Episode 4-Vocabulary

Vocabulary: The body of words known to a person

• Receptive: Words we see and hear

• Expressive: Words we can speak and write

• Tiers of Vocabulary

  • Tier 1: Basic/Daily

    • Learned in conversation

    • Don’t usually have multiple meanings

    • ex: baby, car, apple, elephant, common idioms

  • Tier 2: High frequency across content

    • Needed for academic success

    • Often seen in books 

    • Increases descriptions 

    • Sign of mature language user

    • Often have multiple meanings: 

    • ex: blush,terrified,fine

  • Tier 3: Low Frequency/Content Specific

    • Taught explicitly and move on

    • ex: thesis, osmosis 

• How to teach (Parent focus)

  • Increase oral vocabulary

  • Synonyms/Antonyms

  • Shades of meaning

Teaching New Vocabulary Words Lesson Template

1. Pronounce the words and have students pronounce it

2. Break down the word into parts

   1. Syllables

   2. Morphemes

   3. Spelling and explanations/rules

   4. Part of Speech

   5. Etymology

3. Create a student definition:

___(new word)_______is a ____(category/part of speech)______that is/has_______(attributes)______.

Example: Terrified is an adjective that shows that someone is more than scared 

1. Students and teacher give examples

2. Students answer yes/no questions about the word (ex: would someone be terrified to eat cake? speak in public?

3. Have students create their own examples/sentences.