Own The Word

I am teaching "Vocabulary" in a different way this year. For years I have been looking for a better way to help students acquire and use new words. On Wednesday, September 17, I had the privilege of hearing Quality Quinn's presentation at the I.E.T. (Instructional Enhancement Team) meeting at the Schultz Center after school. She inspired me. I came home with her words singing in my head..."teach fewer words better; students in the USA are woefully lacking in the number of words they use when writing; don't depend upon the publisher to give you vocabulary because you (the teacher) know your students; you can tell if a student really knows that vocabulary word when he/she uses the word in their writing; AND students must HEAR (many times), THINK, SAY, READ and WRITE that word before it becomes part of their vocabulary."

Quality Quinn reminded me of my experiences as a student in Norway...at the end of the year I was expected to take the 2 days of written exams right along with all the norwegian students. I took a two week intensive language course before my "teachers' school" began. That's where I found out that I needed lots of practice listening, thinking, speaking and reading long before I was ready to write answers in the norwegian language. I know my students feel just like I did. I know that Quality Quinn was correct when she stated that new vocabulary is acquired with lots of repetition. Therefore, in my classroom I will use "new" words as often as possible in converstation and instruction.

Every Tuesday, students will add 4-6 words to their Vocabulary Books. We will talk about these words and what they mean. I will use the words in sentences. We will read the words in our anthology and in our Guided Reading selected texts. Hopefully, the students will have many encounters with these words. My goal will be for students to successfully use these words in their own writing. That's what I call "Own The Word." When a student uses one of these words in his daily writing, she/he can color the word yellow. Over the entire year, when I am conferencing and observing student writing, I will check to see if the yellow word is used correctly in the sentence. I will put a GOLD circle around the word in that student's Vocabulary Book if they "Own The Word." This is not a one week project for each group of words. Gathering new words will be ongoing, for the entire year. For example, it may take "Suzy" until January to use the new word "commotion," one of this week's words, in her writing. She will receive the gold circle and sticker whenever she uses "commotion" correctly in her own writing.

Parents, I need your help, too. Please do try to use our words in conversations at home. I will post our "new" words every week on this blog (See "Vocabulary" on the left side) and students will write the words into their Planners on Tuesdays. Under the "Links of the Week" students can play a practice game online with these new words (Reading: Vocab #). Some or all of the words may already be a part of your student's vocabulary. But we do have students from other countries in our room who are learning English as a second or even third language. Students must hear, think, say, and read these words many times in order to increase their writing vocabulary.

I am very excited about "Own The Word." Thank you for all you do at home to help me help your student.