After teaching a vocabulary item how can we make sure that ss understand the word and can use it
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What are some general instructional practices that can be beneficial to students who are learning to speak English?Vocabulary instruction is another beneficial practice that teachers can use. ELLs must understand vocabulary to make sense of English, and to understand what they are reading and hearing. Students may understand one meaning of a word but not know a second or third meaning (e.g., cell phone, plant cell, jail cell). Teachers should encourage students to think about how new words connect with other words they know. In addition, they must understand words commonly used during instruction (e.g., participate, summarize, analyze, demonstrate).[Teachers] must be permeated with the mind-set that ELLs are learning words minute by minute. Although students learn new words incidentally from reading and discussions, they also benefit from explicit instruction, guided practices, and frequent opportunities to practice using new words. Students need multiple exposures to vocabulary words in a variety of contexts in order to fully understand their meanings. Therefore, teachers should look for opportunities to reinforce vocabulary terms throughout the day. Although math is one content area teachers may not think of as being vocabulary laden, it contains many complex terms. Listen as Kathy Escamilla describes how a math word problem can be confusing to ELLs (time: 0:31).
Transcript: Kathy Escamilla, PhD Ann has sixty-four crayons. The number is eighteen more than Bill. Now, ninety-four percent of the English language learners thought you should add because of the word more. And so, when I have just a little bit of English, I’m doing the best I can and somebody told me when it says more it usually means add. So I know just enough language to get it wrong, right? Because really what you have to do is subtract. To further illustrate how math problems can be confusing to ELLs consider how teachers often use different vocabulary terms to convey the same meaning. As the graphic below illustrates, the math problem 18 – 9 = can be expressed in many different ways. * Subtract 9 from 18. * 18 minus 9 equals ______. * What is the difference between 18 and 9? * 9 from 18 equals ______. * Take 9 away from 18. * How much less is 9 than 18? The following table describes some common language vocabulary characteristics of students at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of second language acquisition.
Teachers can help ELLs focus on acquiring new vocabulary by:
Example: The bilingual teacher suggests that Ms. Westerman create words-of-the-day for her students. She writes two words of the day on the board every morning. One of these words is a preposition, idiom, or common word with multiple meanings that can be confusing for ELLs. The second of these words is a key science vocabulary term. After teaching these words, Ms. Westerman expects her students to use these words at least five times during the day. The students keep tally on each other as they hear students using the words correctly. ActivityRead the math word problem below. In two weeks George will attend Boy Scout camp. His mother will provide ingredients for s’mores. There are nine boys in his troop. Each Scout will prepare two s’mores. Each s’more has marshmallows, one half of a bar of chocolate, and one graham cracker. Calculate the quantity of ingredients George’s mom will have to provide for all of the boys.
1. Words that a student from a different cultural background might not understand:
2. Student support for the sample word problem includes:
Note: The information above pertains to the sample word problem. Below are additional student supports for word problems. These include:
What is the most effective way to teach vocabulary?How to teach:. Introduce each new word one at a time. ... . Reflect. ... . Read the text you've chosen. ... . Ask students to repeat the word after you've read it in the text. ... . Use a quick, fun activity to reinforce each new word's meaning. ... . Play word games. ... . Challenge students to use new words.. How can a teacher teach vocabulary effectively?Effective vocabulary teaching has five key principles.. Focus on rich meanings, not just dictionary definitions. ... . Emphasize the connections among words. ... . Promote usage of the words. ... . Review is important. ... . Involve students in identifying some of the words to be studied.. How can teachers ensure that new vocabulary items are remembered?Present the words with images depicting the words. Write the words in different colors. Play recordings of the words to your students. Ask them to write stories using the words.
What strategies are you going to use for teaching vocabulary to your students and why?Be sure to have a look at the comprehensive list of targeted strategies to help you teach vocabulary to your students.. Take a student's perspective. ... . Try using a word wall. ... . Create vocabulary notebooks. ... . Connect word meanings with semantic mapping. ... . Make word cards. ... . Encourage reading comprehension. ... . Use visuals and situations.. |