readwritemike podcast: Recent Episodes

Mike Ochs

A podcast for educators on curriculum, policy, research & news.

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Season 2, Episode 7 

In this episode, Mike shares the three Generating Situations, Contexts & Examples games you'll encounter on Day 4 of  K-2 Character Vocabulary: Lights, Camera, Action! Finish That Sentence, and Book Connections.  

For access to the slides shared in the podcast: https://readwritemike.com/character-vocabulary/

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Season 2, Episode 6 

In this episode, Mike walks you through the three Word Association games that you'll encounter on Day 3 of  K-2 Character Vocabulary: Word Connections, Fill in the Blank, and Pure Imagination.


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Season 2, Episode 5 

In this episode, Mike talks about where the words from Word Love: Character Vocabulary come from, why the decision was made to select character words and not feelings words, and why the curriculum is called 'Character Vocabulary' instead of character trait vocabulary.'  

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Season 2, Episode 4 

In this episode, Mike describes the different games that played just after introducing words in Word Love: Character Vocabulary for grades K-2. He then explains the five example/ non-example games in more detail: 

  • Does This Make Sense?
  • Who On Earth?
  • What Does It Mean?
  • This Or That
  • Would You Rather

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Season 2, Episode 3 Using Folktales, Fairy Tales & Fables from Around the World to Teach Character Vocabulary 

In this episode, Mike describes what texts are used to introduce Character Vocabulary: folktales, fairy tales, and fables from around the world. He explains why those texts are used, and how to best incorporate them into character vocabulary. He offers alternatives to teachers who wish to teach Character Vocabulary using their own preferred read alouds.

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Season 2, Episode 2 Introducing Character Vocabulary Words 

In this episode, Mike walks you through how to introduce character vocabulary words by first contextualizing them, then providing a kid-friendly definition, providing a few more examples, and then playing an example-non-example game.


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At the start of the second season of the readwritemike podcast, Mike introduces Word Love: Character Vocabulary—how it came to be, what it is, and why.

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In this episode, Mike walks through the steps for starting your own vocabulary curriculum.


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In this episode, Mike responds to useful feedback on the Word Love vocabulary curriculum, and addresses critiques.


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In this episode, Mike talks about the two kinds of summative assessments offered in Word Love: A Vocabulary Curriculum, as well as other possible options for students to "show what they know" with regard to vocabulary.


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In this episode, Mike explains four word relationship games: Mashup Remix, Word Sort, Contingency Continuum, and Does X & Y.


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In this episode, Mike explains the final two generating examples, contexts & situations games described in the vocabulary curriculum, including 'Who What When Where Why How' and 'Whose Job Is It Anyway?'


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In this episode, Mike explains a few of the generating examples, contexts & situations games described in the vocabulary curriculum, including 'Trifecta Tryouts', 'Your Teacher Said What?', and 'Hypothetically Speaking.'


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In this episode, Mike talks about three different word association games in the vocabulary curriculum: Put In A Sub, Matching Mentions, and Famous & Familiar.


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In this episode, Mike talks about the nature of vocabulary, the nature of reading workshop, and the places where vocabulary can be taught inside of reading workshop—and where it may need to be taught outside of it.


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In this episode, Mike describes in detail two more example/ non-example games in his vocabulary curriculum: "Which Woulda Coulda Shoulda" and "Would You Rather."


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In this episode, Mike explains the three steps for teaching a vocabulary word to students.


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In this episode, Mike talks about the origins of the vocabulary curriculum, how it came to be, and his process for selecting and choosing words.


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In this episode, Mike talks about how to navigate the read aloud schedule in the vocabulary curriculum versus the read aloud schedule in the reading unit of study, and the decisions & effects of choosing one over the other.


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In this episode, Mike explains the very first activity you'll conduct with students in the vocabulary curriculum: a brief self-assessment.


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