Once you've identified that your student has a need related to learning high frequency words or domain specific words, you need to plan to support this need during your intervention time. It is extremely important that you take the time to learn the different types of interventions related to teaching vocabulary words across a week so you can give your student enough at-bats to internalize novel words.
Vocabulary development is a key component of reading comprehension. As students learn to read and understand new words, they build and develop schema based on these new words. The following pages include intervention strategies that you can use to develop your student's understanding of high frequency and domain specific words. As you read, consider which of these interventions best align with your student's strengths and needs in the whole-learner domains.
Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002), authors of the popular book Bringing Words to Life, assert that students should learn 400 words per year. But not all words are created equal. Teachers must select the highest-leverage words for students to learn, based on their complexity and frequency of usage. These are commonly referred to as high frequency words. In many cases, you might also want to teach domain specific vocabulary to your students.
This session includes strategies to support each of Beck's 5 day recommended sequence. Read about why this entire sequence is important, and then explore the corresponding pages.
WEEKLY INTERVENTION SEQUENCE
Before learning additional intervention strategies that support vocabulary acquisition, review the following intervention sequence that can be implemented on a weekly basis. This lesson sequence is based on research that found that students needed 15-20 exposures to vocabulary words to positively affect reading comprehension. Each day of intervention should be approximately 30 minutes in length. This sequence of instruction applies to all students who receive vocabulary instruction.
- Day 1: Define words and form word associations. The teacher explicitly teaches eight to ten words by reading the words and describing the context(s) in which they appear. The teacher then presents student-friendly definitions, and students transcribe the definitions. The teacher then provides activities wherein students will interact with the words and their definitions (e.g., word cards, word-association game, etc.). These activities can be repeated throughout the course of the week to increase word recognition speed and meaning retrieval
- Day 2: Practice vocabulary words. The teacher provides activities that allow students to practice using the new words. One example activity is for students to complete sentence stems for their vocabulary words that require students to evaluate the use of the words in different contexts (e.g., “If I were a benefactor, I would…”)
- Day 3: Apply learning to new contexts and situations. Students complete activities to apply vocabulary knowledge in new contexts and explain their rationale. For example: “Would a benefactor be more likely to support a good cause or save his money?” or “Would a felon be more likely to rob a jewelry store or enjoy reading a book?”
- Day 4: Make It a Game. Students play games involving their vocabulary words. This builds fluency with the new vocabulary words and their meanings
- Day 5: Review & Assess. The teacher briefly reviews each word and then assesses student knowledge of the vocabulary words and definitions.
Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press.
As you consider your student's vocabulary needs, think about which strategies each day would best support his needs. Since the first day of sets the instructional tone of the 5-Day sequence, please begin your deep dive by visiting Day 1. Then, choose one more day to explore. Click on the Day 1 link above to begin your deep dive.
Think about the following scenario, which takes place after a teacher has explicitly taught a lesson about vocabulary and has given the student multiple opportunities to practice:
Teacher: "Say habitat if any of these things is a habitat...
In such a case, what might you do?
When you are planning your lessons, you should anticipate that your students will make errors throughout the activity. Here are a series of prompts that you can use to respond to errors. Keep in mind that all students are different, and some students might respond better to different types of feedback than others.
| Level of Support | Description of scaffold | Script |
| Smallest scaffold |
Try again! Allows student multiple opportunities to practice new skill. |
"What about this one: A gerbil's cage?"" |
| Medium scaffold |
Provide resources. Allows the student to use resources to figure out the answer (including helpful supports such as a picture, multisensory approaches, or specific prompts).
|
"You said that a skunk who sprays a predator is a habitat. Tell me why... Let's review the meanings of the words." |
| Highest scaffold | Rewind. If students aren't understanding how to use one of the supports you've provided, then go back and explicitly reteach the example, using the student's text. |
"Well, I know that a habitat is where something lives, so it wouldn't make sense to say Habitat! in that example. Let's go back through, and I'll tell you which ones I think are habitats and why." |
If your student struggles to meet your objective, there are various techniques that you might try to adjust the activity so as best to meet your student's needs.
| Activity | Description of strategy | Script |
| Day 1 |
Picture It. When introducing words during Day 1, have words written down so that the students can see the word as you you introduce it. Include a small picture next to the word. |
"Here is the word habitat. Here is a picture of a squirrel's habitat." |
| Hang It. Use word walls. to display the words your class has learned. | "Now,let's hang the words we've learned on the wall." | |
| Journal It. Have students keep an alphabetized word journal as a reference. | "Write the words down in your journal as we learn them." | |
| Make it Move. Instead of having students brainstorm or write down words, provide the student with ready-made vocabulary cards. | "When we say the word habitat, we are going to hold our hands out like tree branches. Ready, habitat!" (All students hold their hands like tree branches.) | |
| Repeat It. Have students repeat the words back to you after you introduce and review them | "The word is habitat. What word?" "Habitat." | |
| Days 2 and 3 |
Sentence Stems. Use sentence stems as resources when students are asking and answering questions about vocabulary words.
|
"When you ask your partner a question, use this sentence stem..." |
| Make it Move. Instead of having students brainstorm or write down words, provide the student with ready-made vocabulary cards. |
"Here are the vocabulary words. Can you match them to the details in the picture?" |
|
| Day 4 | Play it Again! Use transition times as opportunities to play short games. | "Let's do a two-word round of PASSWORD!" |
| Day 5 | Make it Informal. Allow students to demonstrate their knowledge through an informal conversation | "Turn and talk to your partner. Use 3 out of the 4 vocabulary words to describe a squirrel's habitat." |