Making our Word Walls More than Wallpaper

1. Making our Word Walls More than Wallpaper

2. Selecting the Words • Let’s divide the corpus of the language into three parts. Tier One: the most basic words Tier Two: high-frequency words for skilled language users. Tier Three: specific words with low frequency of general use.

3. Choosing words based on Tiers Tier 3: Low-frequency words, usually specific to an academic domain & best learned in the related content area, such as isotope, photosynthesis & psychologist. Tier 2: High-frequency words that are important for capable language learners to have in their vocabulary, such as remorse, capricious, distinguished, & devious. Tier 1: Basic words that rarely need to be taught, such as hair, always, dress, & laugh. Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002)

4. Opportunistic Classroom Vocabulary yearning Instead of saying: “I know you really wanted to go outside for recess, but it is raining and we cannot. Try… “I know that all of you were yearning to go outside and play during recess today. However, the rain will prohibit us from doing that today.

5. Give Positive Examples: • Yearning can be a good thing too. Sometimes when we yearn for things it makes us work harder to get them. If you are yearning for a brand new bike, you might work on saving your allowance to get one. • Someone might yearn to be a better football player. He might practice more often and work harder to reach the goal that he is yearning for.

6. Explain appropriateness of context: Would someone who is yearning be likely to: • Throw a temper tantrum when they do not get what they want? • Wish on a star? • Daydream about what they yearn for? • Give up pursuing what they yearn for?

7. Using Student Friendly Definitions(Student Friendly or ESL Dictionary) • resent – to express anger or annoyance toward someone or something • futile –to do something that will never give you the result that you want; useless • pout – to show irritation using your expression • insult – to offend someone; to treat rudely • groan – to moan because you are angry or annoyed • courteous – to have manners and be considerate • intensity – to be strong or powerful

8. Let’s look at a simple word… Cinnamon

9. cin·na·mon    /ˈsɪnəmən/ [sin-uh-muhn] –noun 1. the aromatic inner bark of any of several East Indian trees belonging to the genus Cinnamonum,  of the laurel family, especially the bark of C. zeylanicum (Ceylon cinnamon), used as a spice, or that of C. loureirii (Saigon cinnamon), used in medicine as a cordial and carminative. 2. a tree yielding such bark. 3. any allied or similar tree. 4. cassia( def. 1 ) . 5. a yellowish or reddish brown. 6.–adjective . (of food) containing or flavored with cinnamon. 7. reddish-brown or yellowish-brown.

10. Sentence Frame Cinnamon is a ____________ that ____________ in order to________________.

11. Using imagery and a non-definitional approach . . . • resent – to express anger or annoyance toward someone or something • when a sibling is more successful at something • when someone else was picked for a team • futile –to do something that will never give you the result that you want; useless • Studying for a subject area which you find to be extremely difficult • learning to play the violin

12. Relationships Among Words • Would you be courteous to someone who insulted you? • Would you groan if something was futile? • Would hiding your feelings be an example of pouting?

13. Using Word Associations • Which word goes with kindness? (courteous) • Which word goes with pointless? (futile) • Which words go with bully? (resent, pout, insult, groan)

14. Making Choices • If your parents made you permanently give your bedroom to a relative would you . . . • resent them? • feel that the situation was futile? • pout for a week? • insult them behind their backs? • groan noisily when they told you? • act courteous and smile? • say terrible things? • show them an encouraging expression?

15. Using Cagey Questions • Cagey questions contain one or more vocabulary words. • They facilitate thinking about meanings of words as well as meanings of sentences (build comprehension.) • There are not right or wrong answers to cagey questions. However, they require the student to justify their position in response to the questions. • They provide further experience dealing with the vocabulary in a wide variety of contexts.

16. Some examples . . . • How might yearning for something cause someone to have hope? • How might a person with integrity be defiant? • Which of these situations would be more likely to be considered ominous: a walk alone through a dark alley or a walk through the library during a quiet study hall? • Which person is more likely to feel remorse: a cunning boy who gets caught cheating on a math quiz or a boy whose mother finds him sneaking a brownie before dinner?

17. Let’s try a few . . . • Write a cagey question using each of these word pairs or groups: • serene and gaze • anticipate and ordinary • anxious, obsess, and sinister (try using two or all three!)

18. Implications for TeachersModel the importance of vocabulary by allocating daily time for instruction.Teach vocabulary skills as well as vocabulary meanings.Consider contextual factorsMultiple meaning wordsOpportunities to utilize vocabulary across multiple contexts