Bringing Words to Life: Building Academic Vocabulary While Leveling the Playing Field for All Students

1. Bringing Words to Life:Building Academic Vocabulary While Leveling the Playing Field for All Students Elementary Science Summer Camp Vocabulary Presentation

3. LEARNING GOALS Participants will develop a basic understanding of the following: • Academic vocabulary instruction must help students: • develop an initial understanding of terms, and • store understanding in permanent memory. • Building background knowledge can enhance students’ learning and theircapacity to learn. • Specific strategies that can be used in all content areas.

4. Impact on Direct Vocabulary Instruction

5. Think-Pair-Share The Best Way to Teach Vocabulary Is …

6. Carving is appropriate for most green and blue slopes and even some black slopes. However, if you try to carve through moguls, especially in packed powder or corn snow, you are going to face-plant.

7. Building Background Knowledge at School Direct Approach:Indirect Approach: -mentoring -wide reading -field trips** -direct instruction -Internet Academic Vocabulary From Building Academic Vocabulary by Marzano,R.J. & D.J. Pickering.

8. The Research • Confirms the relationship between background knowledge and student achievement. • Students who have a great deal of background knowledge are more likely to learn new information readily. • Research shows that vocabulary is correlated to background knowledge and linked to academic achievement.

9. Leveling the Playing Field Our students come with different levels of background knowledge. What steps can we take to build academic language and help level the playing field?

10. Six-Steps for Teaching New Terms First 3 steps–introduce and develop initial understanding. Last 3 steps–shape and sharpen understanding.

11. Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term Suggest synonyms Compare Examples and Non-examples Use Analogies Shape or design words to give meaning and description ELL Support: Add a non-linguistic representation, word map, or cognate strategy First 3 steps – introduce and develop initial understanding.

12. Step 2: Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. The Academic Notebook or Journal ELL Students: Encourage students to use their native lang.. First 3 steps – introduce and develop initial understanding.

13. Step 3: Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term or phrase. Pictures Graphic Organizer Foldables ELL Support: Encourage students to come up with their own representation, not just the one provided by the teacher in Step 1. First 3 steps – introduce and develop initial understanding.

14. Step 4: Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their notebooks (journals). Revising non-linguistic representations Revising initial descriptions Classifying Roots and Affixes Metaphors Analogies Comparing ELL Students: Highlight a pre-fix or suffix that might help them remember the meaning. List related words. Last 3 steps – shape and sharpen understanding.

15. Step 5:Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another. ELL support: Allow students to discuss the new terms in their native language. Last 3 steps – shape and sharpen understanding.

16. Step 6:Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms. ELL support: Games are great for all students. Last 3 steps – shape and sharpen understanding.

17. Science… Pictures coupled with great hands-on lessons are worth a thousand words.

18. Provide descriptions, explanations, or examples of new terms in age appropriate language and pictures.

19. Use interactive notebooks to construct meaning using student pictures, symbols, or graphics.

20. Play with new terms to add knowledge and build the student’s working vocabulary. Students use arrows to connect the words to real-life science.

21. Kagan Strategies Stand up! Hand up! Pair up! 1.Teacher says: “Stand up! Hand up! Pair up!” 2.Students stand up, put one hand in the air and keep it up until they have a partner who is not on their original team. 3.Teacher asks a question or uses vocabulary cards for each student. 4.Teacher provides think time. 5.Each partner shares the question or definition and gives their partner time to answer or think of the word. Partners take turns answering using timed method or given a teacher cue.

22. Play with Terms • Mile-a-Minute • Classifying Terms • Pyramid

23. Things Associated with the Water Cycle • water vapor / vapor de agua • evaporation/ evaporación • condensation/ condensación • precipitation / precipitación • water cycle / ciclo del agua • cloud / nube • atmosphere / atmósfera

24. Things Associated with Ecosystems • producers /productores • consumers /consumidores • herbivores /herbívoros • carnivores /carnívoros • omnivores /omnívoros • scavengers /come-carroña • decomposers /putrefactores

25. Classify These Terms

26. Vocabulary Terms & Phrases Reptiles/Reptiles 200 POINTS Plants/ Plantas Machines/ Maquinas 100 POINTS 100 POINTS Weather terms/ Terminos del tiempo Birds/ Aves Insects/ Insectos 50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

27. Reflection • Words are learned best…

28. Leveling the Playing Field… Now, what non-negotiables will you take back from this presentation for immediate implementation during Science Camp?