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    Closing The Vocabulary Gap

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    Myo

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    Closing The Vocabulary Gap

    Uploaded by

    Myo
    16 views8 pages

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    Closing-the-Vocabulary-Gap

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    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    16 views8 pages

    Closing The Vocabulary Gap

    Uploaded by

    Myo

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    Closing the Vocabulary Gap

    Closing the Vocabulary Gap


    Objectives:
    • Understand what the ‘vocabulary gap’ is
    • Understand the impact it has on our students
    • Explore practical strategies to close the gap
    What is the vocabulary gap?
    • ‘Vocabulary’ refers to the amount of words we know.

    • Accessing an academic curriculum in order to achieve requires a vocabulary of


    around 50,000 words.

    • A study into linguistics in the home (Hart and Risley, 1990) showed that parents in
    middle families spoke on average 32 million more words to their children over a
    period of 48months than parents in working class families.

    • Gaps in the amount of words children know only get larger over time and mean
    that students struggle to express themselves, access an academic curriculum and
    therefore achieve social mobility.
    What impact does a limited vocabulary have
    on our students?

    • What is the percentage of words you need to know in a text to ensure


    full comprehension?
    Can you work out what process is being described?
    75% of words are included here.

    _____ is marking a _______ on a measuring _________ . This


    involves ___________ the relationship between __________ of a
    measuring _________ and _____________ or ______ _________,
    which must be ____________. For example, placing a __________ in
    melting ice to see whether it reads zero to check it has been
    ____________ correctly.
    Can you work out what process is being described?
    95% of words are included here.

    _____ is marking a scale on a measuring instrument. This


    involves establishing the relationship between indications of a
    measuring instrument and standard or reference values,
    which must be applied. For example, placing a thermometer in
    melting ice to see whether it reads zero to check it has been
    ____________ correctly.
    What impact does a limited vocabulary have
    on our students?
    • A poor vocabulary is the reason many of our students say they ‘don’t enjoy’
    reading – and simply reading more with no guidance is the most effective
    way to expand a child’s vocabulary.

    • It means students cannot access the whole curriculum, even if they are
    academically capable; for example, a student might have mathematical
    knowledge, but can’t access a GCSE paper due to the language used.

    • It limits our students’ ability to express themselves – socially, creatively and


    emotionally – leading to frustration and poor behaviour.
    So what can we do about it?
    • Explicitly teach vocabulary. Use back-of-book glossaries for new words and
    revisit these as a starter each lesson.

    • Make new vocabulary visible. Every room has a wipe clean ‘vocab’ board –
    use it and refer to it when teaching new words.

    • Guided reading. Keep word webs and Freyer diagrams handy in your tutor
    room to use when a student comes across a new word in their own book.

    • Become ‘word detectives’. Use root words, prefixes and suffixes to work
    out potential meanings of a word – useful for cross curricular vocab
    teaching.

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