Word Work
These vocabulary strategies help students build their comprehension and language skills by using key words from Perspectives texts in their own reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Teaching Strategies
20 TEACHING STRATEGIES
Concept Sort
A concept sort is a comprehension strategy in which students sort new vocabulary into categories.
July 19, 2014
Four-Fold Vocabulary
Interactive “foldables” help students learn new vocabulary through defining, illustrating and using words in sentences.
July 19, 2014
Guess the Covered Word
Guess the Covered Word challenges students’ vocabularies and reading comprehension by requiring them to deduce words redacted from a text.
July 19, 2014
Illustrated Vocabulary
In this visual strategy, students divide vocabulary words into parts and draw illustrations to represent the separate meaning of each part.
July 19, 2014
Making Words
Making Words is a hands-on activity in which students learn how adding and moving letters can create new words.
July 19, 2014
Meaning-Making Paragraphs
Students learn the meaning of vocabulary words by writing the word in multiple ways. Students write guided paragraphs about words from the central text then share their writing with peers.
July 19, 2014
Meet New Vocabulary
Meet New Vocabulary uses a graphic organizer to help students acquire new vocabulary while reading. This strategy is most effective when teaching challenging, domain-specific words (Tier Three).
July 19, 2014
My Pile, Your Pile
My Pile, Your Pile is an interactive word game that increases students’ Tier Two and Tier Three vocabularies.
July 19, 2014
Personal Picture Dictionary
A personal picture dictionary is an individual vocabulary and spelling resource students make themselves.
July 19, 2014
Prior Knowledge and Personal Association Surveys
These surveys ask students what they know or how they feel about specific words in the text they are reading.
July 19, 2014
Traits Matrix
In this semantic feature analysis strategy, students use a grid to show how vocabulary words relate to one another and to conceptual frameworks (e.g., masculine versus feminine).
July 19, 2014
Vocabulary Frames
Students use this tool to identify a word’s meaning, its parts and its opposite. After organizing the information on an illustrated flashcard, students practice using the word in a sentence.
July 19, 2014
Vocabulary Prediction Chart
Students predict the meanings of vocabulary words before reading and confirm the accuracy of their predictions during and after reading. Students identify context clues from the text and revise their definitions accordingly.
July 19, 2014
Vocabulary Rounds
This contextual redefinition strategy encourages students to use the structure and context of words to predict their meanings. Students arrive at the definition through exposure to increasingly rich clues.
July 19, 2014
Vocabulary Tableaux
A tableau is a representation of a scene or picture by people posing silently without moving. In a vocabulary tableau, a group of students use their bodies to create a frozen picture of a vocabulary word.
July 19, 2014
Word Cheering
In word cheering, students sing, chant and move to the components of new words.
July 19, 2014
Word Wall
A word wall is an organized display of vocabulary words drawn from the texts students are reading.
July 19, 2014
Word Wall
A word wall is an organized display of vocabulary words drawn from central texts students are reading.
July 19, 2014
Word Web
Word webs are mind maps that promote active learning and help students develop higher-order thinking skills. Students map their thinking in a graphic organizer based on a Frayer model.
July 19, 2014
Word Wheel
Students use a concept map to organize their vocabulary learning. This tool requires students to define words, find examples, draw on prior knowledge and connect related concepts.
July 19, 2014
