Why teach vocabulary? Approximately 50-60 percent of the variance in reading comprehension in fourth-graders can be accounted for by strong vocabulary knowledge. Although word recognition is a crucial first step to reading text, decoding is futile if the word’s meaning is unknown. Unit 5 focuses on best practices for teaching the meaning of individual words.
Participants will learn the most effective, evidence-based practices for teaching vocabulary explicitly to their students. They will understand why both breadth and depth of word knowledge are important for reading comprehension and how deep knowledge of a word is established through experience and instruction. Assessment for students’ informal and formal vocabulary will be demonstrated. Participants will learn how to select words for explicit vocabulary instruction and how to adapt that instruction for English Learners. They will also learn techniques for encouraging vocabulary use in the classroom as well as extending vocabulary practice after reading to foster “word consciousness” in students.
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