Having a strong vocabulary is essential to reading for
enjoyment or reading expository text.
Enriched vocabulary transcends through comprehending, writing, and
communicating effectively. Vocabulary
can be content-specific or general (academic vocabulary). Content-specific vocabulary is connected to
the subject or discipline. Academic
vocabulary is used across the board in reading that is not subject to a
specific area.
Knowledge of
words develop and matures as we conceptualize words through our prior
knowledge, internalizing the word, and seeing the word in a variety of
places. I enjoyed how the text indicates
how word knowledge is similar to getting to know someone. The word starts out
as a stranger, you may have not seen or heard about it or them before. Then it is an acquaintance, you may know something
about it or that particular person.
Finally when we are confident to use the word in our vocabulary; it
becomes a friendJ. Explaining this concept to my students would
make it easier to discuss vocabulary in the classroom, because they may relate
not knowing words to having a connection to words.
Word Knowledge
1.
Incrementality:
You knowledge of words growing over time.
2.
Polysemy:
A word with multiple meanings.
3.
Multidimentionality: Different types of
knowledge to learn with the word (meaning, connotation, denotation, etc.
4.
Interrelatedness: connections between words
5.
Hetergeneity:
purpose and prior knowledge (I am
not sure exactly about this term.)
One way to build
word knowledge is to develop contextual knowledge. Students brainstorm ideas about the word and
writes down the possible definitions. The word is used in various contexts. Learning word meaning can come in the forms
of: speaking, watching television, and
rhymes. This is a very natural process
called incidental vocabulary development.
Students with low socio-economic status or English Language Learners
ELL) vocabulary is not as enhanced as their counter-parts. The classroom environment should include
discussions, project work, role playing, storytelling, and drama that will
increase word knowledge and to facilitate comprehension.
Teaching Vocabulary in Preparation for Reading
Word Inventories: Students will be given a list of
vocabulary words and they must rate their prior knowledge with the words. (Plus
sign-I know it, check mark, I have some knowledge about the word, minus (-)
sign means no knowledge of the word at all.
Graphic Organizers: It helps students to recall the meanings
of words. One example of a graphic
organizer is the semantic map. (p. 180) This
type of map could be used for pre-reading or post-reading exercises.
Possible Sentences: Students write sentences based on what
they know. During the reading, sentences
are written based on the real meaning of the words. J I like this strategy.
No comments:
Post a Comment