Dear Parents,
It
is with great appreciation, that I thank you for your continued support of our
school. As a school, we firmly believe
that every child can learn and deserves every possible method and tool to aid
in doing so. I wanted to share with you
a concern that the teachers have with a focus area in reading. We would like to also gain your support in
this area and help our students to be successful.
Vocabulary is a
vital piece of teaching children to read.
It is one of the core components.
If students do not have explicit instruction in this area, then they
will not be successful. Many of our
students struggle to thrive in this area and it causes testing difficulty with
reading. It is hard to read a passage in
it’s entirety with seamless fluency and couple that with comprehension when
many of the words are unfamiliar.
I
have seen lower test scores in the past few years and many of the questions
that students miss, are caused by unknown words. I have taken it upon myself to
not only analyze how these questions are being asked and practicing within that
format, but also teaching students as many vocabulary words in context that we
can. While I am already teaching academic
vocabulary within lessons, I would like to adopt a system that releases a
certain number of words per day and students become familiar with them
throughout the day. It would be
beneficial if these words could also be discussed and used at home. The home and school connection is
valuable. The continued efforts at home
do not need to be laborious or extensive.
They can be integrated into home life without much effort. Simple conversations over dinner about what a
word means after you use it in a sentence is one way. Do not lower your standards when talking to
your children. Use ‘big’ words and then
explain them so that they will be entered into your child’s mind for later
use. It is surprising some of the words
that students stumble on or are unfamiliar with. Being talked to consistently and having
explanations of words, builds that schema or background knowledge.
I
would also encourage you to continue to read with your child. Reading at home also continues to promote
literacy. Any extra time spent in this
area is incredibly beneficial. Most
teachers give reading homework. It does
not need to be lengthy as students need a mental break, but homework allows a
continuation of what they learned that day and for parents to interact. As students read their library books that
they chose, they will increase their own personal word bank. If you read with your child, you can listen
for words that they skip over or mispronounce.
Talk about what the word means in that sentence and even think of
examples and non-examples. Discuss
context clues within the sentence to determine meaning as well. If your child reads on his/her own, have
him/her write down unfamiliar words they came across and you can then discuss
the meaning and use it in a sentence. When
words are discussed and explained within context, they are learned, not memorized. Many times students read on their own and we
ask a few comprehension questions. It
might seem as though they understand, but in reality they are missing parts of
a story due to not understanding what words mean.
As
we all work on supporting and focusing on this one area specifically, the data
will show that students are responding.
After a few weeks of focused skill work, I am able to monitor progress
by informal and formal assessment.
Students take a weekly assessment and I am able to highlight certain
skills that were tested. Those skills
improve the majority of the time. I am
also able to listen to their reading in guided reading groups and take informal
notes on whether or not they can determine the meaning of words.
I
would like to conduct a meeting where we can all discuss this further and you
all can share your own ideas and thoughts.
Perhaps you have tried your own ideas with your children and they have
proven successful. Together we can make
a difference and improve the area of vocabulary in literacy.
Sincerely,
Meghan Glidden
References:
Understanding Vocabulary | Scholastic.com.
(2016). Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/understanding-vocabulary
The Research Behind the Importance of Teaching Vocabulary |
Zaner-Bloser. (2016). Zaner-bloser.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016,
from
https://www.zaner-bloser.com/news/research-behind-importance-teaching-vocabulary
Vocabulary A-Z - Why Learning Vocabulary is Important to
Literacy. (2016). Vocabularya-z.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016,
from https://www.vocabularya-z.com/vocabweb/research.do
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