LIST is planned to introduce the Queen Mab speech in Romeo and Juliet to students before they see the film clip of that scene.

LEAD EXPERIENCE-BASED VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION L = Listing EA = Experience Activity D = Discussion

List Queen Mab Rosaline midwife court’sies breaches Romeo parson fairies plagues ambuscadoes Mercutio monologue agate stone tithe Spanish blades Mercurical courtiers traces parson benefice Anon dreams atomies suit fathoms

5 Experience Activity Work with members of your learning group and discuss what you know about Mercutio and Romeo so far. How many of these words can you figure out? Has any one seen a pirate movie? Which would fit swashbucklers? Mercutio is not a pirate, but he uses some crazy images to distract Romeo from his latest crush (not Juliet!) See if you can figure out any of these words before we watch the film clip.

Discussion After viewing the famous Queen Mab scene, how many of these words can your team figure out now? Anyone know anything about dream interpretation? Do you believe Mercutio? Does Mercutio believe himself? Could you draw this fairy midwife?

VOCAB-O-GRAM

In this strategy, students are given a list of words for a story they are about to read. They then make predictions about where these words will be used within the structure of the story. Working in groups, they speculate about the elements of the story and make connections between and among the words in the word bank. Any words that don’t seem to fit anywhere can be placed in the Mystery Words box.

In the following example, the students are preparing to read The Scarlet Letter.

VOCAB-O-GRAM

Use the vocabulary words in the word bank to make predictions about the book we are reading. You can use the words more than once to make your predictions. Think about how you think the author of the book will use the words in the story. Help each other define the words. If you use a dictionary, you may have to do some interpretation. List words that you think will go with each category of the story structure. Then use those words to make predictions and answer the questions about the structure. If there are words your group can’t use because they are too unfamiliar, list those words at the bottom as Mystery Words.

Word Bank: throng calamity hussy penitence sepulchers edifice primeval imp portal dank melancholy spectre illegitimate oracles depraved gallows scaffold amiss beadle physiognomies blighted paternity parishioner retribution

Setting How will the author describe It will be dank and blighted…It’s primeval. the setting?

Characters What predictions can you There’s a hussy and she’s probably melancholy. There’s an make about the characters? Illegitimate child. A parishioner might be involved.

6 Conflict What will the conflict be? We think the paternity suit is the conflict. Who will be involved? The hussy! A crowd (throng). Something’s amiss.

Plot What will happen in the story? Some calamity will take place. Is there a portal to another world? Maybe that’s where the imp comes in…and the beadle. Resolution How will the story end? Badly! Someone might get hanged in the gallows. Someone Who is depraved gets retribution! Questions What questions do you have Is there time travel? (oracles?) Are there ghosts? (spectre)? about the story? Dead bodies? (sepulchers)?

Mystery Words physiognomies..that’s a mouthful!

PORTABLE WORD WALL

This strategy needs little explanation. Use it with any subject at any time. Students can collect words they want to know or that the teacher wants them to record during a unit.

WORD SORT

This is an activity where students are asked to sort words into categories by placing words into groups where the words have a common element. The teacher creates a bank of words that will be used in a unit of study.

The data collected can be a valuable springboard for conferring with students about their choices for grouping and their thinking for their decisions.

Sample Word Sort (7th grade)

Participant’s Name Word Sort Title Word Sort Grouping Jade Suffixes (-nch, -elch, hunch, branch -tch, -ouch, -each) belch catch, match, hutch couch reach, teach, beach Moran Suffixes (-nch, -elch, branch, hunch -atch belch

7 -ouch, -each) catch, match, hutch couch beach, reach, teach. Tim Word endings (-tch’s, match, catch, hutch -ach’s, -ch’s) beach, coach, reach, teach belch, couch, hunch Jo ABC order and sounding beach, belch the same branch, match catch, couch hunch, hutch teach, reach

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

This helpful tool allows students to interact with the vocabulary to gain a better grasp of the meaning in a text. It could be used before reading and annotating. In this approach, students are required to determine which word would not survive with the others in a given list. The teacher formulates word clusters containing at least one word from the work (synonyms and one antonym). Working in small groups, students discuss which words would be eliminated and why.

Dictionaries and thesauri can be used. The teacher may require students to formulate a new word to replace the eliminated one. A last step could be to have the students decide as a group how they might label the clusters.

Survival of the Fittest Read and discuss the words in each of the clusters of words. Determine which word does not fit with the other words in each cluster. Eliminate that word and then create a label that would include the words that are left in the cluster of words. For a challenge, generate a new word that would replace the eliminated word and fit with the remaining words in the cluster.

“Casey at the Bat” “Largest Amount” “Dead colors” 1. extreme 6. pallor severe bloodless limited greatest pastiness maximum sallowness intense ruddiness pale utmost colorlessnesss

“Circular” “Never-ending” 2. wreathed 7. eternal curved endless turned infinite rounded lasting looped terminable forever straight ring-shaped enduring

8 “Physical Features” “Hurt” 3. featureless aspect 8. harmed appearance well unwell looks injured visage stricken countenance wounded features overcome

“Minimum” “Helpful” 4. minute 9. supporters rare well-wishers straggling patrons many less backers sparse fans middling opponent helper

“Large Group” “Beforehand” 5. mob 10. go before slew pave the way horde preceding oodles followed lead handful many go in advance

LIST-GROUP-LABEL

This brainstorming and categorizing activity provides students with an opportunity to think about, discuss, categorize, and label words related to a central concept. This allows teachers to assess students’ background knowledge prior to beginning a novel or unit of study.

List: Each student brainstorms and lists at least seven words they think of when they hear certain terms relating to a theme. Group: Students then work with a small group to discuss and group their lists into logical categories. Looking for word patterns allows students time to think about the concept. The goal is to have one list encompassing all words, and for all students to achieve a better grasp of the themes. Label: The last step requires students to label their categories. These categories could then become a basis for the creation of a word wall.

List-Group-Label

My brainstorming list for tolerance

putting up with people conflicts accepting patience willing ignore differences no fighting attitude

Word patterns our group discovered…

9 Tolerance

temper

willing patience listening

accepting putting up with people cool down conflicts

Ignore differences no fighting

Based on our words and labels, we can make the following statements about this topic:

 Tolerance is ignoring differences among people  You have to accept and be willing to be tolerant  Tolerance is putting up with people

“I’M THINKING OF A WORD….”

Need to review vocabulary, terms, events, characters? This charades-style review activity is engaging enough to sustain the interest of the students and “solidify their understanding of specialized vocabulary words (Allen, 2007). The teacher chooses words, concepts, and terms taught during a unit or from the Word Wall. It is an excellent formative assessment; the teacher can quickly identify student needs to determine future lessons.

Janet Allen gives the following explanation:

The activity begins when the teacher says, “I’m thinking of a word….” The teacher completes the thought by providing students with a context, such as “I’m thinking of a word that we discussed in our study of colonial events in America.” Or “I’m thinking of a term authors use to….” Or “I’m thinking of a word that we often use in math class.” The teacher allows a few wild guesses and then moves forward by giving students examples and non-examples and continuing to repeat each previous clue (following the graphic organizer). At this point, students will probably have several guesses. If they have guessed the word and can explain or describe the word’s meaning in the context the teacher has created, then the teacher moves on to a new word and begins the game again. After a few example and non-example clues are given, the teacher would provide a richer, more detailed context by saying, “This word would always/usually….” and “This word would never….” By this time, the students will have narrowed the possibilities and should be able to name and define the word.

“I’M THINKING OF A WORD….”

I’m thinking of a word (device) that…

…playwrights use to reveal a character’s thoughts and feelings.

Examples of the device are… Non-examples of the device are…

…Mercutio’s speech in Act 1.5 …Romeo and Juliet’s first …Romeo and the party-goers conversation at the end of Act 1 Any ideas?

This device would always/usually…. The device would never….

…be spoken to characters on stage …be one or two lines long

The word is and it means…

…monologue: a long speech delivered by an actor to others on stage

I SPY: A WORD SCAVENGER HUNT

This is an engaging activity designed to “provide students an opportunity to apply and discover…” vocabulary, terms, concepts in a more “real-life context.” This activity is based on the belief that middle and high school students should have “deeper explorations with language’” (Beck, McKeown, and Kucan, 2002). “I Spy” provides the multiple exposures needed to shape word meanings to increase student understanding and the ability to actually use the word fluently.

Have you every played “I-Spy”? Then you know basically how “I Spy: A Word Scavenger Hunt” works. Students are given a list of words or concepts and must find examples of the word somewhere. In the example provided, students chose unfamiliar words from Heart of Darkness and formed a Word Wall. At the end of the novel, students generated a list of their 10 favorite words and went on a scavenger hunt. For one week they actively sought these words in their reading (academic and leisure) and listening (conversations and television).

Modified Steps from Inside Words by Janet Allen:

1. Create a list of words or concepts that are specific to the text or unit of study. 2. Options: a. Give students the list of words and explain that they are looking for examples of the word and the actual word. It is a bonus if they find the actual word, but you really want to discover the word in action. b. Generate a list of vocabulary or, as in the example provided, have students generate a list of words and hunt for the word in action.

11 3. Students work in groups and as a class, documenting where they discovered the word. 4. If possible, students bring an artifact to show the word in a new context (When studying Franz Kafka, students found and shared Kafkaesque examples). The artifacts could be anything from newspaper clippings to photographs to television or online videos. 5. Individually, students write what connection the target word in a new context has to their understanding of the word or concept. 6. If you have a word wall, artifacts can be displayed under each of the target words as a visual reminder of the word, its meanings, and its applications.

Examples from students’ work with Heart of Darkness were “tumultuous, fisticuffs, lugubrious, jocose, diaphanous, sagacious, obsequious, harlequin.”

This activity is engaging for students and teachers. Here they go beyond memorization and discover the words and concepts that often seem inaccessible are accessible. The words and concepts are “brought to life” and, in turn, fluency is increased.

PREVIEWING CONTENT VOCABULARY

What does it mean to know a word? Inside Words by Janet Allen lists these “Levels of Word Knowledge”:

1. I’ve never seen the word before. 2. I’ve heard the word, but I don’t know what it means. 3. I recognize it in context and know that it is connected/related to ______(word or concept). 4. I know the word and can use it appropriately.

“Previewing Content Vocabulary” is a way for teachers and students to assess students’ background knowledge of the words and concepts encountered in a specific reading assignment or unit of study.

Instructions modified from Inside Words:

Using the graphic organizer for Previewing Content Vocabulary or a format similar (student journal or notebook page), guide students through this activity.

1. Read the title of the chapter, text, or name of the author and ask them to brainstorm or freewrite words and/or concepts they think they will encounter during the reading. 2. In the example, students were preparing to read an article on the history and myth of the Trojan War. After freewriting on the words and concepts they may encounter,

12 they were given the word list at the bottom of the page (Content Vocabulary). These words were taken from the reading. 3. Before reading, students individually determined their level of knowledge of each of the words, filling out each quadrant of the organizer. 4. Students then worked in groups to share their knowledge of the words and define unfamiliar words.

Another use for this activity is similar to a pretest (but less intimidating). For example, write “Literary Terms” as the title and have them brainstorm a list of all the terms they know and can define. Then provide the list you want them to know by the end of the study, semester, or year and complete the organizer as explained above.

This strategy allows the teacher to determine not only students’ various levels of word knowledge, but also their general background knowledge. It is a valuable formative assessment for how much pre-teaching might be needed. Marzano reminds us, “What students already know about the content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to the content.”

Previewing Content Vocabulary

Chapter XII: “History and Myth Come Together: The Trojan War”

Based on the title, words I would expect to read in this text:

Based on this title, I believe that it will be about the Trojan War, so words like “war.” They may talk about rulers and the importance of the Trojan War.

I’ve never heard the word… I’ve heard the word, but I don’t know what it means:

…fomenting Capricious

I think the word means I know the word… or is related to…

13 …metropolis: paradise …exquisite

Content Vocabulary

discord infinite intervening fomenting trivial dispirited compelling reverberate ingenious sinister comeliness valor riveted interminable amassed coveted capricious metropolis

AFTERWORD:

Over and over in To Understand, Ellin Keene urges us to “incorporate the most basic instructional principles: Focus instruction on a few key concepts, teach them over a long period of time, and have students apply those concepts in a wide variety of texts and contexts.” If teachers genuinely want to bring students and words together, they must commit to this mantra and especially commit to the transfer of new understanding to the next experience.

Carol Ann Tomlinson, in the Foreword to Sandra R. Whitaker’s Word Play, expresses the feelings of teachers who love words: “It never made sense to me to ask students to memorize lists of words. That would have been like asking them to memorize the phone book instead of learning about the people in the town.”

Whitaker guides us further with a caution to stop “thinking that every word students will need to understand a text actually appears in the text.” Instead, start “thinking about the background knowledge students…need as they encounter a text.” Create a “productive vocabulary—the words we produce to communicate our own ideas….Without transfer of new vocabulary into speech and writing, can we really say a student owns words?”

14 The examples from Janet Allen’s Inside Words offered in the preceding pages were chosen because of their supportive scaffolding. Properly assisted, students can develop their productive vocabularies and build their background knowledge about words.

Tomlinson commends those who forego “the inclination to provide teachers with a ‘bag of tricks’ that is rooted in nothing more than the desire to have something to do Monday morning.” It is the hope of the builders of the Word Study portion of this literacy notebook that these exercises will not be perceived as contents of that bag. We agree with Tomlinson that, “[U]nderstandable as that desire [to provide the tricks] is, it doesn’t help us grow deep roots in the disciplines we teach.” We offer these examples with this caveat: Plant them in good soil that has been carefully prepared, or there won’t be the growth we hope to see.

May your students and you go beyond the names and definitions of words to know the excitement of truly owning words; they have as many stories as the people in a town.

References

Allen, J. (1999). Words, words, words: Teaching vocabulary in grades 4-12.

Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Allen, J. (2007). Inside words: Tools for teaching academic vocabulary. Portland, ME:

Stenhouse.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary

instruction. NY: Guilford Press.

Johnston, P. (2004). Choice words: How our language affects children’s learning.

Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Keene, E. (2008). To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.

15 Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Marzano, R. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement:

Research on what works in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Whitaker, S. (2008). Word play: Building vocabulary across texts and disciplines

grades 6-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.