During vocabulary instruction have you ever found yourself asking your students, "So who can tell us what X means?" or "Our new word is Y, what do you think it means?" As a teacher, I have made this mistake countless times. I have found that students begin to guess the meaning of the words, share incorrect answers, or disengage completely. There are more effective ways to begin vocabulary instruction.
Instead, teachers can directly introduce student-friendly definitions and explanations for each word at the start of instruction. Student-friendly definitions allow students to make sense of a new term in language that they can work with. For example, think about which scenario would be more effective and efficient when teaching the word bizarre to a group of elementary students:
Teacher 1: "Our new vocabulary word is bizarre, who can tell us what it means?"
Teacher 2: "The dictionary says bizarre means markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements."
Teacher 3: "Bizarre means something very strange or out of the ordinary. For example, if the Principal walked into the classroom with a clown outfit, that would be bizarre behavior."
Teacher 3 straightforwardly provides a student-friendly definition and explanation using a context that students would likely be familiar with. This sets all students up for success, learning, and eliminates the guess-work. Take a look at how this teacher uses student-friendly definitions to explain sophisticated vocabulary words to her students.
Instead, teachers can directly introduce student-friendly definitions and explanations for each word at the start of instruction. Student-friendly definitions allow students to make sense of a new term in language that they can work with. For example, think about which scenario would be more effective and efficient when teaching the word bizarre to a group of elementary students:
Teacher 1: "Our new vocabulary word is bizarre, who can tell us what it means?"
Teacher 2: "The dictionary says bizarre means markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements."
Teacher 3: "Bizarre means something very strange or out of the ordinary. For example, if the Principal walked into the classroom with a clown outfit, that would be bizarre behavior."
Teacher 3 straightforwardly provides a student-friendly definition and explanation using a context that students would likely be familiar with. This sets all students up for success, learning, and eliminates the guess-work. Take a look at how this teacher uses student-friendly definitions to explain sophisticated vocabulary words to her students.