Building Vocabulary

Vocabulary usage skyrockets for young people as they enter adolescence. While they can easily pick up slang and other vernacular, it is often more difficult for students to understand some vocabulary that is only used in the context of a classroom. Some vocabulary words, according to Fisher and Frey, describe a concept of a subject while others portray a more concrete term. For example, the term "gender roles" can be used to discuss the climate between men and women in a given era. The term "military state/society" is a more concrete term that expresses a type of society. F&F present several ways for teachers and educators to choose vocabulary words, incorporate them into their lessons, and giving the students methods for learning and internalizing them.

One such way is implementing a word wall in the classroom. When my mother taught elementary school, the word wall was a focal point in her classroom. As she taught students new words, she would put a laminated word onto the alphabetized wall and review the growing list daily. I think that while we expect more from students as they enter high school, we may also simultaneously be neglecting a learning mode that could be beneficial to them. If used properly, a word wall can display content-specific words that have been introduced in the lesson, discussed by the class, and then reviewed on a consistent basis. Doing so is sure to present positive results.

A second method, that can definitely be incorporated with the word wall, is meaningful repetition. As I mentioned before, my mother reviewed the word wall words with her students every day. As the year progressed, they acquired a significant amount of meaningful knowledge of the words: they could spell the words and use them correctly in a sentence. I think that the same method can be easily utilized in a high school setting. Before teachers begin their lessons, for example, they can have the class put their new vocabulary words to practice. As the year progresses and students develop their vocabulary, the teacher can (hopefully) begin to make meaningful connections with prior knowledge.

Finally, a third method that teachers can use to help students develop vocabulary is semantic features analysis. This idea is another way to engage visual learners; students create a grid with vocabulary terms listed in the far left column (one per row) and characteristics of those words on the top row. Students then place a check in the column where the vocab word corresponds with the characteristic. Students can use this worksheet as a point of reference for future study.