TEACHING VOCABULARY

A lack of vocabulary development affects students' reading comprehension and their writing skills.  This can be particularly damaging as students move through middle and secondary grades, when content area reading requires so much vocabulary learning, influencing future success and career choices.  Vocabulary learning particularly affects the success of English learners; but when vocabulary instruction is done well, it can help close the gap in reading and writing performance. 

    Teaching Vocabulary:  50 Creative Strategies, Grades 6-12 was developed by middle and secondary master teachers involved n the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project, including literacy expert Dr. Gail Tompkins.  This book shares 50 classroom-tested strategies demonstrated to improve vocabulary skills in 6th through 12th graders in classrooms where 92 percent of the school population are English learners.  Clear-cut steps for implementing each strategy, specifics on how the strategy fits within the curriculum, and information on how students responded to the instruction offer valuable tools for you as you help your students develop their vocabulary skills and their overall competence in literacy. 

"The volume contains a great many practical, useful, and feasible ideas, which would be a welcome set of additions to the busy teacher's repertoire of practices."  Margot Kinberg, National University

"This is the best book on how to teach vocabulary that I've seen in years.  This book is a smorgasbord of lesson plans with a large and varied menu.  We see a variety of teaching styles and methods, all grounded in solid theoretical underpinnings."  Joseph Geunther, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

"One great strength is that the strategies often accommodate more than one learning style."  Jackie Glasgow, Ohio University