After reading this weeks assigned articles, the main idea that was emphasized in each was that vocabulary knowledge supports a child's comprehension. I believe strongly in exposing children to a wide variety of vocabulary words. I personally did not develop a wide vocabulary range until my later years as a student, solely because I was not exposed to it in earlier years. My teachers did have assigned vocabulary words that the students were to find the definitions for homework but this was not beneficial in my learning. I think that this type of vocabulary strategy had some negative effects on my learning later in life because teachers in higher grades expect you to know what they are talking about. If a teacher was explaining something using a word I had never heard of, I would be thinking about what the word meant the whole time and completely miss what she was explaining.
I think that some teachers think that they should not use larger words because they believe the children will not understand them. I thought that the Lane & Allen article explained ways to help enhance studnets vocabulary growth beautifully. If a teacher is going to try and expand a child's vocabulary, he/she should make sure the child knows the concept of the simple word first and then transition to using a larger word in place of the simple word. I know that if my teachers in elementary school had used these types teaching methods, it would have really helped in vocabulary growth.
Vocabulary Building Games
I also struggled with learning vocab when I was younger. As I got older and went into high school, it was harder for me to learn vocab because I only had one strategy for learning them, which was rote memorization. The problem was that I wouldn't remember the words because I would never use them in my daily life. My experience with learning vocab makes me want to make it even more engaging and fun for the children in my future classroom! Thanks for sharing your personal experiences!
ReplyDeleteI also struggled with learning vocab when I was younger. By reading constantly from ages 11-14, I increased my knowledge in vocab. I'm positive that these games you posted would have done wonders as well. Thanks for sharing!
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