What is vocabulary?
Reading First defines vocabulary development as "information about the meaning and pronunciation of words necessary for communication."
There are four types of vocabulary:
Listening vocabulary-The words needed to understand what is heard.
Speaking vocabulary-The words used when speaking.
Reading vocabulary- the words needed to understand what is read.
Writing vocabulary- the words used in writing.
Why is vocabulary development important?
Do your students happily look words up in the dictionary and then write the definition and a wonderful sentence to go along with it? Mine don't either! What's the point of doing this they ask? The answer, of course, is to give them rich vocabulary and some extra practice at looking up words. But the reality is, they forget the words and their meaning from Friday's test by Saturday morning. So, why and how should this be done?
According to Allen (1999) "words should be used in a meaningful context ten to fifteen times." Following are a few strategies adapted from Janet Allen's book Words, Words, Words. to help with this process.
Vocabulary Strategies
Click link above
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