Did you know the average person takes approximately 35 exposures to learn new vocabulary? Research shows that vocabulary is best learned through the following: learning words through repeated exposures in meaningful contexts, through wide reading, with direct instruction of carefully chosen words, not always through context clues, semantic maps, discussions, analysis of word parts, learning in language-rich environments, and when a connection is made with prior knowledge and experience.
Each month a new vocabulary strategy will be introduced with an accompanying video of the strategy in action. Please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Smith if you have any questions!|
Faith K. Smith MS CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
smithf@greenvillecsd.org
518-966-5070 x331
Get Real
Look for real-life examples with your target word in newspaper articles, letters, greeting cards, posters, advertisements, songs, recipes, and jokes. With the Internet, a quick search will result in hundreds of images. For example, searching for the word “mighty”, you will find movie posters for Mighty Mouse, Mighty the Armadillo (from Sonic), and Mighty Putty. Show students the images and see if they can figure out what mighty (or your target word) means!
Most to Least
Have students rank groups of related words from least to most. They can simply list them in order or place them on a continuum line. If you want to get creative, pick up paint sample gradients from your local hardware store and have students write on those. For even more practice, have your students come up with examples or situations in which they would use the target words.
Examples:
tired, exhausted, fatigued
toss, hurl, throw
cute, pretty, beautiful
Word Pictures
Have students provide a visual representation of the word by drawing a picture within the word or writing the word in a way that hints at its meaning.
Action
The instructions are simple: have students act out what each word means to them. This provides a visual representation of the spoken word, and helps it stick in their memory longer.