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Reading PK-3 > Strategies > Accessible Vocabulary

Accessible Vocabulary

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Overview

Teachers support language development by using and providing Vocabulary that is appropriately leveled (e.g., using word wall words). When teachers incorporate challenging but accessible Vocabulary words in their daily instruction, they create a contextual environment for students to practice, apply, and grow their Vocabulary knowledge.

Use It in the Classroom

Watch how this first grade teacher models Vocabulary in her instruction in addition to using an interactive word wall. By slowing her speech and adding hand gestures, she highlights complex Vocabulary and provides the opportunity for students to try to incorporate them into their own language.

  • Teachers can display Vocabulary words somewhere in the classroom and actively refer to them when they are used in context by both the teacher and students. This reference point in the learning environment supports students' Short-term Memory and facilitates the transition of these words into students' Long-term Memory and daily speech.

    • Design It into Your Product

    Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

    See how Newsela provides texts at adaptive reading levels, which allows learners to read content that is interesting to them with Vocabulary that is accessible to them. Additionally, through their Power Words feature, high-frequency and high-utility words are highlighted within the articles, allowing learners to remember or reference their definitions in context.

  • Products can provide adaptive language that adjusts to the appropriate Vocabulary complexity that can be read and understood by learners. They can also introduce features for learners to practice target words and grow their Vocabulary understanding.
    • View References

    Resources

    Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
    Examples

    Choosing Words to Teach

    Reading Rockets' tips for selecting vocabulary words to explicitly teach

    Examples

    Vocabulary for ELLs

    Coursera lecture with strategies for teaching and using Vocabulary for ELL students

    Factors Supported by this Strategy

    Language and Literacy
    Background Knowledge
    Sight Recognition
    Vocabulary
    Cognition
    Long-term Memory
    Short-term Memory
    Working Memory
    Social and Emotional Learning
    Student Background
    Adverse Experiences
    Physical Fitness
    Primary Language
    Safety
    Sleep
    Socioeconomic Status

    More Teacher Modeling & Support Strategies

    Accessible Syntax

    Teachers can support language development by using and providing syntax that is appropriately leveled (e.g.

    Brief Instruction Steps

    Content that is provided in clear, short chunks can support students' Working Memory.

    Building Trusting Relationships

    Building positive and trusting relationships with learners allows them to feel safe; a sense of belonging; and that their academic, cognitive, and social and emotional needs are supported.

    Discussing Emotions

    Teaching students how to label, identify, and manage emotions helps them learn self-regulation skills.

    Encourage Student Self-advocacy

    Overtly encouraging all students to seek support and ask questions creates a safe space for risk-taking and skill development.

    Foster Growth Mindset

    Teachers can help students understand that learning involves effort, mistakes, and reflection by teaching them about their malleable brain and modeling their own learning process.

    Growth Mindset Feedback

    Providing feedback that focuses on the process of developing skills conveys the importance of effort and motivates students to persist when learning.

    Incorporate Students' Cultural Practices

    Learning about students' cultures and connecting them to instructional practices helps all students feel like valued members of the community.

    Model Assignment or Skill

    By talking through their thinking at each step of a process, teachers can model what learning looks like.

    Model Connections to Text

    Teachers sharing text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections models this schema building.

    Predictability: Environment & Structure

    Maintaining consistent classroom routines and schedules ensures that students are able to trust and predict what will happen next.

    Read-alouds

    Reading aloud regularly exposes students to new and familiar vocabulary and texts.

    Read-alouds: Deliberate Topics

    Reading aloud books about skills children are learning provides another model for their development.

    Student Choice

    Providing students a voice in their learning is critical for making learning meaningful.

    Wait Time

    Wait time, or think time, of three or more seconds after posing a question increases how many students volunteer and the length and accuracy of their responses.

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