Ideas for Vocabulary

As a teacher of young children, one of the most important things I think we can teach our kiddos is vocabulary. Multiple studies have shown that kids growing up in economically disadvanted areas simply do not have the same access to vocabulary growing up. We need to give our students academic vocabulary in a diverse myriad of experiences but also implicitly teach them new words. Speak to them as you would to adults, encourage them to ask when they don't know what a word means. 

So how do we do this?

Every read aloud, I pre-read and make notes of vocabulary my students may not know. I teach those words first before I read the story. Not many, just 2 or 3. Then I reinforce those meanings when I get to those words in the text. 

We have vocabulary journals where we fill in Frayer Models and answer questions about words. Is it a good thing to be "unique"? When was one time you felt "timid"? 

Vocabulary Runway shows-I assign students a word to dress up as-this is a great alternative to dressing up at Halloween. They do a little speech giving the meaning of their words and using it in a sentence.

Putting words in order of severity: irate, irritated, angry, livid-put them in order from least serious to most serious. You can do this for almost any feelings words. 

I discovered this site recently:

NY Times Connections  -you are finding the connections between sets of words. There are 2 that are fairly more obvious and then 2 that get more rigorous.

And lastly, my word walls are interactive. I put the words with a picture so they can find a word , take it down and use it in their writing.

Vocabulary is such an important skills-teaching it implicitly and by osmosis.

Contemporary Beginning of the Year Read Alouds

There is nothing wrong with the classics. There are books that I still use the first week of school, year after year. But I also want to make sure I am reading the newer books that are being published each year as well. Not only are publishers more cognizant of diversity in their characters, but it ensures my students are being given unique experiences. There's nothing like hearing "my teacher read us that book last year". 

So here are my recommendations:

Using Depth and Complexity with Chrysanthemum

I LOVE setting the stage for our daily read-alouds in the beginning of the year. There are so many amazing stories where students can compare their own experiences and hopefully to allay any anxieties about going back to school. I will never forget a Kinder student I once had. When they left after the first day I said "see you guys tomorrow!" and she groaned and burst into tears crying "what?! we have to come back tomorrow?". 

Kaplan's Depth and Complexity are concepts where we can dig more deeply into these stories and analyze these characters. I introduce them early on because we will use them daily throughout the year. Many of these activity ideas can be transferred to any back-to-school story.

  Big Idea-how do our names help shape our identity? What do you think 

                                          parents think about when they decide on a name? Would you name 

your child a unique name?

           Over time-What do you think Chrysanthemum would name her child when 

                                  she grows up-a unique name? How do you think Victoria will change

                                     over time-will she still be mean? 

\           Trends-I am fascinated by trends in names over time. How do

                                     cultural things like popular celebrities or tv shows influence names? 

                                    How do the common names change when you look at data from 

                                                                           other countries?

    Details- what would the story have been like if her name was Jane?

Creating Risk-Takers

I think I was in college when I had a very memorable conversation with my mother. I had been a tour guide and wanted to apply to be the Tour Guide Supervisor but was afraid I wouldn't get it. And she said "you have the biggest fear of failure I have ever seen in a person". My response, to her chagrin, was "who do you think made me that way?" :) Those words from her stung. I was too worried about what people would think to try things.

I also think a lot about an article I read that talked about how on playgrounds most parents encourage their boys to take risks and cajole their girls for doing the same. "Be careful", "that doesn't seem safe". I think about this as I plan lessons for my students. I want them to have the confidence to take risks. To fail and get back up but not being afraid to fail.

So how do we do this? I try to model it for my kids. I'm trying this new idea, we'll see if it works. Letting them know-I am presenting in a meeting today and I'm a little bit nervous but I'm going to do it anyway. This past year I had students be the teachers. For our warm-up in reading and math, they let the review. I saw a huge leap in confidence for the students who really embraced this.

Another way is to model it with stories. Here are my favorites:

Huge fan of Peter Reynolds, but this one is one of my favorites. Talks a lot about taking the risk of being yourself.

Fish wants Snail to come on adventures with it but Snail doesn't want to leave his place of comfort.

One of my favorite discoveries. Penguin has the soul of an eagle and wants to learn how to fly. It shows penguin trying, failing and not giving up. The last part is my favorite!

This book shows not only how to be brave and try but it also shows an amazing understanding dad who encourages without pushing.

Tree is supposed to lose his leaves but he doesn't want to take the risk to change. 

My favorite wordless book. Braving the ocean waves.

Beautiful story about kids using their imagination to fight boredom. Poetically written.