Embedded Vocabulary

“Dynamic Vocabulary Instruction”
http://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/archer-videos.html
Anita Archer

I was discussing vocabulary with a colleague when she made the comment that she wanted vocabulary lessons that were researched based and that could be embedded in the curriculum. She didn’t want to always dedicate time to a separate vocabulary activity. I began looking at Anita Archer’s speaker notes from a conference she led a few years ago where she discussed “Explicit Vocabulary Instruction”. Much like Kylene Beers, she emphasizes only picking a few words per section, chapter, etc. She also says that teachers should select words students will encounter often and use in the future. This is a great and fairly quick way to embed vocabulary into your lesson.

Before each chapter or unit, pick a few words (5-8) that you as the teacher will use continually. Discuss briefly the meaning of those words when you first begin to use them in class. Then post them in the room, use them in essential questions, put them in journal prompts, model using these words in answers to questions as you lead discussion in class. These are easy ways that I have found to embed vocabulary into my everyday classroom lessons. It takes a little planning to begin with, but then I find that the kids start to use the words as their own.

A few weeks ago, I posted the question, “When is war justifiable?” as a thinking question regarding the civil war. Many students asked what justifiable meant, and I simply told them a brief definition as well as related words such as just, justice, justified. Then as we began a discussion about their thoughts, I kept referring back to this word and I found that most students when speaking to me or each other started to use this word themselves appropriately. I believe that these are the simple, easy, but effective ways we can start to embed necessary vocabulary into our everyday.