The Early Catastrophe: 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3

1
The Early Catastrophe 30 Million Word Gap by
Age 3

• Hart Risely (1995) University of Kansas
  (Meaningful Differences in the Everyday
  Experience of Young American Children)
•  
• Ø    42 young children from normal families (no
  drug, alcohol, or spouse abusers non-transient)
•  
• Ø    3 SES groups (1) welfare, (2) working
  class, (3) professional

2

• Ø    When the daily number of words for each
  group was projected across four years 4-year old
  from professional group will have heard ___
  million words, working class will have heard ___
  million and the child from the welfare group will
  have only heard ___ million words
• Ø    All 3 children will show up for kindergarten
  on the same day but one will have heard ___
  million fewer words
• Ø    When it is time to read, those numbers will
  play a big role for the frequency with which a
  child has met a word will affect how quickly
  he/she can decode it AND understand it!!

3
Language Skills

• Three language skills that should be included in
  the curriculum for instructionally naïve students
• __________________
• __________________
• __________________

4
Statement Repetition

• Refers to a students ability to say
  _______________ a statement said by the teacher
• Test statement repetition ability during the
  first school week by asking students to repeat
  several _____ word sentences
• Students who are not able to repeat the sentence
  correctly within ___ trials will need practice on
  statement repetition

5

• Practice consists of short drills (3-5 min)
• pg. 112 Table 11.4 Format for Statement
  Repetition
• Note practice should start on sentences of a
  length a word or two longer than those a student
  can say without error

6
Sentence Comprehension

• Introducing question words
• Who, what, when, where, and why?
• Students should be able to repeat
  ________________ statements (e.g., The boy ran in
  the park The girl hit the ball) before question
  about sentences are introduced
• New question words are introduced when students
  have mastered question involving previously
  introduced question words
• Who and what question presented first. Why?

7
Similarity Comparison

• Involve examining several objects or actions and
  determining ways they may or may not be similar
• ___________ A knife and a saw are the same
  because they are both tools.
• _______ A knife and a saw are the same because
  they both cut.
• ________ A knife and a saw are the same because
  their blades are both made of metal.

8

• __________ A knife and a saw are the same
  because they both have handles.
• ________ A toothbrush and a hairbrush are the
  same because they are both found in a bathroom.
• ________ Many objects are the same because of
  their shape, color, and texture

9
Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary

• Chapter 11

10
(No Transcript)
11

• 1. 2. 3.
  
• 4. 5. 6.
• 
  
• 7. 8. 9. 10.  

12
Three Methods of Teaching Vocabulary

• Vocabulary can be taught orally by the use of
• ________
• ________
• ________

13
Modeling

• Used when ____________ of a new word include
  words students do ____ understand
• e.g., When teaching over, the teacher cannot
  explain why something is over with using the term
  over or a synonym for over such as above
• Used primarily to teach word labels for common
  objects, actions, and attributes

14
Synonyms

• Used when a students know a __________ that can
  explain the meaning of a new, unknown word
• e.g., student know the word over but does not
  know above.
• Initial Synonyms do not have to be _________
• e.g., If a student knows the meaning of wet, the
  teacher can use a little wet to explain the
  meaning of damp

15
Definitions

• Used when students have adequate _____________ to
  understand a longer explanation and when the
  concept is too complicated to be explained
  through a ___________
• Construct a definition by specifying a small
  ___________ to which a new word belongs and then
  tell how the word ________ from other member of
  the class.
• e.g., definition of service station a place
  where gasoline is sold and cars are repaired

16

• A vehicle is something that takes you places.
• My turn. Is this a vehicle? Yes. How do I know?
  It is something that takes you places.
• My turn again. Is this a vehicle? Yes. How do I
  know? It is something that takes you places.
• My turn again. Is this a vehicle? No. How do I
  know. It is not something that takes you places.

17

• Your turn. Is this a vehicle? How do you know?
• Is this a vehicle? How do you know?
• Is this a vehicle? How do you know?
• Is this a vehicle? How do you know?
• Is this a vehicle? How do you know?