Authentic Vocabulary

I found the vocabulary readings, both from the Graves text and the “Robust Vocabulary Instruction” article particularly interesting, because I think that I was taught vocabulary words in possibly not the best way.

Things I Noticed That Differed from My Experience:
1.) Choosing sets of words that are related
2.) Using authentic learning in a workshop format
3.) Students as “scholars”

First, Graves mentions in Chapter 9 on vocabulary that it is an important step in vocabulary learning that the word sets are all connected in some way. In the opposing side, in my school experience, there is the vocab book. Sometimes words were somewhat related, like positive words vs. negative words or things like that, but hardly ever in my memory did words actually relate to each other in the real world outside of that textbook. That meant that our primary experience with those words was from the text and direct definitions, not from any individual thinking. This got me thinking, “As a math teacher, what can I do to stimulate interesting, connected vocabularies in my students?” There is the obvious, teach them the math vocab words, but based on Graves mention of using all words that can be used to describe space, couldn’t I design problems that we could work through as a class that all have interesting and new space words? Instead of a space shuttle traveling from Earth to the Moon, what if it was a space capsule, dispatching from The Kennedy Space Center or something like that?

Secondly, the article strongly emphasizes the benefits of workshop-styled learning for vocabulary, something my experience definitely lacked. I absolutely love the concept of the word box, where students can put words in they want to learn. It’s such a brilliant way to get kids EXCITED to learn new words. If what we’re out to get is our students personally invested in their education, this is an excellent way to do it. I think even high school students in some cases could like this way of learning vocab words better than the traditional vocab book or list.

Finally, in Chapter 7, something really caught my attention. In one of the little anecdotes in the text, Gordon Scholander talks about his students’ learning and casually refers to them as “my young scholars” (199). This blew me away a little. His “young scholars” are first graders, where my teacher may have considered us pests more than scholars. While this particular section was actually about how to use a word bank (another authentic way to help kids take interest in their words), his word choice was the part that really affected me. I think that all children, even 6 year old first graders should know that they are “young scholars” and be treated accordingly. I think it has such a positive connotation, not that “student” has a particularly negative connotation, but the optimism behind his word just made me feel as though his students really are scholars-in-the-making.

 

Feezell, G. (2012). Robust Vocabulary Instruction in a Readers' Workshop. The Reading Teacher, 233-237.

Graves, M. F. (2007). Teaching Reading in the 21st Century (5th Edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.