JISD Professional Development Newsletter - November, 2011
The Hidden Side of Strategic Vocabulary Instruction
A strong vocabulary is an important part of reading comprehension NO MATTER WHAT THE GRADE LEVEL OR THE SUBJECT! According to Drs. Isabel Beck and Margaret McKeown (Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction LINK), ALL children should add about 2,000-3,500 words annually to their reading vocabulary. But did you know that students learn 85 percent of those new words indirectly, as they interact with language and text?
Using only direct instruction to teach vocabulary can overwhelm you as a teacher and be too shallow an approach for students. Dr. William Nagy of Seattle Pacific University suggests that what really needs to happen to produce vocabulary growth is not more instruction but more reading."
Weave incidental learning of vocabulary into your classroom by
Encouraging excitement and curiosity about words (word consciousness). How? Be interested in words yourself. Draw attention to word meaning and power when interacting with students. 
Identify specific opportunities to use new words. Jot a few on your clipboard or computer screensaver and use those in your speech. Discuss words introduced in other contexts (i.e., use the word enormous" to describe the challenge of the Columbus journey to the New World after discovering enormous" in Ogden Nashs poem,The Adventures of Isabel.) Grab teachable moments.
Every day,without exception, provide independent reading time, small or whole group discussions, and at least one read aloud. Students must have time to read independently, talk, listen, and view to make necessary gains, especially if they come from disadvantaged homes.
To defuse criticism from those who might not view such activities as valid teaching," establish purposes behind these activities, connected to your states standards. My home state of Alabama includes incidental learning in their course of study: Demonstrate vocabulary growth developed through reading and listening to literature" (3-5th grade) or Develop and use an extended vocabulary through reading, listening, viewing, writing, speaking, and presenting." (6-8th Grade). Most other states have similar standards.
By Cathy Puett Miller www.educationworld.com
More from the Vocabulary Instruction Series Be sure to see all these articles in Cathy Puett Miller's series on effective vocabulary instruction.: |
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Dr. Ken Shore's Classroom Problem Solver:
The Seatwork Slacker
The failure to complete seatwork satisfactorily can be caused by a variety of factors, including difficulty understanding the directions, an inability to do the work, distractibility, poor time management, or lack of motivation. A student might have mastered the art of procrastination and simply have trouble settling down to work. She might have learned to take the path of least resistance, and look like she's working while doing as little as she can. She might complete the work, but do so haphazardly.
Although the causes vary, the results often do not. A student might come to believe that her failure to complete seatwork will not catch up to her, however, almost invariably, it does.
When reacting to a student who has trouble completing seatwork, you need to figure out why she is not completing in-school assignments. That requires a problem-solving mode in which you identify the source of the problem and then, if it's warranted, adapt your expectations and tailor your instruction to meet her needs.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Help the student un-clutter her desk. Part of a student's difficulty in finishing seatwork might be the clutter on her desk, causing her to have trouble focusing. Instruct her to eliminate those visual distractions by putting away all materials except those needed for the current assignment.
Devise a way for students to get your attention.When students need help, you might have them signal you in a non-intrusive way by placing a visual cue on their desks. That might be a small flag stuck in a piece of clay, a 6" x 8" card folded in half in the shape of a tent, or a Styrofoam cup placed upside down on their desks. Using those types of signals allows students to let you know they need help while they continue to work until you can get to them.
Signal the student that she is off task. Arrange a private signal with the student to encourage her to focus on the seatwork assignment. That signal might be a nod of the head, a wink of the eye, or a tug of the ear. If necessary, call her name quietly to get her attention.
Problem-solve with the student. Talk with her in a non-judgmental way to try to determine why she is having problems with seatwork: Does she understand the directions? Is the work too difficult? Is it so easy that it holds little interest for her? Is she having problems concentrating? Are the assignments too long? If you can zero in on what might be impeding her seatwork, try to modify the task in accordance with her needs.
Have the student begin her seatwork with you. That way, you can assess if she understands what to do and how to do it. Once she successfully completes a problem or two with your assistance, let her continue on her own.
Provide the seatwork in chunks. Giving a student the seatwork in parts will make it appear more manageable to her, and she will be more likely to tackle it. Getting up after completing each "chuck" also gives her a short break. As an example, if the assignment is 10 problems, you might initially give her five. After she completes those, check them over to make sure she is on the right track. If so, give her five additional problems. As she does well with that pattern, you can increase the size of the chunks.
Arrange a seatwork buddy for the student. Ask a responsible classmate to help the student complete her seatwork. Tell the student to see her buddy for help before coming to you. Another source of peer support is to place the student at a table with others and make it clear that students are expected to assist others in their group.
Use a timer to keep the student on task. Set the timer to go off at varying intervals. If the student is working when the timer goes off, give her a token or sticker while praising her for her attention to task. After she has received a set number of tokens or stickers, allow her to exchange them for classroom privileges or small prizes.
Reward students who finish their seatwork. You might, for example, allow students who have completed their seatwork to engage in pleasurable activities of their own choosing. Or you might schedule a recreational activity at the end of the week for those who are up to date with their seatwork and homework. Be on the lookout for students who rush through their work carelessly in order to gain the reward.
Article by Dr. Ken Shore Education World® Copyright © 2005 Education World
Judson ISD Professional UPDATES
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WATCH FOR THE NEW ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? DiD YoU KNOW?*If you cannot attend a course you have registered for--you can go into Eduphoria Workshop and "UN-ENROLL"? or you can contact the PD office and we will unenroll you. At the VERY LEAST please let your instructor know by e-mail that you will be unable to attend. We often have waiting lists with folks who want your empty seat! * You WILL NOT get CPE credit UNLESS YOU SIGN IN on the sign in sheets at the PD event! Also, you may not sign in for someone * If you are more than 15 minutes late for a class, you will NOT be granted credit for the course! If you have a special situation-it is YOUR RESPONSIBLITY to contact the instructor as listed on the course description in Eduphoria Workshop. The instructor's name is linked to their e-mail address --so please be courteous and show up on time or contact the instructor for permission to arrive late. * Dee Thomas and Colleen "Dee" Gomez are here to help you be successful! Contact the Professional Development Office if you have any questions or if we can assist you in any way!
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Instructional Strategies
that Work!
How to Involve and Engage Students (REALLY!)
Student misbehavior isn't always about bad attitudes and "keeping reps" (reputation). Many times student misbehavior in the classroom happens because of boredom. When students are bored in class, their minds begin to wander and they start thinking, "I wonder what would happen if I..." Then the little disruptions begin. The little disruptions pile up and turn into large disruptions. That scenario can go on and on until everything is out of control. What can we do about that kind of behavior?
Keeping students involved and engaged in activities is the very best solution. When students are excited about their learning, they are motivated to pay attention in class. You get excited because your students actually are paying attention. The students sense your excitement and get even more motivated to stay in your class. The positive effects continue to pile up. Keeping students involved and engaged isn't always easy, however. Below are a few tips and ideas to help you along.
Paper-and-pencil worksheets are not engaging activities. Do they keep students busy? Yes. Are they motivating? No. Reading the textbook aloud and then answering questions at the end of the section is not an engaging activity. Does it take up the whole class period? Yes. Is it motivating and exciting to students? No. Although those activities deceptively look as though they're keeping students involved and engaged, in reality they are not. In fact, you generally can meet the same goals and objectives with different activities.
Activities that involve and engage students are ones in which they 
manipulate information, physically and mentally. Students need to be moving around, working in groups, and discovering information for themselves. Reading along, taking notes, listening to a lecture, or copying vocabulary words are all passive learning activities. You want to get students actively thinking and moving. How can you accomplish that? You need to start thinking "out of the box."
Do you have a lot of worksheets in your day? How might your students gain the same information in a more engaging manner? Break students into groups and give each group different questions from the worksheet. The group must answer its questions, create a half-poster illustrating the answers, and then present the information to the class. Students could use graphic organizers such as a web, Venn diagram, or T-chart to present the information. Your students might want to create a rhyme, poem, or song to help other students remember the information.
Do you have chronological information that students must remember? Type the information and cut it up into strips. Give each pair or group of students an envelope with the strips. Have them work together to put the events in order. That technique also could work with the steps of a math problem or science experiment. Let students paste the strips onto construction paper.
Have students retell a section of the textbook as a short children's story. Or tell it from the point of view of one of the elements or participants. Or use a round-robin story. Break students into groups. Assign each group a section in the chapter. One student starts writing the "retelling." After a minute or two, that student passes the paper to the next student who continues the story. Keep rotating the paper around the group until the entire section is retold in a story. Set a timer to help everyone stay on track.
Create mobiles that represent information. When students read a novel or a section in the textbook, have them draw pictures that illustrate the concept or events and hang the pictures on a mobile. Make a class paper chain of information. Have each student write one fact on a strip of construction paper. Line up the class in the front of the room. Invite the first student to read his or her strip, and fold it into a link. Staple the link. Then invite the next student to read a fact, and attaches his or her link to the chain. Continue through the entire class.
Give students "clues" to find items in the class-room that relate to your topic of study. Engage students in a "scavenger hunt." When they find an item, they must explain why it is on the scavenger hunt list. Invite students on a road trip. Place around the school or classroom stop signs containing an activity or reading passage. Students must "travel" to each place and complete the activity(idea courtesy of Beaver Elementary). Give students a "passport" that must be stamped at each "stop" on the trip.
Encourage students to make artifacts from a culture they are studying, or to give a speech as a famous historical person or a character from a novel. Give students the opportunity to act out 5 plus 3 or 10 divided by 5. Create centers for students to visit and complete an activity that meets one of your learning objectives.
Those kinds of activities get students moving both physically and mentally. Before you know it, you'll hear from your students complaints like "Is it time to go already?" and "I'm not finished." Those kinds of complaints are music to the ear. Creating those activities and planning out the details isn't easy. You have to provide structure and you have to constantly monitor and guide students as they work. You won't have perfect products in the beginning, and you'll have to stress constantly the importance of turning in work that reflects "personal best." It takes time and it takes effort. But when you start hearing those "complaints," you'll know that it was well worth doing!
By Emma McDonald www.educationworld.com