The Early Catastrophe: 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3

1. The Early Catastrophe: 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3 Hart & Risely (1995): University of Kansas (Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children) Ø42 young children from normal families (no drug, alcohol, or spouse abusers & non-transient) Ø3 SES groups: (1) welfare, (2) working class, (3) professional

2. ØWhen the daily number of words for each group was projected across four years: 4-year old from professional group will have heard ___ million words, working class will have heard ___ million and the child from the welfare group will have only heard ___ million words ØAll 3 children will show up for kindergarten on the same day but one will have heard ___ million fewer words ØWhen it is time to read, those numbers will play a big role: for the frequency with which a child has met a word will affect how quickly he/she can decode it AND understand it!!

3. Language Skills • Three language skills that should be included in the curriculum for instructionally naïve students • __________________ • __________________ • __________________

4. Statement Repetition • Refers to a student’s ability to say _______________ a statement said by the teacher • Test statement repetition ability during the first school week by asking students to repeat several _____ word sentences • Students who are not able to repeat the sentence correctly within ___ trials will need practice on statement repetition

5. Practice consists of short drills (3-5 min) • pg. 112 Table 11.4: Format for Statement Repetition • Note: practice should start on sentences of a length a word or two longer than those a student can say without error

6. Sentence Comprehension • Introducing question words • Who, what, when, where, and why? • Students should be able to repeat ________________ statements (e.g., The boy ran in the park; The girl hit the ball) before question about sentences are introduced • New question words are introduced when students have mastered question involving previously introduced question words • Who and what question presented first. Why?

7. Similarity Comparison • Involve examining several objects or actions and determining ways they may or may not be similar • ___________: A knife and a saw are the same because they are both tools. • _______: A knife and a saw are the same because they both cut. • ________: A knife and a saw are the same because their blades are both made of metal.

8. __________: A knife and a saw are the same because they both have handles. • ________: A toothbrush and a hairbrush are the same because they are both found in a bathroom. • ________: Many objects are the same because of their shape, color, and texture

9. Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary Chapter 11

11. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.  

12. Three Methods of Teaching Vocabulary • Vocabulary can be taught orally by the use of • ________ • ________ • ________

13. Modeling • Used when ____________ of a new word include words students do ____ understand • e.g., When teaching “over”, the teacher cannot explain why something is over with using the term over or a synonym for over such as above • Used primarily to teach word labels for common objects, actions, and attributes

14. Synonyms • Used when a students know a __________ that can explain the meaning of a new, unknown word • e.g., student know the word over but does not know above. • Initial Synonyms do not have to be _________ • e.g., If a student knows the meaning of wet, the teacher can use a little wet to explain the meaning of damp

15. Definitions • Used when students have adequate _____________ to understand a longer explanation and when the concept is too complicated to be explained through a ___________ • Construct a definition by specifying a small ___________ to which a new word belongs and then tell how the word ________ from other member of the class. • e.g., definition of “service station”: “a place where gasoline is sold and cars are repaired”

16. A vehicle is something that takes you places. • My turn. Is this a vehicle? Yes. How do I know? It is something that takes you places. • My turn again. Is this a vehicle? Yes. How do I know? It is something that takes you places. • My turn again. Is this a vehicle? No. How do I know. It is not something that takes you places.

17. Your turn. Is this a vehicle? How do you know? • Is this a vehicle? How do you know? • Is this a vehicle? How do you know? • Is this a vehicle? How do you know? • Is this a vehicle? How do you know?