Identifying words for direct instruction – Tiers of words Beck and Mckeown
Tier 1 words Tier 2 words Tier 3 words
Tier 1 words: basic, conversational words that appear in Tier 2 words: more frequently occurring words, central to Tier 3 words: low frequency, highly specialised, subject- most children’s vocabulary. comprehension, e.g. compare, significant. These are specific words, e.g. pyroclastic, fascism, photosynthesis. understood by most but not always used in their writing. These are the words that are particularly good for explicit instruction.