19 Vocab of the Day
Matthew Malerba
Strategy Overview
- Students are presented with a new vocabulary word every day that reflects cultures of students in the classroom and also presents itself in the material for that class
- Vocabulary matters because readers can’t fully understand texts without knowing the meaning of the words within the text. In other words, textual meaning is constructed on building blocks of vocabulary (Rasinski, 2021).
- Students are introduced to many new words that will help expand their literacy comprehension and reading skills
- The more words a reader knows, the greater the likelihood that the reader will understand a text (Rasinski, 2021).
Strategy in Action
The teacher will present a new word on board each day and that will be the vocabulary word for the day. Students will have a brief discussion prior to the definition being posted, about if anyone has seen or heard of this word before, and if anyone knows anything about the word already. The teacher will then post the word along with its definition on the board for students to take it in initially. After reading its definition, students will discuss how they think this word will play a role in the lesson or how it already has played a role in prior lessons. The teacher will offer a hint to students to activate their intrinsic motivation but not give away the very idea of the word.
Student Example
Teacher posts word on the board for all to see, next students lead discussion on prior knowledge of this word, next the teacher portrays the meaning of this new word, students then predict how this word will be implemented into the class, finally the teacher will give students a guiding hint as to how this word will be relevant.
References
Rasinski, T. (2021, March 4). Why vocabulary matters. Learning A-Z. https://www.learninga-z.com/site/resources/breakroom-blog/why-vocabulary-matters
