The Word Conscious Classroom: Recent Episodes
The Word Conscious Classroom
How does teaching parts of speech enhance word consciousness and ones ability to solve analogies? Well, the more one knows about words, the more word consciousness he or she will gain. This means that a close look at English grammar needs to happen within a word conscious classroom. The teachingRead More
For the majority of my teaching career, I have been teaching vocabulary using the specific word learning technique. According to the Vocabulary Handbook, this technique falls under intentional vocabulary teaching. Hence, many of the passages from our anthologies and basal readers utilize specific word learning as an intentional instructional approach toRead More
Teaching students to pay attention to text is what I’ve been focusing a lot of my energy on lately. It has been my experience that students have been over-taught how to decode words, and under-taught how to figure out what the author is doing with those words and with theRead More
A few years ago, I went to a professional development workshop on using Analogies for teaching gifted learners. The presenter provided a strategy entitled R.O.P.E. which stands for Relationships, Order of words, Part of speech, and Exactness. I was fascinated by this strategy and I started using it with my students.Read More
As I set up my classroom for word study, I consulted the Growing Words: Word Part Instruction Guide. Before I introduced the Word Part of the Week, I wanted to introduce Latin and Greek Roots to my students in a creative way. I started looking online for materials that would setRead More
In a previous post, I wrote about encouraging students to look inside of words for spelling patterns. In this week’s post, I am directing students to look inside of words again, but this time we are focusing on smaller words, words that are considered Anglo-Saxon base words. I then explainRead More
The more I build a word conscious classroom, the more I am committed to word study. Scott, Skobel, and Wells (2008) argued that words are the lifeblood of literacy. Hence, word study should be central to all literacy instruction. Included in word study is spelling, decoding (word calling), and wordRead More
I speak African American Vernacular of English (AAVE) and at times, it trips me up. As it happens, in this podcast episode, you will hear me mispronounce one of our vocabulary words. Plus, if you’ve been following my podcast, then you know that I mix up my verb tenses andRead More
Predictions are powerful! In fact, we ask students to make predictions all the time because student predictions provide a window into the situation model, or the mental model, that students create in their minds. In this podcast episode, I decided to use a lesson from Texts and lessons for content-area reading.Read More
One fun way to build word consciousness is to use Eponyms with students. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, eponyms are defined as “one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named.” Students may not realize that some of the things that we use in everydayRead More
It’s important for teachers to know the current levels of their students in order to enhance effective literacy instruction. There are many screening tools provided by the school system as well as informal assessment that teachers purchase for additional information about the student. Although my school system provided me withRead More
Having students set goals is a powerful way to help them create a purpose for their learning. Students also create a learning identity that enables them to have agency and productive power. Each year, I have my students set goals for themselves and at the end of the quarter, weRead More
As we get closer to the summer break, I want to get my students hooked on a couple of books that I expect them to read over the summer. I have a few reluctant readers who would prefer doing anything else rather than reading. Still, I would like to captureRead More
Questions are a powerful source for building a word conscious classroom. And, Queries are even more powerful because they create the surge that promotes deeper thinking by students. Many teachers use questions to help guide students through strategy usage and problem solving. While questions can be used to assess studentRead More
While at The George Washington University working on my Master’s Degree, I got the privilege to take a course with Dr. Anna Uhl Chamot. After learning about her passing, I wanted to contribute one of my podcast episodes to her magnificent work. Dr. Chamot, along with Dr. O’Malley, created theRead More
When I was learning how to read, I can recall my First Grade teacher using diacritical marks that indicated how to call the target words. My First Grade teacher may have taught me the names of those diacritical marks, but it was not until I was in my thirties, thatRead More
We write learning objectives every day. But our learning objectives are mostly linked to content learning and not language learning. Not only do students striving to learn English need language learning objectives, but any student that is learning how to use the functions of our English language need language learningRead More
We can’t assume that students know how to break a multisyllabic word into a prefix, a suffix, and a root. As words become more complex, knowledge of roots becomes more essential for students. “Words, like stories, have structure. …Like the parts of a story, the parts of a word alsoRead More
For years, I focused on teaching my striving readers phonics. My hypothesis was, if I teach the babies phonics, then they will read better. However, I’m learning more and more that it’s not about phonics so much as it is about vocabulary. “Vocabulary is a critical factor in the developmentRead More
What does it mean to know a word? Given that words are multifaceted in nature, how do we ensure that students can savor the richness of individual words? In a word conscious classroom, we can not take our students’ knowledge of words for granted. Many of the formative assessments don’tRead More
“A classroom community must be established so that it is considered normal to ask about word meanings, experiment with language use, and to have not only the teacher, but other students, serve as vocabulary coaches” (Scott, Skobel, & Wells, 2008, p. 15). Children learn best through play, hence, as teachersRead More
Teachers can use poetry to introduce word consciousness. Poems can be used to illustrate succulent sounds and to help students master meanings of words within our English Language. In this episode, students will explore the elements of a rhyming poem. Reference: Scott, J. A., Skobel, B. J., & Wells, J.Read More
“Learning about words is as central as breathing in a literacy classroom, because words are the cornerstone of both oral and written language. Learning about words is inseparable from learning about reading and learning about writing” (Scott, Skobel, and Wells, p. 1, 2008). Hence, it is critical that we teachRead More
Our student’s attention must be drawn to what is unknown about their word knowledge just as much as to what is known about their word knowledge. Many times, students over estimate their word knowledge and therefore, they will unintentionally inflate their self-appraisals. Hence, it is important for teachers to understandRead More
How fine of a job are teachers doing with teaching the Latin and Greek roots of English? Thinking back to my own experience in learning about the affixes, I can attest that my exposure to this aspect of the language was slighted. Rasinski, Padak, Newton, and Newton, in their 2011 article,Read More
Students are taught to appreciate music and art, but are they also taught to appreciate words? According to Scott, Skobel, and Wells (2008) “Authors give us Gifts of Words, wonderfully composed phrases that capture the essence of what they want to say” (p. 8). In this podcast episode, you willRead More
“The development of conscious control over language use and the ability to negotiate the social and academic language of schooling are particularly important for students who do not generally fare well in schools” (Scott, et. al.; 2008, p. 9). In this episode, students will tell you what the teacher canRead More
In our first episode, we will explore my story as a vocabulary have not. References: Rasinski, T. V., Padak, N., Newton, J. and Newton, E. (2011), The Latin–Greek Connection. Read Teach, 65: 133–141. doi:10.1002/TRTR.01015 https://www.timrasinski.com/presentations/article_latin-greek_connection_-_rt_tr_np_jn_en_2011.pdf
Words, words, words. Students will fall in love with words, when they are equipped with vocabulary. And students who love words learn better. When teaching language arts, we are teaching students the art of using language. Language Arts is composed of six components: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Viewing, and VisuallyRead More