Our ELL department gave a great presentation at the beginning of the year about the importance of vocabulary instruction. The presentation was generally geared towards the general education teachers. The presenters emphasized the importance of making time to focus on vocabulary before teaching content. However, I found the lesson definitely applicable to Spanish language and the teaching of cultural units (like the
Hispanic Heritage Month unit.)
What I really enjoyed from the presentation came from a book called
Building Academic Vocabulary. The book outlines a
Six Step Process for Teaching Vocabulary:
- Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term AND a non-linguistic representation.
- Step 2: Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words
- Step 3: Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term or phrase
- Step 4: Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms
- Step 5: Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another
- Step 6: Involve student periodically in games that allow them to play with the terms
I really like these steps, especially 4 and 6 because they seem to indicate the spiral nature of vocabulary instruction. No student will really know any term after one lesson. After practicing and repetition in context, students will gain a much better understanding of any term.
Below is piece of student work from the
Hispanic Heritage Month unit that was used to check for understanding of student knowledge of the term "molas." Students were able to show their understanding while also getting an opportunity for a future check in, if needed.
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| 2nd grader vocabulary check for understanding |
Students should get a chance during vocabulary instruction to explain the term for themselves. I like this worksheet because it also gives students the opportunity to see give the teacher feedback about how well they know the term.
