Blog Supercharge Your Vocabulary Teaching and Help Pupils Reach Their Full Potential
By Andrew Jennings | Guest Blog
A child’s
vocabulary is one of the most important things we can hope to develop as
educators, but vocabulary is so much more than learning a few new words.
Actively developing children’s vocabularies can help to improve all aspects of
their understanding of a curriculum and help to make them more independent
learners in every lesson.
Every interaction, every text, every book, every conversation and every lesson are an opportunity to develop a child’s vocabulary. But which words should you choose to prioritise? And how can they be taught quickly and effectively? Here are some tips from the new edition of Vocabulary Ninja.
A word a day
Understanding the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 words will help you decide which words to prioritise in your classroom.
Tier 1 words: are the foundation of all vocabulary and are mostly learned via conversation – some children will still benefit from these words being taught explicitly.
Tier 2 words: are words that in most cases will
need some level of teaching and are words that link understanding, but that
also occur quite regularly in all written and spoken language. Ideally if we
are going to teach a word each day, it would be Tier 2.
Choose words that appear in books regularly that childre are unlikely to know, mostly verbs and adjectives – chances are you’ll be choosing words that are valuable to teach. (Or, you can download a weekly free vocabulary teaching pack to help reduce the workload. Visit: https://vocabularyninja.co.uk/word-of-the-day/)
Top Tip - It’s great to choose words from the book you are teaching from (as you read ahead) as the pupils will then encounter those words and understand them, but then also be able to use them in the writing outcomes that follow.
Introducing and embedding new vocabulary
Teach (10 minutes): Ideally at the
beginning of each literacy lesson you would spend 5-10 minutes teaching pupils
the new word and giving them the opportunity to apply the word in a written
sentence.
Display (Daily / Ongoing): Create a space in the classroom (display board) where each word that has been taught is added each day. This display will grow each day. This display is crucial for you and the pupils as it creates a referenceable, central hub of language for everyone to refer back to in all lessons. This constant referencing is a simplified version of spaced-retrieval practice where children are embedding this knowledge over time.
Refer and Model (Ongoing / Constant) : Use the words of the day (taken from the display) and use them when modelling writing in other lessons. Be sure to re-reference the meaning and model how to expand these words with other adjectives and adverbs to create descriptive phrases that children can use in their writing too!
What
else will help fill the word gap?
Reading aloud
each day is one of the best ways to expose children to a variety of Tier 1 and
Tier 2 vocabulary. It also allows pupils who aren’t as strong at reading to
still access the high quality vocabulary we want them to be exposed to, without
the cognitive load or skill required. They can just enjoy the text while being
exposed to rich and powerful vocabulary.
Andrew Jennings is an experienced teacher and school leader, and is the author of the bestselling series Vocabulary Ninja, Comprehension Ninja and Like a Ninja series. Follow Andrew on Twitter @VocabularyNinja and discover more resources at www.vocabularyninja.co.uk.
Vocabulary Ninja, Second Edition is out now. Published by Bloomsbury Education, RRP £24.99.
You can also take part in the Vocabulary Ninja Challenge! Bloomsbury Education, in partnership with Browns Books, are giving you the chance to win amazing prizes for your school. Find all the details of how to get involved here.
