Gaining a Sophisticated Vocabulary
The Vocabulary Rich Classroom, an article written by Holly B. Lane and Stephanie Arriasza Allen discusses ways to introduce sophisticated language in the classroom. Students can learn mature vocabulary words incidentally when the teacher models their use on a daily basis. One part of the article I liked was the section on, "The Weather Watcher". A kindergarten teacher exposed her students to new vocabulary during circle time each day. She assigned students to classroom jobs. At the beginning of the year, one of the jobs was "zookeeper" and soon the title of that job changed to "animal nutritionist". To new kindergarteners, it was "cold outside". Seasoned kindergartens described the cooler weather as, "brisk". I think modeling sophisticated vocabulary is a great way to teach new words because it shows the student when and where a word is appropriate to be used. Repetitive use of sophisticated words will help students remember them and encourage them to use the words themselves. It is important to start off with the easy words and gradually move to words they might not have heard so that they can make the connection and build that bridge to a more educated word. Increased vocabulary will only benefit students in the long run with any form of reading comprehension. Vocabulary is also an important element of guided reading.
This is a screenshot of words that can be introduced in the classroom to build vocabulary knowledge.
In the sixth grade, my teacher used to use words ALL the time that were unfamiliar to me. One word that will always stick with me is behoove. She used that and other words frequently and they just stuck.
- Does anyone remember a teacher who used sophisticated language purposefully and tactfully?
My history teacher in the 5th grade used sophisticated language purposefully and tactfully. There were many words that we weren't familiar with when it came to history and her using and explaining them was extremely helpful.
ReplyDeleteI really like the overview of this article, even though I did not choose to read it this week as my reading. I think it is a fantastic idea to change words throughout the school year to make them seem more "sophisticated" and it helps students learn synonyms for words while building upon their vocabulary. This article brought in different aspects of teaching vocabulary that the article, eVoc Strategies: 10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary did not. I do however recommend reading the article though because it gives wonderful tools to use in the classroom.
ReplyDelete