If you've come here because you're looking at my application to work in your school, I've put together this post with links to a few of my posts that I consider to contain my best thoughts on education. Being push-button publishing, blogging doesn't always produce fully developed thoughts; however, I strive to publish my best reflections using this medium. I hope you enjoy them, and thank you for your interest.
I hope my regular readers will enjoy this updated trip into the archives as well. And now that summer vacation has started, look out, because I've got at least five drafts just screaming to see the light of day.
Why I Blog
It's About the Teaching
Reflections
Enthusiasm
A Conversation With My Wife
One Trick Pony
Reading
Explicit Reading Instruction
Teaching Reading: A Reflection and a Way Forward
Book Clubs
Multiple Intelligences of Teaching Poetry
Vocabulary
Rethinking Vocabulary Instruction
Semantic Mapping Website
Human Brain Cloud
Writing and Grammar
Giving Feedback
Correcting Writing Errors
Teaching Grammar
Classroom Management
Learning Students' Names
Disciplinary Interventions
Conversation Calendars
Assessment
Individual Formative Assessment with Graphs
Professional Development
Summer Reading 2011
Welcome OCTE Conference Colleagues
Readicide Book Review
General Pedagogy
Third Times a Charm: IEP Assignment
WebQuests Are So Cool!
IEPs for Every Student
Classroom Community Building
Showing posts with label Vocabulary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vocabulary. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday, December 14, 2007
Human Brain Cloud
Check out the Human Brain Cloud, introduced to me by this post on Errata, the Wordie blog. Presents some possibilities for vocabulary instruction, I think, which I've posted numerous times about here, and back up with the pedagogical evidence here.
UPDATE: now the links actually work. A little bit of operator error. Sorry.
UPDATE: now the links actually work. A little bit of operator error. Sorry.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Semantic Mapping Website Visuwords
I've posted before about vocabulary instruction, semantic mapping methods, and Wordie.org. (For those without the time to go back and read three previous posts, here's the summary: if you do decide to do vocabulary instruction, students should choose their own words for the lists and they should use semantic mapping methods to learn the new words - otherwise they're more likely to memorize the words for the test and forget them the next day. Wordie.org is "like Flickr, but without the photos." It's an online tool I've been trying to use, somewhat successfully, for semantic mapping.)
I'd try to say something about this site in relation to all that, but I think it speaks for itself pretty well. I'm also in a planning period right now, but maybe I'll think of something/have more time later today.
Seriously, it will blow your mind.
UPDATE: Okay, so now I do have a few brief points to make about Visuwords.com. In her book Words in the Mind, Jean Atchinson argues that words are organized in our mind in groups by relationships. Aitchinson finds that there are four ways in which words may be associated: co-ordination (words on the same level of detail, such as hot, warm, cool. This group includes antonymns.); collocation (words likely to be found together, like salt water or butterfly net); superordination (an overall term that includes the stimulus word, such as bird for sparrow); and synonymy (words that have a similar meaning, like hungry and starved).
I was using Wordie with my students to create a semantic model of the mind. We would comment on words we wanted to use, linking them to coordinating words, synonyms, antonyms, and superordinating words.
Visuwords makes these connections and displays them graphically. I think this site would be a great way to introduce the concept to students. It might be cool too if students make their links on Wordie during the week (you can learn new words by connecting them to words you already know) and then at the end of the week looking it up on Visuwords to examine some possible definitions maybe they hadn't considered.
If nothing else, it is wicked cool.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Experiments with Wordie
A few months ago I wrote a short post about Wordie, a site "like Flickr, without the photos." It was shortly after I posted about some vocabulary pedagogy I had researched.
Today I substituted again in Poudre School District for a 4th grade class. The teacher pretty much let me decide what I was going to teach, which was pretty cool (at least, for me). She asked me what I enjoyed teaching, and when I said poetry, she felt that would be a good thing to touch on before CSAPs (the Colorado standardized test) coming up in March.
Anyway, long story short, I got to lesson plan significant pieces of the rest of the day using the 30 minutes I had while students were in P.E. And after keyboarding, we did some spelling/vocabulary practice using Wordie. You can see the spelling list and (by clicking on individual words) the semantic mapping students did using comments here.
Some students got it, and some didn't. And I think it would work better with some sort of self collection of unknown words during silent reading. And some more modeling on my part. I secretly hope the teacher will consider continuing it with additional lists, but that's asking too much. I really lucked out getting the chance to experiment, but I think it was constructive; the students were way more interested in their words once they took on a virtual landscape.
I'm going to look into this some more, see if I can put together some lesson plans, handouts, and maybe post a video tutorial. Stay tuned.
Today I substituted again in Poudre School District for a 4th grade class. The teacher pretty much let me decide what I was going to teach, which was pretty cool (at least, for me). She asked me what I enjoyed teaching, and when I said poetry, she felt that would be a good thing to touch on before CSAPs (the Colorado standardized test) coming up in March.
Anyway, long story short, I got to lesson plan significant pieces of the rest of the day using the 30 minutes I had while students were in P.E. And after keyboarding, we did some spelling/vocabulary practice using Wordie. You can see the spelling list and (by clicking on individual words) the semantic mapping students did using comments here.
Some students got it, and some didn't. And I think it would work better with some sort of self collection of unknown words during silent reading. And some more modeling on my part. I secretly hope the teacher will consider continuing it with additional lists, but that's asking too much. I really lucked out getting the chance to experiment, but I think it was constructive; the students were way more interested in their words once they took on a virtual landscape.
I'm going to look into this some more, see if I can put together some lesson plans, handouts, and maybe post a video tutorial. Stay tuned.
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Wordie
I'm not convinced this has practical applications, but I'm going to try it out after my post on vocabulary instruction. Wordie describes itself as "like Flickr, but without the photos." It seems like students could create a network of words this way, but they'd have to go about it right . . . maybe the most useful thing is the ability to discuss words and leave comments. It might be cool for word awareness, if nothing else.
Friday, December 1, 2006
Rethinking Vocabulary Instruction
So, I just turned in the last research paper of my undergraduate career (I hope). I'm one of those sick people who like writing papers about things. This particular paper was for linguistics and was about vocabulary instruction.
I don't know what it is about me and teaching vocabulary, but I'm really psyched about it. I think part of it may have been that I was forced to copy definitions from dictionaries, and now that I know there are better ways to do it, I'm so ready to stick it to the man! Not that there's anything wrong with dictionaries - they're a great tool for the right jobs, but learning vocabulary isn't one of them.
At least, that's what I argue, and what the limited research I've read says. The studies I looked at basically tested three different types of vocabulary instruction:
1. Definition-based instruction. Usually consists of a list of words that students look up and write down the definitions to on Monday. For homework they study them. On Friday, they take a test.
2. Using context as a clue. Students read sentences and paragraphs that contain a target word and infer the meaning from what they can figure out from the surrounding material.
3. Semantic mapping methods. New words are linked with simpler words already in a student's mental lexicon. Psycholinguistic find that words are connected in a giant mental web in four ways - groups of words on the same level (like salt, pepper, mustard, antonyms fall in this category as well); words that often go together (like salt and water, butterfly and net); words that are part of a group signified by another word (like salt and spices, or robin and bird); and finally synonyms (like hungry and starving). These four have big complicated titles, but who really wants to know those, anyway?
So basically, the research shows that definition-based instruction doesn't work well in the short run, and there's definitely little to none retention. Context works when students are really, really great readers, what Kylene Beers called "independent readers." Otherwise, it's not so hot. But semantic mapping methods seem to work really well.
Now, I would argue, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't teach students how to use dictionaries and how to figure out unknown words from context clues. That is what will bring them independence after all, and context is how students pick up on the 2,000 to 3,000 words they learn each year.
But, I would suggest, that when we do teach vocabulary, we should teach either subject specific vocabulary, or we should be focusing on one book that has particularly hard vocabulary, and not just words we think students might use someday. And when we teach it, we should link it in some way to words they're already familiar with. Then the words will get assimilated into the mental lexicon, and students will actually, possibly, start to use them in their speaking and writing.
Here comes the twister - are you ready (if you read this far into this post, I'm really impressed. Everyone else fell asleep.) Students who choose their own vocabulary words from their reading (keeping some sort of reading journal or "new words" chart) also learn vocabulary better. It's the old "invested in learning" trickero. So if we had students who used word charts AND used semantic mapping, imagine the possibilities!
So now I need to integrate this into what I did in my student teaching last semester. I did have students use a vocabulary chart where they picked up new words each week. Then I ruined everything by having them put it into a wiki that was organized by letter. What was I thinking? I wasn't. I know, it's heartbreaking. Silly Ben.
And I was thinking today, maybe it could be organized like a web, so that it would be a collective mental lexicon of the classes. That sounds cool, but I don't know what purpose it would fulfill. I mean, maybe if the students could start linking all these different words together, it would be like a semantic mapping method, but it also might just be a model of semantic mapping, and students might not get anything from it.
But, my hunches tell me there's some way to use a wiki along with this. I'm going to do some thinking about this, and if any of you have some ideas, please leave a comment.
I don't know what it is about me and teaching vocabulary, but I'm really psyched about it. I think part of it may have been that I was forced to copy definitions from dictionaries, and now that I know there are better ways to do it, I'm so ready to stick it to the man! Not that there's anything wrong with dictionaries - they're a great tool for the right jobs, but learning vocabulary isn't one of them.
At least, that's what I argue, and what the limited research I've read says. The studies I looked at basically tested three different types of vocabulary instruction:
1. Definition-based instruction. Usually consists of a list of words that students look up and write down the definitions to on Monday. For homework they study them. On Friday, they take a test.
2. Using context as a clue. Students read sentences and paragraphs that contain a target word and infer the meaning from what they can figure out from the surrounding material.
3. Semantic mapping methods. New words are linked with simpler words already in a student's mental lexicon. Psycholinguistic find that words are connected in a giant mental web in four ways - groups of words on the same level (like salt, pepper, mustard, antonyms fall in this category as well); words that often go together (like salt and water, butterfly and net); words that are part of a group signified by another word (like salt and spices, or robin and bird); and finally synonyms (like hungry and starving). These four have big complicated titles, but who really wants to know those, anyway?
So basically, the research shows that definition-based instruction doesn't work well in the short run, and there's definitely little to none retention. Context works when students are really, really great readers, what Kylene Beers called "independent readers." Otherwise, it's not so hot. But semantic mapping methods seem to work really well.
Now, I would argue, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't teach students how to use dictionaries and how to figure out unknown words from context clues. That is what will bring them independence after all, and context is how students pick up on the 2,000 to 3,000 words they learn each year.
But, I would suggest, that when we do teach vocabulary, we should teach either subject specific vocabulary, or we should be focusing on one book that has particularly hard vocabulary, and not just words we think students might use someday. And when we teach it, we should link it in some way to words they're already familiar with. Then the words will get assimilated into the mental lexicon, and students will actually, possibly, start to use them in their speaking and writing.
Here comes the twister - are you ready (if you read this far into this post, I'm really impressed. Everyone else fell asleep.) Students who choose their own vocabulary words from their reading (keeping some sort of reading journal or "new words" chart) also learn vocabulary better. It's the old "invested in learning" trickero. So if we had students who used word charts AND used semantic mapping, imagine the possibilities!
So now I need to integrate this into what I did in my student teaching last semester. I did have students use a vocabulary chart where they picked up new words each week. Then I ruined everything by having them put it into a wiki that was organized by letter. What was I thinking? I wasn't. I know, it's heartbreaking. Silly Ben.
And I was thinking today, maybe it could be organized like a web, so that it would be a collective mental lexicon of the classes. That sounds cool, but I don't know what purpose it would fulfill. I mean, maybe if the students could start linking all these different words together, it would be like a semantic mapping method, but it also might just be a model of semantic mapping, and students might not get anything from it.
But, my hunches tell me there's some way to use a wiki along with this. I'm going to do some thinking about this, and if any of you have some ideas, please leave a comment.
Monday, March 6, 2006
Wikabulary
Thanks to a recent post from Bud Hunt, I've been experimenting with wikis in my classroom over the past week and a half.
My students have been creating their own vocabulary lists from in and out of classroom reading. I ask them to make some predictions about what the word means before looking it up.
Using the wiki, they're now sharing these words with each other. There is some overlap; since we're reading Night in class, a few students are finding the same words, but able to add to each other's definitions and use.
Once we all have our first week of words posted, I'm going to ask students to find five words they think they could use more frequently in their writing and speaking. Instead of a test, I'll ask them to try to use the words in their Writer's Notebooks and maybe some sort of form their parents can sign when they use the word in conversations at home . . . I don't know, it's still under development . . .
Anyway, here's my first attempt at a classroom wiki.
My students have been creating their own vocabulary lists from in and out of classroom reading. I ask them to make some predictions about what the word means before looking it up.
Using the wiki, they're now sharing these words with each other. There is some overlap; since we're reading Night in class, a few students are finding the same words, but able to add to each other's definitions and use.
Once we all have our first week of words posted, I'm going to ask students to find five words they think they could use more frequently in their writing and speaking. Instead of a test, I'll ask them to try to use the words in their Writer's Notebooks and maybe some sort of form their parents can sign when they use the word in conversations at home . . . I don't know, it's still under development . . .
Anyway, here's my first attempt at a classroom wiki.
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