Teaching Vocabulary and

Comprehension

Evidence-based
Practices
Vocabulary Definition
• “…knowing a word is not an
all-or-nothing proposition; it
is not the case that one either
knows or does not know a
word. Rather, knowledge of a
word should be viewed in
terms of the extent or degree
of knowledge that people can
possess.”

Beck & McKeown, 1991

 Vocabulary Definition

“…vocabulary is the glue that

holds stories, ideas, and content together…
making comprehension accessible for
children.”
Rupley, Logan, & Nichols, 1998/99, p. 339
Vocabulary Definition (cont.)
• “Words are the
starting point.
Without words,
children can’t talk
about people, places,
or things, about
actions, relations, or
states.”
Clark, 1993
 Vocabulary Definition (cont.)
• Vocabulary, or
lexicon, refers to
information stored in
memory concerning
the pronunciation and
meanings of words.
Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998
Vocabulary Definition (cont.)
 Effective Vocabulary
Instructional Program

Research
Base
 Research Base for Vocabulary
• First graders from high
SES populations have
access to twice as many
word meanings as
children from lower SES
groups

Graves, Brunetti, & Slater, 1982; Graves

& Slater, 1987
Research Base for Vocabulary
(cont.)
• Once vocabulary differences are
firmly established in children,
they are very difficult to reverse
Biemiller, 1999; Hart & Risley, 1995

• There is currently little emphasis

on the acquisition of vocabulary
in school
Biemiller, 2001; Scott, Jamieson, & Asselin,
1998; Watts, 1995
 Research Base for Vocabulary
(cont.)
• Word knowledge is essential
for comprehension
Davis, 1944

• Oral interactions and wide

reading in a variety of text
types is to be encouraged and
supported
Nagy & Herman, 1987
Research Base for Vocabulary
(cont.)

• Learning new
concepts requires active
involvement rather than
passive definition
memorization
Stahl, 1986
 Research Base for Vocabulary
(cont.)
• Multiple exposures to a
word is necessary to learn it
well –conceptual, contextual,
& definitional
Miller, 1996

• Writing definitions from

dictionaries is not a
recommended practice
Miller, 1996
Research Base for Vocabulary
(cont.)

• Relate new words to

students’ prior
knowledge and to
other related words
when possible
U.S. Dept of Education, 1987
 Research Base for Vocabulary
(cont.)

• Students need to develop the ability to learn

new words from the multiple contexts of
reading
Johnson & Baumann, 1984
 Research Base for Vocabulary
(cont.)

• Use direct instruction to

teach “Tier 2” and passage
or selection critical words
Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998
 Teaching Vocabulary

Is There a Set of Vocabulary Words

Elementary Students Should Have?

• Children learn about 1,000 (conservative) to

3,000 (liberal) words per year (Stahl & Nagy,
2006). Most scholars agree with an estimate
of 2,000 – 3,000 words learned per year.
 Teaching Vocabulary
Is There a Set of Vocabulary Words
Elementary Students Should Have?

• Beck, McKeown, & Kucan (2002) do not believe

in teaching Tier I words (high frequency). This
recommendation clearly assumes these words
are already known
or will be learned incidentally through
conversation and social interactions.
 Teaching Vocabulary
What Does it Take to Teach a Word Well?

• Vocabulary should be taught both explicitly and incidentally.

• Repetition and multiple exposure are important for learning new
vocabulary.
• Learning how to construct vocabulary from rich (directive) contexts is
valuable.
• Vocabulary learning tasks should be restructured when necessary.
• Vocabulary tasks should entail active engagement.
• Explicit vocabulary instruction should address the use of definitions,
context, and concept learning.
 Teaching Vocabulary
What Words Should I Teach?

• First, examine the type of text the children will be reading.

Is it narrative or informational? Teach Tier II words if the
children will be reading narrative, literary texts. Teach Tier
III words if children will be reading informational,
expository texts (point of contact).

• Next, examine the text to develop a list of 10 Tier II or Tier

III words to be taught during the week, 2 per day.
 Teaching Vocabulary
What Words Should I Teach?
• Read the text to determine the nature of the context in
which each of the selected Tier II or Tier III words appear.
– Directive Context
• Gives clues, hints, synonyms to determine an approximate
word meaning in the context.
– Non-Directive Context
• Mentions the word without giving any clues to determine
word meaning.
– Mis-Directive Context
• Gives clues that lead readers to false word meaning
construction.
 Teaching Vocabulary
What Words Should I Teach?

• If a word appears in a directive context, then teach

children how to use context to determine an approximate
word meaning.

• If a word appears in a non-directive or mis-directive

context, then these are good candidates for your 10 word
teaching list.
 Teaching Vocabulary
What Words Should I Teach?

• If you have ELL students in your

classroom, be sure to determine if there is
a Spanish-English cognate that may help
them make the translation.
For example -
Information (English)
Información (Spanish)

• Here is a good source for finding English

Spanish Cognates -
 Three Qualities of an Effective
Vocabulary Instructional Program

Strategies for Explicit

Vocabulary
Instruction
 Thinking About Vocabulary
Instruction: Three Tiers
• Tier One Words- Consists of basic words and rarely require
instructional attention in school and highly frequent in life:
clock, baby, ball, happy, walk, run, etc.

• Tier Two Words - High frequency use for mature language

users and found across a variety of knowledge domains:
coincidence, absurd, industrious, fortunate, etc.
• Tier Three Words - Low frequency use and limited to
specific knowledge domains: isotope, lathe, peninsula,
refinery, etc. Best learned when teaching specific content
lessons such as geography, science, etc.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. NY: Guilford Press.
Can You Find a Tier II Word?
Can You Find a Tier III Word?
 Vocabulary Instruction:
Three Tiers
• Estimates indicate that about 8,000 basic words need
no instruction – Tier 1

• Estimates indicate that about 7,000 words for Tier 2

or about 700 words per year.

• Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002) recommend

teaching about 400 words per year K-12.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction.
NY: Guilford Press.
 Teaching Tier II Words
• Characterize a tier 2 word such as tend – to take
care of something.

• Explain meaning of tend in everyday life – If you

tend something, say a garden, you take care of it
by watering, fertilizing, pulling weeds, and
keeping the soil loose around the new plants.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. NY: Guilford Press.
 Altering Task Requirements
for Teaching Tier II Words
• Ask a Question: What do you think the word tend means?

• Have You Ever? Describe a time when you tended something

or someone.

• Word Associations: After teaching several tier 2 words have

students associate these with questions: Which word goes
with baby? (tend).

• Idea Completions: The Little Red Hen asked if the others

would help her take care of her garden. Another word that
means to take care of a garden we know is _____.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction.
NY: Guilford Press.
 Altering Task Requirements
for Teaching Tier II Words
• Like a Test:
Tend
1. Don’t care about how you look and what you
do.
2. To take care of someone or something.
3. To act hard and serious.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. NY: Guilford Press.
 Altering Task Requirements for
Teaching Tier II Words
• Like a Test Continued:
The word tend means ask someone
about something.
True or False

– Matching definitions with words in a list.

– Paired words with a question:
Which would you do if you had a puppy that needed
to be taken care of ?
mollycoddle tend
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. NY: Guilford Press.
Word Webbing (Unfocused)

asteroid

* Based on Johnson, D. D. (2001). Vocabulary in the elementary and middle school. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
 Word Webbing (Focused)

Examples asteroid Context Use

Attributes

* Based on Johnson, D. D. (2001). Vocabulary in the elementary and middle school. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
 Explicit Vocabulary Teaching
I’ve Selected My 10 Words, Now What?

Definition
• Begin by looking up the word in a dictionary or
glossary and get a definition.

• Next construct a “student friendly

definition” using your own words.
If you have trouble doing this,
consider purchasing this dictionary:
 Explicit Vocabulary Teaching
I’ve Selected My 10 Words, Now What?

Context
• Next find the page where the word is found the story or
text to read the context.

• List the context clues found in the text.

• Ask the students to use the word in an oral sentence.

• Write the word in sentence.

 Active Context Word Learning
Albasa
Albasa will usually be found at grocery stores and
restaurants.
People like to eat albasa on their hamburgers, although
albasa are tasty with a variety of dishes.
Since albasa are a vegetable, they are also nutritious.
One disadvantage of albasa is the strong odor which has
been known to produce crying symptoms among those who
slice them.
Gipe, J.P. (1980). Use of a relevant context helps kids learn new word meanings. The Reading Teacher, 33,(5), 398-402.
 Context Vocabulary Teaching

Albasa
Albasa will usually be found at grocery stores and
restaurants.
People like to eat albasa on their hamburgers, although
albasa are tasty with a variety of dishes.
Since albasa are a vegetable, they are also nutritious.
One disadvantage of albasa is the strong odor
which has been known to produce crying symptoms among
those who slice them.
Gipe, J.P. (1980). Use of a relevant context helps kids learn new word meanings. The Reading Teacher, 33,(5), 398-402.
Explicit Vocabulary Teaching
I’ve Selected My 10 Words, Now What?

Examples
• Use pictures or video clips.

• List examples of the word.

• Use a thesaurus to find synonyms,

antonyms, and Tier I words.
 Teaching Vocabulary
I’ve Selected My 10 Words, Now What?

Characteristics/Attributes
• Use pictures or video clips.

• List characteristics or attributes of

the word.
 Frayer & Klausmeir Model
Hochspannungstrohmabnehmer

• Example: lightning rod, Ben Franklins’ kite and key

• Non-example: wooden post, plastic pole
• Relevant attributes: metal, touches an exposed electrical
wire, found on top of a streetcar or light rail train
• Irrelevant attributes: slender, lets off sparks
• Superordinate term: electrical conductor
• Coordinate term: electrical plug
Frayer, F. D. & Klausmeir, H.J. (1969). A shema for testing the level of concept mastery. University of Wisconsin.
 Explicit Vocabulary Teaching
I’ve Selected My 10 Words, Now What?

Category/Part of Speech
• Determine part of speech.
• Determine category of word meaning.
Explicit Vocabulary Teaching
I’ve Selected My 10 Words, Now What?
Definitions
Use Word in Context

Dictionary
Dictionary Look
Look Up
Up Find
Find and
and Read
Read itit in
in the
the Book/Story
Book/Story

Student
Student Friendly
Friendly Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
Word
Context
Context Clue
Clue from
from Reading
Reading

Write
Write the
the Word
Word in
in aa Sentence
Sentence

Examples
Examples

Category/Class/Pa
Category/Class/Pa Characteristics
Characteristics
rt
rt of
of Speech
Speech

Conceptual
Conceptual Understanding
Understanding
If you want more information
please contact:

D. Ray Reutzel, Ph.D.

Emma Eccles Jones Professor
Utah State University
www.cehs.usu.edu/ecc
Presentations Button Left Hand Side
or
IRA Board of Directors
International Reading Association
rreutzel@reading.org