Academic Vocabulary

1. Academic Vocabulary

2. Academic Vocabulary • Become familiar with the concept of academic vocabulary (Tier 2 words) and why it is important to teach • Become familiar with criteria for selecting Tier 2 words for explicit instruction • Explore some strategies and resources for teaching Tier 2 words

3. TPEP • Marzano: • Criterion 2: Component 2.7: “Using and Applying Academic Vocabulary” • Criterion 3: Component 3.1: “Effective Scaffolding within Lessons” • Criterion 4: Component 4.1: “Attention to Established Content Standards” • Danielson: • Criterion 4: 1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy • CEL 5D+: • Criterion 2: CP6: Scaffolds the task • Criterion 4: CP2: Discipline-specific conceptual understanding

4. Language Anchor Standard 6 • “Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases …”

5. Layers

6. Volcanoes: Read and Think • Circle the words that are specifically about volcanoes • Underline any confusing words in the passage

7. Vocabulary from Appendix A Read pages 32-34 of Appendix A: • Identify3 key ideas in the text. • Determine 2 things you wish to discuss further. • Communicate1 question you have. • Share your thinking with an elbow partner

8. Three tiers of words Oregon Department of Education

9. Three tiers of words • Tier 3 – Highly specialized, subject-specific; low occurrences in texts; lacking generalization • E.g., oligarchy, euphemism, hydraulic, neurotransmitters • Tier 2 –Abstract, general academic (across content areas); encountered in written language; high utility across instructional areas • E.g., principle, relative, innovation, function, potential, style • Tier 1 – Basic, concrete, encountered in conversation/ oral vocabulary; words most student will know at a particular grade level • E.g., injury, apologize, education, serious, nation Oregon Department of Education

10. Tier 3 words are often defined in the texts • Plate tectonics (the study of the movement of the sections of Earth’s crust) adds to Earth’s story…. • The top layers of solid rock are called the crust. • Optical telescopes are designed to focus visible light. Non-optical telescopes are designed to detect kinds of electromagnetic radiation that are invisible to the human eye.

11. Careful selection of words to teach • In school settings, students can be explicitly taught a deep understanding of about 300 words each year. • Divided by the range of content students need to know (e.g., math, science, history, literature), of these 300–350 words, roughly 60 words can be taught within one subject area each year. • It is reasonable to teach thoroughly about eight to ten words per week. -- more at K-12 Teachers: Building Comprehension in the Common Core Oregon Department of Education

12. Criteria for selecting words to teach • Think about what are the “barrier words” • Does this word keep the student from understanding the text? • Importance of the word for understanding the text • What does the word choice bring to the meaning of the text? (E.g., precision, specificity?) • General utility of the word • Is it a word that students are likely to see often in other texts? Are there multiple meanings? • Will it be of use to students in their own writing? • Students’ prior knowledge of the word and the concept(s) to which it relates • How does the word relate to other words, ideas, or experiences that the students know or have been learning? • Are there opportunities for grouping words together to enhance understanding of a concept? -- more at K-12 Teachers: Building Comprehension in the Common Core Oregon Department of Education

13. Geology • Try Another…..

14. In Your Notebooks….. Tier One Tier Two Tier Three

15. Tier 3 Words Tier 1 Words Geology Geology Geology Physical geology Mineralogy Petrology Volcanologists Seismologists Fossils Plate tectonics Geology Processes Categories Continental History Surface

16. Activity: Select Tier 2 words to teach • The word is central to understanding the text. • The word choice and nuance are significant. • Students are likely to see this word frequently. • Students will be able to use this word when writing in response to the text. • It is a more mature or precise label for concepts students already have under control. • The word lends itself to teaching a web of words and concepts around it. Oregon Department of Education

17. In Your Notebooks….. Tier One Tier Two Tier Three Domain Evidence Environment Determining configuration

18. Activity: Categorize vocabulary With partners, try another selection and identify Oregon Department of Education

19. Try One More • A Drop of Water (read aloud 2/3)-p58 • Telescopes (4/5)-p75 • Hurricanes (4/5)-p71 • Seeing Eye to Eye (4/5)-p74 • Cathedral (6-8)-p96 • The Evolution of a Paper Bag (6-8)-p98 • Biography of an Atom (9/10)-P136 • What They Fought For ((11-CCR)-p175

20. Thinking About Vocabulary Lists • Choose a set of vocabulary words • K-2 • 3-5 • 6-8 • 9-12 • Sort the cards into Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 words. • Compare your sort to another group that chose the same grade band. • Discuss your differences

21. Teaching Vocabulary Strategies • In your science notebooks: • Do a one minute quick write of the vocabulary teaching strategies you use • Turn to your elbow partner and share your strategies • Make a Line of Learning and record other ideas you hear from your partner

22. Strategies • Look in Keeley’sScience Formative Assessment. • What strategies do you think would be best for teaching academic vocabulary? • Which fit Tier 2 words? • Which fit Tier 3 words?

23. Vocabulary instruction • Meaning of specific words • Provide student-friendly definition(s) • Read the word in text • Discuss examples and non-examples of the word • Create semantic maps • Teach multiple meanings • Link new words to words students already know • (CCSS Language Standard 5) • Word-learning strategies • By using contextual cues • By using their existing knowledge of words and word parts Oregon Department of Education

24. Explicit instruction checklist • Set a purpose for learning • Learn that in science phenomena are observable events or facts, no matter how common, while in general use, it refers only to remarkable occurrences or people. • Identify critical details that define the new concept • Science – can be perceived by the senses • General use – exceptional, outstanding, unusual, extraordinary • Use highly specific examples and non-examples • Science – combustion, gravity, respiration, light/ philosophy, sadness • General use – a genius, a record-setting athletic performance/ gravity • Connect new concepts to previously learned material -- more at Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework Oregon Department of Education

25. Practice, Review, and Deep Processing • Sufficient to enable a student to know and use vocabulary without hesitation • Distributed over time • Cumulative, with vocabulary integrated into more complex tasks • Varied so vocabulary use can be applied to multiple contexts -- more at K-12 Teachers: Building Comprehension in the Common Core Oregon Department of Education