Making Words Work: Building Vocabulary and Comprehension through Primary Read-Alouds

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Making Words Work Building Vocabulary and
Comprehension through Primary Read-Alouds
Michael C. McKenna University of Virginia
Sharon Walpole University of Delaware
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• DERF asks teachers to use high-quality childrens
  literature in interactive read alouds . . . How
  well is that concept implemented in real life?

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• Childrens books are fun . . . But thats not all
  they are
• Listen to some children and think about all of
  the work they do to make it make sense

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T In 1612, French explorers saw some Iroquois
people popping corn in clay pots. They would
fill the pots with hot sand, throw in some
popcorn and stir it with a stick. When the corn
popped, it came to the top of the sand and made
it easy to get. C1 Look at the bowl! T Okay,
now its hot enough to add a few
kernels. C2 Whats a kernel? C1 Like when you
pop. T Its a seed. C2 What if you, like,
would you think a popcorn seed. Like a
popcorn seed. Could you grow popcorn?
Smolkin Donovan, 2002
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T Oh, excellent, excellent question! Lets read
and well see if this book answers that
question, and if not, well talk about it at the
end.
Smolkin Donovan, 2002
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T And 1000-year-old popcorn kernels were found
in Peru that could still be popped. Now. This
guy is doing different . . . Its kind of like
two stories are going on. What is this part
giving us? Cs (together) Information T It is.
And what is this doing? C It is telling
you. T Its giving us, right, steps of how to
make the popcorn. C And he has a big old
speech bubble. T Yes, because hes reading about
this, remember? And so his speech bubble is him
reading this book about this (pointing to
pictures of native peoples).
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Todays Goals

• Understand why we need to teach
• vocabulary to young students
• Learn strategies for teaching
• vocabulary
• Examine differences between fiction
• and nonfiction read-alouds
• Be able to plan, conduct, and follow-
• up a read-aloud lesson focused on
• vocabulary instruction.

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Why are read-alouds the best way to build
vocabulary and comprehension?
They may actually be the only way! Lets look at
some reasons.
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Why Read-Alouds ?

• The teacher does the decoding.
• Natural contexts for words are provided.
• Authentic opportunities for modeling
• comprehension strategies occur.
• Student engagement is likely.
• Discussion is facilitated.
• Words and strategies can be reinforced
• in new contexts all year long.

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But I can introduce vocabulary more efficiently
without read-alouds.
Maybe, but if you did, youd have to create an
entire curriculum. Thats why so little is done.
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Vocabulary levels diverge greatly during the
primary years, and virtually nothing effective is
done about this in schools. (p. 29)
Andy Biemiller
Biemiller, A. (2004). Teaching vocabulary in the
primary grades.In J.F. Baumann E.J. Kameenui
(Eds.), Vocabulary instruction Research to
practice (pp. 28- 40). New York Guilford.
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But the kids know lots of words. Why not just
focus on teaching them to recognize the ones they
know?
Why not do both? If you ignore vocabulary, the
Matthew effect can be terrible.
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50K 40K 30K 20K 10K 0
45,000 17,000
5,000 1,500
K 12
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Oral vocabulary at the end of first grade is a
significant predictor of comprehension ten years
later.
Cunningham, A.E., Stanovich, K.E. (1997). Early
reading acquisition and its relation to
experience and ability 10 years later.
Developmental Psychology, 33, 934-945.
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But how can a few read-alouds make a dent in that
huge number of words?
The cumulative effect might surprise you.
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Adding three root words a day is the average
daily number of words learned by primary age
children with the largest vocabularies. (p. 37)
Andy Biemiller
Biemiller, A. (2004). Teaching vocabulary in the
primary grades.In J.F. Baumann E.J. Kameenui
(Eds.), Vocabulary instruction Research to
practice (pp. 28-40). New
York Guilford.
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Adding three root words a day is the average
daily number of words learned by primary age
children with the largest vocabularies. (p. 37)
3 words x 140 days ? 400 words per year
Biemiller, A. (2004). Teaching vocabulary in the
primary grades.In J.F. Baumann E.J. Kameenui
(Eds.), Vocabulary instruction Research to
practice (pp. 28- 40). New York Guilford.
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But why cant we just have them look up the
definitions?
Youll find that definitions alone are not enough.
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Lets try

• Read the Wye Delta passage
• What can you synthesize from the text?
• Now read the dictionary definitions of the
  underlined words
• Do the definitions help?

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Why be systematic? Why cant the kids just rely
on context?
Context may not be as powerful as you think. And
besides, many kids dont use it.
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• Four Types of Contexts
• Directive (provides powerful clues)
• Sue was talkative but Bill was taciturn.
• 2. General (helps categorize a word)
• Shed had measles, mumps, and varicella.
• 3. Nondirective (offers very little help)
• The dress was taupe.
• 4. Misdirective (can be misleading)
• He was huge, muscular, and adroit.
• Beck McKeown (2004)

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Lets try

• Read the excerpt from When Marian Sang
• Fill in the missing words based on context clues
• Compare your answers
• Are context clues enough?

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Teaching Students about Context

• Remember that many students may have difficulty
  making inferences about words from context
• Remind them that context does not always provide
  strong clues
• Model the process when possible

Beck McKeown (2004)
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But what about comprehension? How do you teach
strategies to kids who cant read?
The alternative is to wait until they can read.
If you do that, it may be too late.
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The Domino Theory Teach children to decode
first, and put off vocabulary and comprehension
instruction until later.
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Research has almost universally supported the
idea that reading aloud to children leads to
improved reading comprehension. (p. 144)
Smolkin Donovan, 2002
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For a fiction read-aloud, how do I know which
words to teach?
Target what Beck and McKeown call Tier Two words.
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Two characteristics that make a word appropriate
for teaching

1. We can define it in terms that the students know
2. The students are likely to find the word useful
   or interesting

Beck McKeown (2004)
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Beck and McKeowns Three Tiers

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Beck and McKeowns Three Tiers
Tier 3 Rare words 73,500 word families
K-12 Often content-area related Examples
isotope, estuary Tier 2 Important to academic
success 7,000 word families Not limited
to one content area Examples fortunate,
ridiculous Tier 1 The most familiar words
8,000 word families Known by average 3rd
grader Examples happy, go

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Beck and Mckeowns Three Tiers
Tier 2 Important to academic success 7,000
word families Not limited to one content
area Examples fortunate, ridiculous

Goldilocks Words Stahl
Stahl (2004)
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Steps in a Bringing Words to Life Vocab Lesson

1. Say the word. Children repeat.
2. Tell how the word was used in the text.
3. Tell a child-friendly definition.
4. Give example of the word used in multiple,
   unrelated contexts.
5. Invite the children to construct an example.
6. Have children repeat the word.

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Lets Try It

• Read the Daedalus passage
• In small groups, sort the words into tier 1, tier
  2, or tier 3 level categories
• Remember, tier 2 level words are words that are
  found across contexts and are more challenging
  than words found in our spoken vocabulary

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Reading Time Text Talk

• Read Text Talk by Isabel Beck and Margaret
  McKeown. Its an article about effective
  read-alouds for young children.
• Set a purpose for your reading that connects to
  what weve discussed so far.
• Form a reading group of 3-4 people with whom you
  can discuss these ideas.
• Attached is a reading guide to help focus your
  reading and guide your discussion.

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Whats the difference between a fiction and a
nonfiction read-aloud?
There are differences in both vocabulary and
comprehension strategy use.
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Nonfiction Read-Alouds

• Take advantage of clusters of related terms
• Stress the connections among words
• Preteach a few key terms

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Nonfiction Read-Aouds

• All strategies may be useful, but especially
• - Focusing on text structure
• - Graphic organizers
• - Comprehension monitoring (using
• think-alouds to model fix-up
• strategies for confusing text)

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Using Fix-Up Strategies

• Rereading
• Reading on
• Reflecting
• Seeking outside information

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Lets try

• Listen while we demonstrate a read-aloud with a
  simple nonfiction text.
• Notice that it follows the structure that you
  know and love -- we do some things before
  reading, some during, and some after.
• Think about that structure.

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What did you think?

• In terms of vocabulary instruction . . .
• What did we do before reading?
• What did we do during reading?
• What did we do after reading?

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Fiction Read-Alouds

• Since the words will not be related and will not
  be the essential to comprehending, do not
  preteach them
• After the read-aloud, create clusters by linking
  a new word to familiar words, if you can
• Use research-based methods to review, such as
• - silly questions
• - wordwizards

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Familiar Words
Words Chosen From the Book
lucky chance
fortunate scowl wary
frown stare
careful afraid
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OK, Ill give it a try. Where do I start?
Lets start with planning.
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Can you really plan to focus on comprehension and
vocabulary in the same read-aloud?
Yes. Were not trying to accomplish everything
at once. But we can still target both areas with
each read-aloud.
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Fiction Read-Alouds

• Rely on such research-based techniques as
• - Time Lines
• - Story Maps
• Plan to review words

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Goldilocks Goldilocks Goldilocks finds eats goe
s cottage porridge upstairs
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Example of a Story Map Setting Characters Jack,
his mother, the giant Place Jacks home, road,
giants castle When and where did this story
occur? Who is the main character? Problem Jack
must sell cow but trades for beans Why did Jack
trade? Goal To see if bean stalk is worth the
bad trade What did Jack do when he found the
stalk? Ending Jack steals from giant, flees,
cuts down stalk What did Jack do in the giants
castle? What did the giant do? What happened
to the giant? Was Jack a good guy or a bad guy?
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Lets watch Sara try

• Lets eavesdrop on a few narrative read-alouds
• Remember that they always have a
  before-during-after structure
• Think about management and engagement
• Think about opportunities to build vocabulary

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First-Grade Vocabulary Video

• Sara taught a lesson on developing a story map
  during reading and ended the lesson teaching two
  vocabulary words from the story.
• At the end of the day she pulled a group of
  students who struggled with the story map and
  vocabulary and repeated the lesson.

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While watching the video notice

• How does Sara set the purpose for the lesson?
• How does she maintain a focus on enjoying the
  story and learning?
• How does she plan for students to talk during the
  reading?
• How does she maintain focus on the purpose of the
  lesson?

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Before the small group

• When Sara repeats the same lesson with the same
  book on the same day with a group of students
  struggling with comprehension and vocabulary,
  what do you think will happen?

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After the 1st-grade video

• What are the similarities and differences between
  the whole-group and small- group lesson?
• How did she introduce the purpose for revisiting
  the book again with the small group?

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Planning a Read-Aloud

• Choose engaging, well-illustrated books
• A number of words should be unknown to about half
  the students
• Choose 3 target words that are likely to be
  unfamiliar but useful later (in fiction, these
  words will be unrelated in nonfiction, they will
  be key terms)
• For nonfiction, decide how you will introduce the
  words and whether they must be introduced first
  in order to ensure comprehension
• Keep track of the words you choose

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Planning a Read-Aloud

• Plan to repeat the read-aloud
• Plan for small-group sessions (3-5 students) to
  repeat the story
• Plan multiple exposures to the vocabulary items
  you chose in the days following

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During the Read-Aloud

• Introduce (or review) a comprehension strategy or
  focus
• Build prior knowledge
• Preteach key concepts if the read-aloud is
  nonfiction
• Focus childrens attention

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During the Read-Aloud
Be performance oriented read with expression.
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During the Read-Aloud

• Include rich, dialogic discussion
• - Activate relevant prior knowledge
• - Link the story to experiences of
• students
• - Elicit responses from students
• Give synonyms or quick explanations of Tier 3
  words as you go (Biemiller)

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During the Read-Aloud
Display pictures after reading a page, not while
reading it (Beck et al., 2004)
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During the Read-Aloud

• Pause at the places youve chosen to model
  comprehension strategies.
• Remember to prompt children about strategies
  that are becoming familiar.
• Keep the children interacting and focused on the
  
• the text

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After the Read-Aloud

• Conduct a discussion.
• Get beyond the literal level!
• Elicit thoughtful responses.
• Dont just questionencourage questioning!
• Practice summarizing.
• Review the comprehension strategy.
• In nonfiction, review the vocabulary.
• In fiction, teach the vocabulary.

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After the Read-Aloud

• Keep track of the words you teach.
• Make a chart with words, dates and books.
• Look for chances to revisit words.
• Record when you do.

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• Ask silly questions.

Would a fortunate person scowl?

• Beck McKeown (2004)

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Be a Word Wizard!
wary scowl ridiculous fortunate
Tom ? ?
Sue ? ?
Ed ? ?
Juan ? ? ?
Maria ?
Lakesha ? ?
Paul ? ? ? ?
Jack ? ? ?
Beck McKeown (2004)
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9-10 9-11 9-12 9-13 9-14 9-17 9-18 9-19
fortunate I R
scowl I
willing I R
resist I
restful I
joyous I
wander I R
gloomy I
beam I R
I Introduce R Reinforce
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Lets try

• Work with a partner to choose a trade book to use
• Read the book together, and take a minute to
  think about it
• Decide what you would do before, during, and
  after reading to build childrens vocabulary

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Lets watch Sara with 3rd Graders

• Notice the difference in level of independence in
  completing a story map
• What evidence do we have that the children need
  the graphic organizer?

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After viewing both videos

• How are the whole group read-alouds similar and
  different in the first- and third-grade classes?
• What opportunities could Sara provide in the
  small group that she could not provide in the
  whole-group setting?
• What evidence do you have that the children
  actually do need re-teaching?

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Building it into instruction

• How could you improve your use of read alouds to
  build vocabulary next year
• What support would you need? How could you work
  together as a team?

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How do I know when the kids actually know the new
words?
Knowing a word isnt all or nothing. Its a
matter of degree.
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A Continuum of Word Knowledge No knowledge A
vague sense of the meaning Narrow knowledge with
aid of context Good knowledge but shaky
recall Rich, decontextualized knowledge, connecte
d to other word meanings
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Thats a lot to process. Can you sum it up?
Sure.
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Primary Read-Aloud Planner
Planning Choose an engaging book. Decide what to do before, during, and after the read-aloud to build comprehension and vocabulary.
Before Reading Prepare! Introduce a comprehension strategy. Develop prior knowledge. Focus attention.
During Reading Guide! Model the strategy by thinking aloud. Ask and answer questions. Provide synonyms and explanations for Tier Three words.
After Reading Extend! Discuss and respond. Summarize the book. Review the comprehension strategy. Teach the Tier Two words you chose.