Activity

Learn about and discuss a strategy for improving vocabulary instruction in social studies.

Vocabulary instruction is an integral part of helping secondary students to learn content successfully. The use of vocabulary instructional activities, such as Possible Sentences, prior to reading text is intended to help students activate their background knowledge, think about words as related concepts, and actively process information. A study in which Possible Sentences was implemented with academic text found that students who engaged in the structured form of pre-teaching vocabulary showed improved recall of vocabulary as well as improved recall of facts from the text. Possible Sentences requires that students read texts of sufficient length and content to warrant teaching six to eight new vocabulary words and reviewing another four to six more familiar words. Following are the steps to implement Possible Sentences with fidelity.

1. Teacher: Select unfamiliar and familiar words.
   • Teacher selects six to eight important, unfamiliar words and generates simplified definitions for each word.
   • Teacher selects four to six related and familiar words.
2. Teacher and students: Practice word identification.
   • Teacher presents the unfamiliar and familiar words as one list.
   • Teacher pronounces each term.
   • Students pronounce each term in unison.
3. Teacher and students: Generate student-friendly definitions.
   • Students define terms.
   • Teacher provides student-friendly definitions for the remaining words.
4. Students: Compose Possible Sentences.
   • Students write two to four sentences containing at least two vocabulary words that they feel comfortable using.
   • Students share Possible Sentences with the class.
5. Students: Read text.
   • Students read the target passage independently, aloud with partners or in small groups, or aloud as a class.
6. Students: Evaluate, discuss, and revise sentences.
   • Students check to make sure that their sentences are consistent with the information and message conveyed in the text.
   • Students revise Possible Sentences after reading the text as needed. Note: The teacher might need to model making modifications or additions to the Possible Sentences.

Students with limited vocabulary knowledge not only know fewer words than their peers with typical vocabulary development but they often know less about the meanings of individual words. This makes it important to consider the multiple meanings of target words and words that sound like discipline-specific vocabulary when planning instruction. New words with similar forms and pronunciations should not be taught simultaneously. However, teachers can avoid confusion by pointing out what distinguishes a new vocabulary word from any similar-sounding words students already know or what distinguishes a content-specific definition from the meaning students might already be using for a word with the Edwine spelling.

Because the range in students’ reading abilities tends to widen as students enter the middle grades, there is an increased need for teachers to differentiate instruction and create appropriately challenging learning opportunities for all students. Teachers can differentiate Possible Sentences in the following ways:

• Before reading: Provide sentence stems to students who are struggling, or provide additional “challenge words” for students who are more advanced.
• After reading: Focus students’ attention on particular sentences needing revision, or require revisions to include different forms of the target word(s).

Ms. Huerta is prepared to introduce her students to a chapter about the U.S. Civil War. She has previewed the text and chosen six unfamiliar words (left column) that are critically important to understanding the lesson. She has also chosen five related words (right column) that the students already know. All 11 words are displayed on the board.

Ms. Huerta reads each word to the class and asks the students to repeat each of them. To activate her students’ prior knowledge, she asks whether they know what any of the words mean.

As Ms. Huerta accepts students’ responses to her prompt, “Raise your hand if you know what any of these words mean,” she notices that Edwin is offering only vague definitions. For example, he says that strategy refers to “something you do” and that independent means “alone.” Edwin is on the right track, but Ms. Huerta wonders what she can do to help him deepen his understanding of the words’ meanings.

Ms. Huerta also notices that a few students need instruction on words that sound similar to a target word. For example, a few students confused secede with succeed. Ms. Huerta knows that students will encounter this word repeatedly in the text, and she is concerned that they might not understand the concept if they are thinking of a different term.

After providing a simplified definition for each of the words and generating Possible Sentences, Ms. Huerta asks the students to read the chapter with a partner. The class is now working in pairs to review and revise their Possible Sentences. Meanwhile, Ms. Huerta circulates the classroom and offers assistance to the pairs as needed. She notices that Maria and Elisa have finished revising their sentences and are now simply talking with one another.

She looks over their work and sees that they have successfully revised the Possible Sentences and seem to have a strong grasp of the words they are studying. She wonders how she can provide enrichment for Elisa and Maria while the rest of the class continues the regular lesson.

Individually, in pairs, or in small groups, have students complete the following.

1. How would you encourage Edwin to deepen his understanding of the words’ meanings?
2. How would you provide instruction to students who might confuse target vocabulary with similar-sounding words that are not related to the concepts in the unit?
3. How would you provide enrichment for Maria and Elisa?