Scaffolding Vocabulary Learning

The article by Lapp starts out by saying, "The proportion of difficult words found in a text and a reader's general vocabulary knowledge predict how well a reader can understand a text. Research also indicates that early differences in vocabulary knowledge affect reading achievement scores in later grades" (pg. 276). Having students focus on vocabulary development is only going to help them later on down the road when they are needing to read more complicated text and derive tougher meanings. Also, it is vital that students have exposure to vocabulary when they are young because the achievement gap is likely to be closer than farther apart. This article discusses the achievement gap in low income areas, because often times children are one or two grades behind reading achievement and word recognition than what they are supposed to be. Effective instruction needs to be administered to students all throughout their literacy learning because having early exposure will help them as they move on in their literacy development.

"Differences in the type of language structures, interaction styles, and vocabulary found in many homes means that the language of schooling is significantly different from the language many students encounter prior to entering school" (pg. 276). While it is important that students have exposure to language no matter where they are; in school or at home, we as teachers have to understand that the type of language being used at home may be very different than they type of language that is being presented in instruction time at school. Conversations between children and adults can be beneficial to their literacy learning and development of vocabulary. This type of conversation can come from simply communicating with children about their day or random small talk, but one of the most effective processes is to read aloud to children. "Findings from several studies indicate that reading aloud to students can contribute to vocabulary growth" (pg. 277). It is important for students to find strategies that can help them increase their exposure to vocabulary as well as their understanding of new words, and how those can be used in real life readings and writings.

Word learning and vocabulary development takes place over time and is not something that happens right away. It is a process and continues to develop even into adulthood. Although children have vocabulary explosions early on, they still learn vocabulary as they continue on in school, just not at such a rapid rate. Along with that, there are various different types of instruction that is to be implemented when teaching different types of words. Some words that are specific to a subject require conceptual learning/instruction because that way they can see how the word pertains to certain real life examples. The overall goal of vocabulary is to derive meaning from words and apply that in a bigger scheme of things that allows us to understand an overall meaning of the text. Developing word consciousness is important in creating an environment where students can understand words and the meanings of texts. Exposing low income students to vocabulary and increasing the amount of language they are familiar with, will close the vocabulary gap that has become ever so prevalent in our schools that are lacking resources and effective teachers who can deliver instruction.

Tompkins chapter 7

Expanding student's knowledge of words and being able to increase their vocabulary is an important part of literacy for both reading and writing. The first main point that I noticed from the reading, was understanding how students learn vocabulary words. "It seems obvious that to learn words at such a prolific rate, students learn words both in and outside of school, and they learn most words incidentally, not through explicit instruction. Reading has the greatest impact on students vocabulary development" (pg. 225). Students learn vocabulary at an alarming rate, but their learning does not only increase from instruction, but also by incidental learning and experiences with real life activities. Engaging in conversation, and having real life experiences where they are surrounded by language allows students to increase their knowledge of words.

Vocabulary and word knowledge are very important for several reasons. First, "students with larger vocabularies are more capable readers, and they know more strategies for figuring out the meanings of unfamiliar words than less capable readers" (pg. 227). The main goal of vocabulary and word recognition is being able to derive meaning and using context clues around unfamiliar words, to come up with an overall meaning of what is going on in the text. There are several procedures that teachers can incorporate into their classrooms to promote vocabulary development. One of the most common ways to display vocabulary in the classroom, is word walls. A word wall allows students to be able to see commonly used words on classroom walls so they can reference these when needed. This is a great way to display various types of words including synonyms, antonyms, homonyms etymologies, and figurative meanings of words. Aside from word walls, word posters, word maps, word sorts, and word chains are all great ways to expose students to new vocabulary, in a creative and interesting way that allows them to familiarize themselves in the classroom.

When working on vocabulary, it is also important to take ELL students into account, because they are not always going to be at the same level as other students who have English as their first language. Recognizing Tier 1, 2, and 3 words is important to using vocabulary that can help with reading and writing development. Tier 1 words are words that are familiar to English learners because they appear to be the same in their native language. Tier 2 and 3 words are more complicated vocabulary that is essential to know for specific topics such as science or math. "Using context clues, analyzing word parts, and checking a dictionary," are all strategies to use when students encounter a word they are unfamiliar with (pg. 244). It is important to teach students these strategies because they can use these to help them when taking tests, completing assignments, or going through an assessment.

Bridging the Gap

Chapter 21: “Scaffolding Vocabulary Learning - Ideas for Equity in Urban Settings”, from the text: Teaching All the Children: Strategies for Developing Literacy in an Urban Setting (written Judith A. Scott, and edited by Diane Lapp) was taken from my course-pack. I am so glad this article/chapter was assigned reading. I just finished reading and responding to the chapter concerning vocabulary form Gail E. Tompkins’ textbook and I have to say, I’m very disappointed in Gail. I’m not sure why she felt it was okay to leave out such pertinent information; that children whom are “economically or culturally outside of the mainstream…are being underserved, underfunded” (p. 471-472) and left out to dry, in terms of vocabulary learning.

It’s such a strange (yet being a teacher… familiar feeling) to go from feeling so excited about teaching one moment, to being completely deflated and saddened the next. There’s such a huge job ahead of us. As I said before, it is SO important to provide our students with as many opportunities as possible to read in school. After reading this article, I am reminded that there are students who may come to my classroom, and the reading they do with me could be the only experiences they have with books, with reading, and with writing ever. It breaks my heart. And I’m ashamed that this isn’t a constant thought in my head. I just can’t imagine a life like that. I can be as empathetic as possible for my students, but no matter how aware and educated I am, I will never have some of the experiences that they are having.

But, hopefully, because I am aware, and because I CARE, I believe that I can serve a thoroughly beneficial role in their lives. They (i.e., minority students, students from economically disadvantaged areas, students whose families are on welfare, etc.) need REPETITION, in regards to vocabulary usage; they need to be held to expectations that require them to push themselves. They have a huge gap to cross. According to the reading…“By grade seven, they were more than 2 years behind the norms [in regards to economically disadvantaged students defining literary words]” (p. 459). Since these children are not receiving the help, support, and advocacy from home, they need their teachers to do that.

These children need to understand the important of words and they need to realize that they are capable of developing a vocabulary that enables them to succeed academically. Words are tools for success and every single child should have access to those tools.

Word Posters, Word Maps, Word Sorts, Word Chains....word, words, words....

I just finished reading Chapter 7: “Expanding Student’s Knowledge of Words”, from Gail E. Tompkins’ book Literacy for the 21^st Century: A Balanced Approach, fifth edition. I really enjoyed reading this chapter. I know you’ll all think I’m a huge dork for saying this (I already know I am), but I LOVE vocabulary. I have a vivid memory of my fifth grade class and how excited my teacher was about getting us to use new words, making vocabulary into games as opposed to tests, and giving us a word a day to use in our writing. I think that year impacted me in a very positive manner. I am an English major; therefore, I think I’ve been writing about a paper a week for the past 5 years…crazy. But, it has really deepened my appreciation for words, and I am permanently connected to my thesaurus! Lol, I even had my boyfriend buy me a new one for Valentine’s Day! Lame, I know…But, I really do believe that my ability to use and understand vocabulary has positively impacted my reading abilities, and my passion for reading and writing. I really want my future students to feel this excitement as well!

When I finished reading this chapter, I came away with a few main ideas. I feel that instilling a sense of excitement and fun into a vocabulary lesson is an essential element of a successful language arts curriculum. If students are able to see the joy in learning new vocabulary and using new and exciting words, then they may be motivated to push the extra mile, and perform the work that is necessary in developing a larger vocabulary.

I also came away from this reading with a heightened enthusiasm for…wait for it…READING! Yes, I am incredibly enthusiastic and READY to incorporate NUMEROUS opportunities for students to read throughout the entire school day. Whether it’s through the use of read-alouds, or independent reading, my future students will be AVID readers. One particular reading opportunity I really like is: Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). In this format, students are able to choose a book they are interested in and excited about reading. They aren’t being forced to read a textbook, or something boring. This is highly motivating! I remember my time spent silent reading in elementary school; I loved it. I will definitely make sure to have comfortable cushions, chairs, couches, and what not in a cozy literacy corner in my future classroom!

Reading is incredibly important in order for students to learn new words and enhance their reading abilities. Tompkins stated, explicitly, “the amount of time students spend reading independently is the best predictor of vocabulary growth between second and fifth grades” (p. 226). That being said, if we’re going to have our students go off on their own to read independently, then it is our jobs as teachers to provide the class with tools necessary to help them understand and learn the words they are reading.

There are a lot of strategies throughout this entire chapter that detail ways teachers can model and scaffold strategies for students to utilize when they come across an unfamiliar word. A few of these are as follows:

• Context clues
• Analyze word parts
• Check a dictionary
• Look at the illustrations
• Use logic
• Look at the root words/affixes

These strategies are ALL helpful and the more students have under their belt the better prepared they will be when presented with unfamiliar vocabulary.

Finally, I just want to say that it is important, as teachers, to push our students. We have to give them those tier 2 and tier 3 words. They can handle it.

Fluency!

After reading the article “Reading Fluency Assessment and Instruction: What, Why, and How,” I learned a great deal about the importance of developing fluent readers and writers in the classroom. Many times I think it is quite easy to overlook the significance that fluency actually holds. So much of our attention in literacy is focused on letter/word recognition, comprehension, and vocabulary, that it is extremely easy to pass by fluency. Fluency creates skilled readers who can read accurately, rapidly, and with proper expression and intonation, which is vital to being a successful overall reader. As discussed in Tompkins article as well, Hudson, Lane, and Pullen discuss the importance of “the three elements of fluency-accuracy, rater, and prosody”. Without all three of these components, one cannot be a fluent reader, because each of these elements create and overall fluent reader. There are both high frequency words and low frequency words that students learn to read, and being able to automatically recognize words is a key component to developing one’s fluency. Obviously with time students will have an easier time with automaticity, but some words need to be memorized as sight words from the beginning stages of learning to read and write.

I had the experience to administer fluency tests in my junior year at MSU, as I worked in a resource room with third and fourth grade students who were struggling with their fluency and other aspects of reading and writing. I would give fluency assessments almost daily to see how well the students with automatically recognizing words when they saw them on paper. It was incredible to me how much progress the students made with their fluency as the semester went on, but obviously that did come with much practice and repetition. Without practice and seeing words on a consistent basis, it is hard to become a fluent reader or writer, so it is important that children who are struggling focus on reading and writing for a significant amount of time each day.

Another thing that I find particularly interesting about fluency is that it is not just with reading, but also writing. Personally, when I think of being fluent, I solely think about reading while disregarding writing all together. If you think about it carefully though, writing is just as big of a component of fluency that reading is, because it is not feasible to sit and think about every single word that you write or type out on paper or computer. Eventually, students start to develop the same automaticity with writing that they do with reading, because without even thinking about what is going down on paper, it is being written. This is one of the interesting aspects of fluency that seems to be overlooked quite a bit when talking about literacy.

Fluency

After reading Chapter 6 of Thompkins, Literacy in the 21^st Century I was overwhelmed! There was so much information packed into this one chapter and I had to go back and skim it to remember all the strategies that were introduced. Usually I would have not found this Chapter interesting because I like to be upper elementary classrooms  and was in one last semester but I just moved to a second grade classroom so I am seeing a large focus on fluency in the classroom. So this article was extremely interesting. I love how we keep on coming back to word walls. They can be used in so many different ways and used with many learning strategies. First, we saw them last semester in science with Dr. Norm where students place their wondering questions on them and now we are seeing them for fluency in literacy. I really like the idea of having an entire bulletin board dedicated to a word wall. I find that students are always asking how to spell words so having a word wall in my classroom would be extremely helpful. At the moment, students have word booklets. Each letter has its own page and there are high frequency words on the side and then blanks for the teacher and helpers to write other words that the students ask. But I find that students forget about these books and if there were a word wall it would be right in front of them and they would never forget. I feel with adding three new words in a week through books students start to become familiar with the word in context not just by itself. They are able to see the word in a children’s book and associate it to what is on the word wall. I think that word walls could be used in so many different ways. I know that when I was in 5^th grade we had the word of the day and I think that a word wall would be perfect for this!

I have seen my teacher assess fluency in reading and writing in many different ways. For example, today she had individual students come to her desk and read her a book. She would right down the words that he or she got right/wrong while they were reading. If they got all the words right the next time she assessed them they would move to the next book and so on and so forth. Students also get tested in writing fluency. Each week all students have a spelling list that they all take on Friday but they also have individual spelling lists. They work with a special teacher twice a week with these words. The teacher writes five words on an index card and places it on their ring. They study these when they finish assignments early. Then when they go out with the teacher she gives them a mini-spelling test with those words. The students do not get a new list of five words until they have mastered the previous five words. These words are all high frequency words.

My teacher also showed me how she keeps records of her students. She has a binder for each subject and then number dividers since each student has a “magic number.” For each student she has an assessment from the beginning of the year that she is continually comparing to the assessments that she is doing now. In the end, she has an assessment from the beginning, middle, and end of the year. She keeps track of where they are in their assignments and what they are struggling with. All of the assessments that she has done with each student are placed in here so it is easy for her to find. It seems like a lot of work but it also seems really helpful. She knows exactly at what level her students are at because of it. Her school is required to have records for each student and then keep them for five years so that they can back up their analyses of students.

Strategies in the Classroom

I forgot to mention some things in my last two posts that I really wanted to share with you two. As you may know, I’m currently in a fourth grade class. I’ve been working one on one for the past few weeks with a student who is struggling with reading fluency. My Cooperating Teacher (CT) took me aside and asked if I could review an article he received from a conference on reading strategies. The article gave a very thorough look into ways in which you can help a student gain a higher level of fluency. After I took the time to review and makes notes on this article, my CT and I reviewed it together. He asked if I would use the strategies found in this article to work with my focus student on her fluency.

Basically, what I began doing was picking out books that had a rhythm to them; such as Doctor Seuss books, or books with rhymes, etc. I chose these books because when read with prosody, the reader can easily feel the rhythm; however, when read in a monotone voice, the beat/rhythm, is extremely difficult to make out. So, Alexa* and I would go to the media room and we would read and re-read these books together. I would start by reading the first two sentences with exaggerated expression and I would then have Alexa* re-read exactly what I just read; and so on. If she didn’t utilize the same expression that I did, I’d tell her to try again. Obviously, before we began these activities, I made sure to remind her that we’re doing this so she can develop her fluency and that I wanted her to be able to comprehend what she was reading. At first, Alexa* was REALLY annoyed with all of the repetition; but, as we worked together over the weeks, I think she really got into. She started utilizing a lot of expression in her voice without me even having to remind her.

Another strategy that we utilized was this…Alexa would read a story (at her level) on her own, then she would read it to me, THEN she would go to the back of the room and tape record herself reading it. Once she was through with that process, together, we would listen to the tape and pause and re-start to point out parts where she made mistakes or where she lacked expression.

I just wanted to point out some strategies that I’ve been using that have been REALLY helpful. It’s actually been a lot of fun helping Alexa* and seeing how quickly her fluency is improving.

Once again...Fluency

I read Chapter 6: “Developing Fluent Readers and Writers” from Literacy for the 21^st Century: A Balanced Approach, fifth edition, written by Gail E. Tompkins, AFTER I read the article on fluency that I just posted about. And I have to say, while I obviously found this chapter to be extremely informational, as well as a great resource to look back on due to the vast amount of resources listed in tables throughout the text, I did find it a little repetitive to read both the article AND the chapter during the same week. I would’ve rather have split this two texts up throughout the course of our semester. That being said, I did find this chapter to be very informational. I did appreciate the fact that Tompkins included the concept of writing fluency alongside the concept of reading fluency. Often, I feel that writing fluency is overlooked in the grand scheme of things.

I love reading a text in which an author goes out of his or her way to incorporate strategies, resources, assessment activities, etc. in the reading. It makes for an extremely informational and essential resource that I will obviously utilize in my future. There are numerous tables presented that list high-fluency words, word to incorporate on a primary grade’s “word wall”, mini-lessons, assessment tools, strategies, etc. and I will definitely go back to these when I’m teaching my future students fluency.

I found one specific section of this chapter to be the most beneficial and that was the section that specified the four different strategies that students use to identify unfamiliar words. I found this section to be the most beneficial due to the fact that students of ALL ages must use these strategies. Tompkins stated that “Beginning readers encounter many unfamiliar words, and even fluent readers come upon words that they don’t immediately recognize” (p. 197). That being said, it is obviously important for teachers to help their students develop the strategies necessary for decoding these unfamiliar words. The four strategies include:

• Phonic Analysis
• Decoding by Analogy
• Syllabic Analysis
• Morphemic Analysis

The chart at the bottom of page 197 was very useful in explaining what these strategies are and providing examples.

All in all, the Chapter 6: “Developing Fluent Readers and Writers” had a few main, important facts that I came away with. Those important facts are as follows…

• It is important for teachers to instruct students and enable them to recognize high-frequency words and help children develop a “bank” of sight-words to draw from.
• Teachers need to explicitly teach students a variety of strategies to utilize when attempting to identity unfamiliar words.
  
• Teachers need to use a variety of different procedures that are integrated throughout the day and used repetitively, in order to help develop students’ reading fluency...same goes for writing fluency...and...
• Third grade is an important cut off time for students to have developed reading/writing fluency, and if they haven’t then regular assessments need to occur as they progress through school.

Developing Fluent Readers

I just finished reading the article “Reading Fluency Assessment and Instruction: What, Why, and How?” written by Rosanne F. Hudson, Holly B. Lane, and Paige C. Pullen. I found this article to be VERY informational. Being elementary school teachers, our responsibility lies, not only with teaching students how to read, but also with teaching students how to become skilled readers, and skilled readers are fluent readers. During my junior year, when I was in TE 301, I spent a good deal of time connecting the dots between reading comprehension and reading fluency; however, I had never focused my attention solely on the different aspects of reading fluency and how theses aspects are directly correlated to a student’s level of comprehension. According to the reading, “fluent reading [is] comprise[d] of three key elements” (p. 1). At its foundation, these three elements are – accuracy, rate, and prosody. It’s important to realize that, as teachers, we need to assess our students' abilities to read fluently, in order to accurately and fairly instruct our class in an attempt to foster a deeper level of reading comprehension.

Automaticity is an important aspect of fluency to keep in mind. This refers to how quickly a student is capable of identifying words. Due to the limited capacity of a student’s working memory…when they are capable of identifying words at a faster rate, their cognitive abilities are free to focus on the context of what they are reading as opposed to focusing on word identification.

Another important aspect of reading fluency relates to a student’s ability to accurately decode words. Decoding refers to the process a student goes through when they are reading…it is composed of: seeing a word, recognizing the letter-sound relationship, and blending the phonemes together to create a word. This is a process that, in a fluent reader, should take a split second; however, for a struggling reader, the process of decoding can be extremely difficult. It is the teacher’s job to explicitly identify word-identification/decoding strategies for the class.

One aspect of this article that I found surprising relates to the section covering the importance of prosody. I have never really considered how important a student’s ability to read with expression is in correlation to their reading comprehension. BUT, it makes sense. I mean, if a student reads a question in their text like a statement, then they obviously do not comprehend what they are reading. If they did, then that statement they just read would be phrased like a question.

Not only did this article give in depth details and information regarding exactly WHAT fluency is, but, what I found most interesting, was the amount of information given in relation to HOW to teach fluency and HOW to ASSESS fluency. There are numerous tables and resources given that an instructor can reference and utilize in the future, which I most certainly will; specifically on the fifth and eighth pages of this article, two tables are given with listed assessment strategies and instructional resources. One thing I want to point out is how important it is to be EXPLICIT in your instruction of fluency with struggling readers…for some, fluency comes naturally, but for a majority of students, it does not. We are severely impeding their learning progress by not giving these students ample instruction, opportunities for practice and repetition, and adequate assessments that detail their progress.

I really enjoyed reading this article and it is definitely something that I see myself looking back on in the future.

Fluent Readers and Writers

"Fluency is the ability to read quickly, accurately, and with expression, and to read fluently, they recognize most words automatically and identify unfamiliar words easily" (Tompkins, 188). There is a huge difference between children who are learning to read word for word, and a fluent reader. Being fluent means that students are using expression when reading, and able to read accurately all while being able to derive meaning from what they are reading. Many times we think of being fluent as only applying to reading, but being fluent also transfers to writing as well. By reading and participating in spelling tests and vocabulary practice, students are not only furthering their ability to read, but also practicing skills that are necessary for writing.

There are several important strategies that help students to learn to read and write fluently. One of those is word recognition, because "students develop a large stock of words that they recognize automatically because its impossible for them to analyze every word they encounter when reading or want to spell when writing" (Tompkins, 189). Being able to use high frequency words is important to fluency, because students will then be able to read quickly and accurately if they have the knowledge of high frequency words. Word walls, word recognition, and word identification are all great ways to help students become more fluent.

It is very important that teachers promote literacy in various ways in the classroom. "Teachers [need] to model fluent reading for students, provide oral support while students are reading, have students do repeated readings of brief texts, and focus students attention on chunking words into meaningful phrases" (Tompkins, 209). These are all great approaches that students can take to helping students become more fluent readers. Fluency is so important for our students to work on, and these are some of the main points I found from the chapter on fluency by Tompkins.