When most of you attended school, you probably had the same type of vocabulary study I did — a list of 10-20 words a week that each required a dictionary/glossary definition and a sentence using the term. After a little discussion and maybe some matching games, we’d take a test over the terms at the end of the week. I don’t know about you, but I would then proceed to forget each term over the weekend, because I knew I was inheriting a new list of 10-20 words come Monday morning. This cycle produced little retention for most of us. Today, with all the educational research on effective vocabulary study, it makes sense that I didn’t remember the words and their definitions for long.

Understanding the Research
Dr. Robert Marzano’s research explains the concept of 4-14-40. The highest-achieving students can learn a new term with as few as 4 exposures to it. The average student needs to work with a word up to 14 times in order to master it. And your most struggling learners need as many as 40 different opportunities to work with a single word to finally learn it.

That said, it quickly becomes apparent for the classroom teacher that not all terms can be given the same amount of attention. This is the reason for “core academic vocabulary.” Teachers need to identify the 30 most essential terms within each academic subject for their grade level. Which words are worth 14-40 exposures? Which words come up all year long, not just within a chapter or unit? What are the words that if a student knows he will have the highest probability of academic success?

Identifying Core Words
To go about identifying your core set of 30 terms consider these steps:

1. If you are an elementary teacher, identify ONE content area to start with (e.g. math). If you are a content-area teacher, identify ONE course to start with (e.g. algebra).

2. Using standards (and referencing standardized tests, textbooks, curriculum maps, etc.), make a list of 30 essential terms that students will utilize throughout the school year and thus have high-utility. These are “need-to-know” words, more so than just “nice-to-know.”

NOTE: It’s not that you would only teach 30 words all year. In fact, you can teach as many words as you want per chapter or unit, but what are the 30 concept words that run the gamut of the school year and are a part of most/all chapters? These are what you will dub your “core words.” The other words would still be taught, but because they wouldn’t get as much depth and attention as the core terms, it’s unlikely that the majority of your students will retain all these words and their meanings.

3. Slowly grow this list of core words within your classroom environment. Build a categorized word bank (not an alphabetized word wall). The more you see the terms, the more apt you are to reference them in class discussions and future lessons. Remember, many students need as many as 40 experiences with a word before they have “mastered” it.

 

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 9:42 am and is filed under Vocabulary, Vocabulary & Word Choice, Word Choice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.