Showera's List: CAFE - Expand Vocabulary Videos

In this video Janet models three strategies in combination. Author's Purpose and Text Features help deepen comprehension, and Paying Close Attention to Pictures helps expand vocabulary. The story she has selected supports the strategy instruction beautifully. Watch how she introduces these three strategies, involves the students in the learning, and then wraps up the lesson for the children by identifying the strategies and their use.

Our school is upgrading to SMART boards and projection devices. Imagine this lesson with the book projected so everyone can see all the text features? We are excited for the many ways technology supports instruction and learning.

In this video, Christie's whole-group focus lesson is on Vocabulary. After reviewing the strategies her fourth graders already know and use when they come to a word they don't know the meaning of (read around the word and infer, ask a friend, read the smaller words within, etc.) she introduces the strategy of Using a Dictionary.

Christie's frank approach, describing when she uses a dictionary, allows kids an opportunity to peek inside the mind of a skilled reader and helps prevent the "look up every word I don't know" syndrome. She also shares with them "The Secret" of making a dictionary work; knowing how to negotiate ABC order. The lesson is anchored by using a "Word Collector" which all her students are familiar with.

In this whole group lesson, Pam reteaches prefixes to this group of sixth graders that she had last year as fifth graders. They work hard to remember the essence of prefixes, suffixes and root words and how they might use their understanding of prefixes to help them figure out the meaning of a word.

The whole lesson was a great reminder to us that students need content reviews in order to bring past learning to the forefront of their memories.

In this video clip, Gail introduces a small group of students to the strategy of using prior knowledge to figure out words they may already know, but haven't seen in print before. Tapping into our background knowledge, whether from books, media or real life experiences, helps us gather clues from the surrounding words and supply a word that makes sense in the text

Working with individuals to develop their vocabulary has been an ongoing and necessary practice, but has taken on a new urgency with the increasing number of students who are just beginning to acquire English.

In this video, Christie works with a fourth grade student named Herman. She approaches the one-on-one conference with the usual focus on comprehension, and takes time to model a variety of vocabulary development processes and strategies that will help him reach his goal of increasing vocabulary.

Notice the high level of accountability built into the end of the conference. The amount of reading Herman will do and when they will meet again are recorded in her Pensieve (conferring notebook) so Christie can keep track of her thinking as well as tomorrow's appointment.

One secret to expanding vocabulary is to tune in to interesting words. In this video, Joan and Carrie, a K-2 teacher, meet with a small group of students. Together they learn and practice the strategy of paying attention to words that are interesting or unique and then using prior knowledge and context to figure out the meaning of the word.

The selected text is a poem. Poetry can be a great resource for teaching strategies. These students are reading at different independent levels, but are able to learn and practice a needed strategy together on an easily accessed text. They will take their new skill to their independent practice at their various levels.

By writing the group's name down in their calendar for tomorrow, Joan and Carrie use the conferring notebook or pensieve to make an appointment with this group for the next day. Since this is a new skill for this group, checking back quickly will help to review and reinforce their learning.

Trish Prentice believes in the power of music. In this video, she and her kindergarten students use song to proclaim their love of reading and the benefits of reading voraciously.