Vocabulary Instruction

originally posted on My Big Campus - November 19, 2013

I have received numerous requests for some kind of "formal statement" about our "position" on vocabulary instruction as a result of some statements that Rachel and I have made recently regarding the topic. I think the requests come from a place of discomfort - that what we've said doesn't set well with many teachers' current practice. I am reluctant to put something in writing about this topic as it is so big and, apparently, controversial, but I do think it's important for me to be clear about my thoughts on the topic and to invite some discussion so that we can move forward without fear and apprehension.

First, I don't know that there is one "right" way to teach anything, especially vocabulary. I invite you to reflect on your own practices, my ideas, and those of others to come to your own conclusions. Nobody can force you to do something well that you don't agree with - that certainly isn't my intention.

So, let's start by re-visiting a text that many of us got several years ago:
"When I began teaching, I 'taught' vocabulary the same way my teachers had taught me: I assigned lists of words; asked students to look the words up i the dictionary and write them in sentences; and gave weekly vocabulary tests. Those exercises then gave way to programmed vocabulary books. My students and I worked our way through levels A-F, but it didn't take long for me to realize that these exercises didn't increase their speaking, reading, and writing language any more than looking words up in the dictionary had. Students seldom (never) gained enough in-depth word knowledge from this practice to integrate the words into their spoken or written language. These exercises did, however, keep them quiet for long periods, and I was doing what all the veteran teachers I knew were doing, so I truly wanted to believe that students were learning from this activity. In retrospect, I have to admit that it didn't matter whether students were learning or not-- I simply did not know what else to do. It was my job to teach vocabulary, and if I didn't teach (or would it be more accurate to say assign?) vocabulary in the traditional ways, what would I have done instead? Many teachers today struggle with these same 'demons' we're supposed to be teaching vocabulary and if we don't do the traditional 'assign, define, and test,' what do we do instead? and if we do something different, how can we prove it's working?"

Do you recognize this excerpt? It's from Janet Allen's Words, Words, Words written in 1999. Those who've been around for a decade or so will remember Janet spoke at one of our PD days, and I remember that many of us felt inspired to do things differently as a result of her presentation and reading her book.

With this memory in mind, I look to our current standards regarding vocabulary. L.4 says: "Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown or multiple meaning words or phrases based on grade-level reading or content choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. A. Use context as a clue to the meaning; B. Use word parts, patterns of word changes, or parts of speech; C. Consult general and specialized references to find pronunciation or clarify precise meaning; D. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase." Also, L.6 says: "Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college- and career-readiness level."
My interpretation of L.4 is that it is speaking to words that students will encounter in their own reading and that L.6 is referring to academic words like "define" or "qualify" or domain-specific words like "metaphor" or "analogy."

I, like Allen, assigned and tested many vocabulary lists during my years in the classroom. If I were to go back today, however, I wouldn't. I don't think that that practice led my students to any independence in word acquisition as required by our current standards.

So, what would?

First, reading. Just reading. Back in the Dark Ages, my own high school counselor told me when I asked for help in increasing my SAT scores to just read. Wide reading is the number one way to increase vocabulary and improve word acquisition skills.

Second, I would provide explicit instruction on how to figure out what words mean - e.g., how to use context clues, how to use word parts, how to use the position and function of a word in a sentence. A great place to start is to read Allen's Words, Words, Words. I'll bet it's still on many of our shelves. I'd be careful not to turn right back to the graphic organizers; as helpful as they are, we don't want to resort solely to worksheet use. She gives solid explanations on how and why to provide explicit strategy instruction. There are several other authors who address vocabulary instruction, including Beck, Frey, Marzano - but I think her work is most accessible for immediate classroom use.

Third, I would reflect on my own language use and expectations for student use of rich language in their own communications.

Again, I want to be clear about MY thoughts on vocabulary instruction, and I invite you to consider your own. I am not mandating or banning specific practices. I invite you to reflect on your own practices and share your thoughts on this topic.

A Sample 9th Grade Unit Plan

originally posted on My Big Campus February 26, 2013 - we have since tweaked the unit plan template that we use a bit, but the essence would be the same

Last night I came across a recently posted spoken word poem/video that has gone “viral.”  It is a mostly dismal (read: SAD) but overall brilliant piece (IMHO) that inspired me to write a unit plan this morning.  I collaborated with Rachel to develop the plan, and we offer this sample to English I (9^th grade) teachers for their use (if they choose).   

Just beware: sharing the video/poem with students will require a great amount of sensitivity and emotional preparation on the part of the teacher.  I think it is a perfect example of the type of “media” text that students will have to analyze on the PARCC (though not this long, I think), but it should not be used lightly.  The main topic of the poem/video is bullying, and it includes references to suicide and drug addiction.  These topics certainly are not unusual in the literature we typically read in ninth grade, but this portrayal is particularly heart-wrenching.

My thought is to open the unit with the spoken word poem video and to end it with the summative narrative task with a suggested rubric.  We’ve offered several other texts and formative assessments in between; use them or not – in any case, I welcome your feedback.

We will continue this kind of work at the other grade levels, for other units/essential questions in grade 9, and by fleshing out some actual lesson plans and assessment pieces.  I know teachers are working hard at these tasks, too, and in coming weeks we will be soliciting them for their own contributions to the banks we are building. 

P.S.:  The linked Google doc of the unit plan above and here will not transfer the hyperlinks to the texts.  You can find them through these:

• “The White Circle” by John Bell Clayton (short story) [find at this link]
• “If We Must Die” by Claude McCay (poem) [find at this link]
• “I, Too” by Langston Hughes (poem) [find at this link]
• “There’s Only One Way to Stop Bullying” by Susan Engle & Marlene Sandstrom (OpEd) [find at this link]
• “To This Day” by Shane Koyczan (spoken poem/collaborative animation project) [find video at this link or this link/find background and text at this link]

What is an Essential Question?

 originally posted on My Big Campus February 7, 2013

As we think about curriculum guides for our fourteen grade levels in ELA, we've come back again
and again to the question of how much structure we should provide for teachers.  Engaging in this development process has pushed me back to the work of Grant Wiggins.  Here are some of his thoughts on essential questions found at this web site:

What is an essential question? An essential question is – well, essential: important, vital, at the heart of the matter – the essence of the issue. Think of questions in your life that fit this definition – but don’t just yet think about it like a teacher; consider the question as a thoughtful adult. What kinds of questions come to mind? What is a question that any thoughtful and intellectually-alive person ponders and should keep pondering?
In Understanding by Design we remind readers that “essential” has a few different connotations: 

One meaning of “essential” involves important questions that recur throughout one’s life. Such questions are broad in scope and timeless by nature. They are perpetually arguable – What is justice?  Is art a matter of taste or principles? How far should we tamper with our own biology and chemistry?  Is science compatible with religion? Is an author’s view privileged in determining the meaning of a text? We may arrive at or be helped to grasp understandings for these questions, but we soon learn that answers to them are invariably provisional. In other words, we are liable to change our minds in response to reflection and experience concerning such questions as we go through life, and that such changes of mind are not only expected but beneficial. A good education is grounded in such life-long questions, even if we sometimes lose sight of them while focusing on content mastery. The big-idea questions signal that education is not just about learning “the answer” but about learning how to learn.  

. . .

A question is essential when it: 

1. causes genuine and relevant inquiry into the big ideas and core content;
2. provokes deep thought, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, and new understanding as well as more questions;
3. requires students to consider alternatives, weigh evidence, support their ideas, and justify their answers;
4. stimulates vital, on-going rethinking of big ideas, assumptions, and prior lessons;
5. sparks meaningful connections with prior learning and personal experiences;
6. naturally recurs, creating opportunities for transfer to other situations and subjects.

"What Is an Essential Question?"

Grant Wiggins

Nov 15, 2007

http://www.authenticeducation.org/ae_bigideas/article.lasso?artid=53 

Higher Lexiled Books for Younger Readers

originally posted on My Big Campus February 1, 2013

A variation of the Lexile theme:

We have many younger students whose Lexiles are high - yay!  However, it is very difficult to find higher Lexiled books (especially fiction) without mature themes or that don't require extensive background knowledge that would make them accessible to the young reader. 

So, I did a quick bit of research for the cause.

I found this great list:
http://www.examiner.com/article/info-101-book-list-for-young-gifted-readers-1

and this is an interesting "generated" list:
http://armadillosoft.com/booksetc/lookForBooks.php?searchCriteria=qqq&bookTitle=&authorLName=&ageLevelConcept

This one includes for MS too, so it might have some books with more mature themes:
http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/PVLibrary/booklists.cfm?subpage=1323306

And finally,
http://www.amazon.com/Books-gifted-girls-upper-elementary/lm/R24EUB1MDXVJ0C

Lexiles and Other Things That Freak Us Out

originally posted January 31, 2013, on My Big Campus

I like Lexiles. I really do. They have been helpful in the past by guiding me how to match students with text. After all, that's what they are intended to be used for. But lately I've been getting quite a few calls from principals and lead teachers, particularly from our elementary ranks where Lexiles are a new thing. The calls essentially center around the same concern: "Our evaluations are now linked to Lexiles, and I don't know what to do with them to help our kids get better with them!"

I really empathize with my colleagues; suddenly, here is one more "high-stakes" ingredient to add to the broth, and this one seems very foreign from what they know well. I am hopeful that this post will help to bring down the anxiety level around this topic. Please jump in below in the comments to ask more questions if you need to. You are not alone in feeling anxious about Lexiles.

 Lexile.com and Metametricsinc.com give a lot of great information about Lexiles. In short, a text receives a static Lexile number based on its sentence length and word frequency; for instance, To Kill a Mockingbird has a Lexile of 870L. A student receives a Lexile number or range each time he or she takes a Lexile-based assessment (like the SRI or MAP), and this Lexile gets larger as the student develops as a reader. Lexiles are used primarily to match students with text; a student who has a Lexile range of 800-950L should be able to read To Kill a Mockingbird without much trouble. However, the Lexile is only one measure of several that we need to consider when matching students with text. My own dear third grader has the aforementioned Lexile range according to her latest MAP assessment, but because of the mature themes and type of background knowledge required for reading To Kill a Mockingbird, she won't be reading that great novel anytime soon!

The bottom line is that Lexiles are valuable measures that have a clear purpose, which is not related to choosing instructional methodologies that will increase reading ability. Lexiles do not tell us anything about a students' reading strengths or weaknesses. They do not tell us where to start tackling a struggling reader's challenges through instruction. In our elementary schools, we have several other data points that do tell us these essential things, and if we want to see Lexiles go up, we need to be paying more attention to these other points and doing an even better job responding to them.

1. Let's do what we've been doing even better! F&P benchmark assessments and the accompanying Continuum are exceptionally valuable tools in getting to know our students' reading strengths and deficits (in accuracy, fluency, types of miscues, and comprehension skills) and in responding instructionally. When the F&P benchmark is administered by a trained teacher with fidelity, she learns invaluable information that she can turn around and use the Continuum to address.

2. Don't toss aside the MAP altogether! Look closely at the MAP disaggregated reading information and the associated Descartes. Use the MAP data to confirm or refute your F&P data; look closely at how the Descartes and Continuum profiles parallel each other or offer additional information and use the two together to make informed, targeted instructional decisions. I particularly like looking at individual Student Progress Reports to see a student's percentile ranking and how the student performed overall (Low, Average, High) in each of the sub-strands.

If I as a teacher use the F&P benchmark assessment data, the Continuum, the disaggregated Reading MAP data, the Descartes, and other classroom formative measures to respond quickly and appropriately to my students' reading deficits, we will see my students' Lexiles grow. When I use Lexiles to begin text matching, knowledge of my students' interests, integrated content instruction/disciplinary literacy, integrated technology resources, and solid writing instruction, we will also see my students' Lexiles grow. Additionally, we will see their MSA scores improve and, most importantly, we will see their confidence in themselves as readers and writers grow tremendously.

Winter Trees

Winter Trees
by William Carlos Williams

All the complicated details
of the attiring and
the disattiring are completed!
A liquid moon
moves gently among
the long branches.
Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold.