Making our Word Walls More than Wallpaper

Selecting the Words Let’s divide the corpus of

the language into three parts.

Tier One: the most basic words

Tier Two: high-frequency words for skilled language users.

Tier Three: specific words with low frequency of general use.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002)

Choosing words based on TiersTier 3: Low-frequency words, usually specific to an academic domain & best learned in the related content area, such as isotope, photosynthesis & psychologist.

Tier 2: High-frequency words that are important for capable language learners to have in their vocabulary, such as remorse, capricious, distinguished, & devious.

Tier 1: Basic words that rarely need to be taught, such as hair, always, dress, & laugh.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002)

yearning Instead of saying: “I know you really

wanted to go outside for recess, but it is raining and we cannot.

Try… “I know that all of you were yearning to go outside and play during recess today. However, the rain will prohibit us from doing that today.

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Opportunistic Classroom Vocabulary

Yearning can be a good thing too.

Sometimes when we yearn for things it makes us work harder to get them. If you are yearning for a brand new bike, you might work on saving your allowance to get one.

Someone might yearn to be a better football player. He might practice more often and work harder to reach the goal that he is yearning for.

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Give Positive Examples:

Would someone who is yearning be

likely to: Throw a temper tantrum when they

do not get what they want? Wish on a star? Daydream about what they yearn for? Give up pursuing what they yearn for?6

Explain appropriateness of context:

resent – to express anger or annoyance

toward someone or something futile –to do something that will never give

you the result that you want; useless pout – to show irritation using your expression insult – to offend someone; to treat rudely groan – to moan because you are angry or

annoyed courteous – to have manners and be

considerate intensity – to be strong or powerful

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Using Student Friendly Definitions(Student Friendly or ESL Dictionary)

Let’s look at a simple word…

Cinnamon

cin·na·mon

   /ˈsɪnəmən/ [sin-uh-muhn] –noun 1. the aromatic inner bark of any of several East Indian

trees belonging to the genus Cinnamonum,  of the laurel family, especially the bark of C. zeylanicum (Ceylon cinnamon), used as a spice, or that of C. loureirii (Saigon cinnamon), used in medicine as a cordial and carminative.

2. a tree yielding such bark. 3. any allied or similar tree. 4. cassia( def. 1 ) . 5. a yellowish or reddish brown. 6.–adjective . (of food) containing or flavored with cinnamon. 7. reddish-brown or yellowish-brown.

Sentence Frame

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Cinnamon is a ____________ that ____________ in order to________________.

resent – to express anger or annoyance toward someone or something

when a sibling is more successful at something

when someone else was picked for a team

futile –to do something that will never give you the result that you want; useless

Studying for a subject area which you find to be extremely difficult

learning to play the violin

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Using imagery and a non-definitional approach . . .

Would you be courteous to

someone who insulted you? Would you groan if

something was futile? Would hiding your feelings be

an example of pouting?12

Relationships Among Words

Which word goes with

kindness? (courteous) Which word goes with

pointless? (futile) Which words go with bully?

(resent, pout, insult, groan)13

Using Word Associations

If your parents made you permanently give your bedroom to a relative would you . . . resent them? feel that the situation was futile? pout for a week? insult them behind their backs? groan noisily when they told you? act courteous and smile? say terrible things? show them an encouraging expression? 14

Making Choices

Using Cagey Questions

Cagey questions contain one or more vocabulary words.

They facilitate thinking about meanings of words as well as meanings of sentences (build comprehension.)

There are not right or wrong answers to cagey questions. However, they require the student to justify their position in response to the questions.

They provide further experience dealing with the vocabulary in a wide variety of contexts.

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How might yearning for something cause someone to have hope?

How might a person with integrity be defiant?

Which of these situations would be more likely to be considered ominous: a walk alone through a dark alley or a walk through the library during a quiet study hall?

Which person is more likely to feel remorse: a cunning boy who gets caught cheating on a math quiz or a boy whose mother finds him sneaking a brownie before dinner?

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Some examples . . .

Write a cagey question using each of these word pairs

or groups:

serene and gazeanticipate and ordinaryanxious, obsess, and sinister

(try using two or all three!)17

Let’s try a few . . .

Implications for Teachers

Model the importance of vocabulary by allocating daily time for instruction.Teach vocabulary skills as well as vocabulary meanings.

Consider contextual factorsMultiple meaning words

Opportunities to utilize vocabulary across multiple contexts