“A Professional Development Initiative for Developing Approaches to Vocabulary Instruction” Article 3 Unit 4
November 15, 2009
mjgirliegurl
I really enjoyed reading this article, because it encourages students to learn vocabulary in all their content areas, not just English. I like how this article had teachers of different content areas (earth science, math, and art) using and integrating vocabulary into their curriculum. There are different vocabulary words in English that are not used in everyday language that are only used in content areas. How are students supposed to effectively learn and remember these vocabulary words in content areas? Teachers should embrace this question, because students need to be able to understand the vocabulary words necessary for each subject to help them succeed in that particular subject. By having students explore different sources and learning parts of speech, word histories, prefixes, suffixes related words, visual representations of words, etc, students will gain a deeper understanding of the vocabulary they need to succeed in their classes. They will gain deeper understanding by researching themselves as opposed to the teacher telling them the definition of words. Literature circles and multigenre projects give students the opportunities to read various texts on a theme or topic and either discuss it in a literature circle or create different artifacts that represent different genres. I mostly enjoyed reading about the art teacher’s ways of teaching vocabulary, because I did not realize until reading about her that art and vocabulary can be connected in many other ways besides just visually.
I liked how Lucas Pasley’s website had a section for ESL students. He also had his class organized by grade and what each grade was learning that year. Donna Link’s website was enjoyable as well, because I saw how she had different assignments for her art students to do. Some of the assignments did include vocabulary, which is important for students to understand in order for them to effectively learn to the best of their knowledge.
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1.
watsonre | November 22, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I was also impressed by the connections between vocabulary and art. I am so used to thinking of myself as a non-artist that I hadn’t thought beyond images.
-Rachel
2.
mjgirliegurl | November 22, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Hi, Rachel! Yeah, I know what you mean! I’m an okay artist, but I’m not Van Gogh. I just liked how she used vocabulary in her art class. I really liked her connections.
Marie-Jo Gartshore
3.
ak73980 | November 22, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I agree that helping students embrace vocabulary outside of the English classroom is imperative. If students recognize that language is everywhere they will be more likely to continue learning and exploring these concepts.
–Amanda Klinger
4.
mjgirliegurl | November 22, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Hi, Amanda! Yeah, it shouldn’t be just us English teachers who are responsible for teaching all the vocabulary students need to know, right? How can we teach them Math, Social Studies, and Science vocabulary when we might not know them? That’s why other content area teachers have to be responsible for teaching their subject’s vocabulary to students. I never thought of it that way you said…about students recognizing language is everywhere, but I like it!
Marie-Jo Gartshore
5.
kristytreadaway | November 22, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I agree it is really important for teachers to understand that they are responsible for teaching the vocabulary found in their content area. This lack of instruction is why so many people do not like subjects such as math and science because they do not understand the vocabulary as they should.
Kristy Treadaway
6.
mjgirliegurl | November 22, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Hi, Kristy! I completely agree. Some teachers used to think that English teachers were responsible for teaching reading and writing and vocabulary, but there are different vocabulary terms in different subjects. So all teachers in all subjects need to teach vocabulary concepts to students so they will understand them and be able to learn more effectively!
Marie-Jo Gartshore
7.
meganeliz | November 22, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I liked the article as well. It’s interesting that there are so many different ways to use vocabulary. I hope you’re doing well!
-Megan Anderson