As I read Lane & Allen's article,
The Vocabulary-Rich Classroom, I thought a lot about my childhood experiences in the classroom. I was so amazed by the way Ms. Barker and Ms. Rivas ran their classrooms. They were encouraging their children to use more sophisticated words every day. When I read the part about a kindergartener telling the observer that is was "rather brisk today" I was astonished. I cannot imagine myself as a kindergartener every saying that; heck, I probably never said that in high school. Growing up I think that my teachers used the dumbing down method of teaching. We were never encouraged to use sophisticated words; therefore, as an adult I do not use a very wide range of vocabulary, like I know I should. I WISH that my teachers would have pushed us to learn new words the way these two particular teachers did in their class. As a future teacher, I learned so much from this article and it gave two great ideas of how to implement stronger vocabulary into the classroom. I am continually amazed at how much I am learning from the articles we are reading and very thankful we are being introduced to them.
*This article also talks about the process in which a student goes through in order to learn a new word. Here is a chart that can be put up in the classroom to help with vocabulary instruction. The teacher can introduce a new word and have the children show you, with their hands, what they know about it.
*Just another way to help children come to know a word. Write it down, what does it remind them of, what they think it means, and then finally what it actually means. Also a good critical thinking skill.
*Finally, this teacher lets the children brainstorm about different words they know or think they know and puts them under the letter it corresponds with.
It's so true. Why do adults always feel the need to "dumb down" their language for children? Ms. Barker and Ms. Rivas are such fabulous examples of scaffolding children to start using larger, more complex words.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the articles I didn't choose to read, so I enjoyed reading how you tied your thoughts and opinions into the article's strategies! I loved the activities and poster examples too!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the dumbing down in the classroom. I can see how it is easy to feel like you have to speak simply for the children to understand, but all that does is limit them! I like how they said you can start out with those simple words, but then build on those and when the kids are ready, move on to the more sophisticated terms!
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, I love your fist to five chart! Secondly, I too was blown away by "rather brisk today." Brisk isn't even a word in my daily vocabulary! I wrote about Mrs. Barker's techniques in developing vocabulary on my blog this week. They are definitely effective and I hope to incorporate similar methods in my future classroom!
ReplyDeleteI, like Maloriee, did not read this article, so I loved getting to read your blog! I really enjoyed the activities you found and suggested. My favorite was the fist to five activity. I think in elementary classrooms it is important to find activities like this one. The students would love it! It not only gives the teacher a sense of what the students know but it also allows the students to get involved and release some energy. Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteI really like the chart that is used for vocabulary awareness! It's a great idea to allow the students to voice how much they know and for the teacher to understand what kind of explaining they need to do!
ReplyDeleteI love the magic word sheet. It is a very creative method for getting on the learner's level in order to grow upon and learn new vocabulary, in turn developing comprehension.
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