Vocabulary Matters: Part 4: When to Teach Targeted Words

Last week was a critical week "How to Teach the Targeted Vocabulary Words" with step by step instructions- so if you missed it you can read it and download the files by clicking here. 

This week is about When to Teach the Targeted Vocabulary in Grades K-6:

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K-2 teachers do Read Alouds as part of their daily routine. Did you ever think about targeting specific words when doing Read Alouds? I hadn't thought about it either until I saw Anita Archer demonstrate it during a workshop and I had one of those AHA moments. 

Here is a wonderful demonstration of Anita Archer doing a Kindergarten Read Aloud and introducing the Specific Tier 2 Vocabulary words for instruction. Just click on the image above to see the whole video-Vocabulary Instruction Kindergarten. What did you think? Hopefully it will give you some ideas when doing your next read aloud. (Don't forget to check the Dale-Chall list to see if they are Tier 2 words)

You can find other great documents from her by clicking HERE 

Wondering about how many words to target for explicit instruction? Here is a great chart to help you from my Vocabulary Handbook. I found this so helpful when teaching content text material. It is better to teach 8-10 words where students will be exposed many times and in different contexts to help them truly understand them than to try to teach too many and they may only understand a few. I know that it's not always easy to narrow the number of words but with practice it will get easier and easier.

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I hope this was helpful and you will use some of the strategies I have shared today and during the first 3 parts. If you missed any of the previous parts you can  read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Hope to see you next week!!
Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.