9/25/2002

Studying Vocabulary

Recent research on the gap between successful students and unsuccessful students has reaffirmed the importance of spoken language in the development of strong readers and writers. In fact, during these past two years of teaching third grade, I’ve noticed a dramatic difference between the reading and writing skills of students who speak using precise, descriptive vocabulary and those whose vocabulary is overly general and unsophisticated. For this reason, this past summer I developed a seven- part vocabulary unit designed to increase the volume and precision of students spoken language. We began this unit on the first day of school.

I’ve attached the second list of vocabulary words with the definitions as we’ve discussed them in class. Please talk with your child about the words. For example, you could ask questions such as:

What does ___ mean?

What other word does ___ remind you of? Why?

What words is ___ the opposite of? How do you know?

Listen to this sentence using the word ___. (Tell the student a sentence.)

Can you make up a sentence using ___?

People with the biggest vocabulary are the ones who love words. You know the type I mean… They love crosswords and they love games like Wheel of Fortune. For this reason, students can benefit from having fun with words. For example, if students play word games like Scrabble Junior and Boggle, their enjoyment of and knowledge of words will grow. So let’s keep our vocabulary learning fun!

On Friday, I will test the students’ knowledge of these words by asking them to write a sentence for each word. I am looking for sentences that are long enough to show that the student has a good understanding of the meaning of the word. Because I’m testing spelling, not vocabulary, any spellings that I can read will be accepted. My goal is for each student to get 6 or more checks. I will grade the sentences as follows:

ü A complete sentence that shows understanding of the word.

· A sentence that is essentially correct but not detailed enough to show understanding.

X A sentence that doesn’t make sense or the student didn’t write a sentence.

Last Friday, students took the first vocabulary test. I see that one as a “trial run” and I am not recording the grades. I think that many students weren’t sure how to write a complete sentence that shows understanding of the word. Yesterday, I discussed this with them as we read some of the sentences students wrote for the first test. I’ve attached the test and the list of vocabulary words for your information.

Thank you for reading this bulletin. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to give me a call at ***.

Sincerely, Ayana Kee

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This page was updated: August, 2005.