Entry #9 Supporting Students' Construction of Vocabulary Knowledge

     After reading Tompkins et al. (2022) chapter on "Expanding Academic Vocabulary" and the Graves et al. (2017) article on "Empowering Students With Word-Learning Strategies: Teach a Child to Fish," I realized that there are so many different strategies and activities available that I didn't even consider that can support and help students with acquiring a robust, varied vocabulary throughout their elementary through high school careers. From my own reflections on learning and developing vocabulary in school, I recall more of a focus on understanding individual words and using a dictionary and thesaurus quite often to figure out word meanings and definitions. I thought it was so interesting that in two separate places in the Tompkins et al. (2022) chapter, the authors' frowned on teachers encouraging students to rely on dictionaries to discover word meanings. In fact, in a side box on "Classroom Interventions," Tompkins et al. (2022, pg. 209) argue that having students look up words and write sentences from a list of unknown words can actually be detrimental to students having a deep understanding of the word. Hence, the students cannot recognize these words' various forms and meanings in multiple texts. Also, I know from my own experiences this activity can be very dull and uninspiring for students to do as it feels like one is "checking off a box" and is required to memorize the definition. Both Tompkins et al. (2022) and Graves et al. (2017) do an excellent job of demonstrating the complexities, nuances, and opportunities of working with students to help them to develop a recognition of the power of words, to motivate students to learn the many strategies for figuring out the meanings of vocabulary by themselves, and to give students a sense of confidence that they can mine the vocabulary of any texts.

    As an online ESL teacher, I have had the opportunity to use various strategies to help students develop their vocabulary knowledge. When I was first introduced to the idea of the students constructing their knowledge by figuring out the vocabulary (which was a part of the online curriculum I used), it was a new experience for me. Graves et al. (2017) mention the importance of using this strategy in the Word-Learning Strategies (WLS) Program he describes in the article. As I used a similar type of vocabulary learning program in some of my online ESL lessons, over time, I could really see the benefit of the students figuring out what affixes meant and different strategies that were best to use at different times. I believe that the process of them constructing the knowledge really did help them to remember what they learned and to be flexible in adapting it to similar situations. Tompkins et al. (2022) also describe different strategies that students can use to help construct their knowledge of vocabulary, such as the semantic feature analysis and writing possible sentences, as well as in prereading activities, figuring out their understanding of words that they will encounter in the reading. These activities help to give students confidence and empower them that they have background knowledge, experience, and the techniques needed to solve the vocabulary challenges that will inevitably come up throughout their lifetimes of being readers. I recall many times the satisfied look on the face of one of my ELL students when they recognized that they knew how to use a particular vocabulary word after figuring it out themselves. They truly did have a feeling of accomplishment they probably would not have had if I had them look the word up in the dictionary or tell them the meaning.

This discussion of teaching vocabulary strategies to students has made me more aware of how I encounter and deal with words in texts that I read and don't understand. As a teacher, I think it is essential to think about my own strategies and learn new techniques that I can teach to my students as they expand their vocabularies. It will be so important as both Tompkins et al. (2022) and Graves et al. (2017) stress to use Think Alouds and to discuss with students the processes and strategies to use when coming across unfamiliar vocabulary. I want my students to believe that they can stretch their minds and use all they know to figure out what they are reading. Of course, putting into place rhythms of silent sustained reading and reading aloud to my students will be critical for them to expand their vocabularies. But, it will also be fun to use different wordplay strategies with activities related to reading, such as spoken word presentations, poems, riddles, word games, dramatizing words, and word-finding challenges in their homes, communities, and leisure reading. Supporting students in growing their vocabulary can include many different intentional strategies that tap into the interests,  background knowledge, and experiences of both the students and the teacher  

                                                                    References

Graves, M. F., Schneider, S., & Ringstaff, C. (2017). Empowering Students With Word-Learning Strategies: Teach a Child to Fish. The Reading Teacher, 71(5), 533–543. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1644

Tompkins, G. E., Rodgers, E. M., & Rodgers, A. (2022). Literacy for the 21st century : balancing reading and writing instruction. Pearson.

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