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Relationship between language and literacy
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Vocabulary knowledge is highly correlated with reading comprehension and general academic success. Oxford Dictionaries defines vocabulary as “the body of words used in a particular language” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013, para. 1). Vocabulary knowledge can be demonstrated in two ways: receptively or expressively. Knowledge of the words we see and hear would be described as the individual’s receptive vocabulary. Expressive vocabulary consists of the words that are used to convey information, by either writing or speaking. Typically, receptive vocabulary is larger than expressive vocabulary. Although individuals may understand the general idea of a word in their receptive vocabulary, they might lack the knowledge of the true definition that would be needed in order to use the word in their expressive vocabulary (Kamil & Hiebert, in press). Vocabulary development is important for a variety of reasons.
Children’s vocabulary development is important from an early age. Studies have shown that children who are regularly read to have larger vocabularies and better success at decoding words when reading (Burgess, Hecht, & Lonigan, 2002). Children’s vocabulary at age three is a strong predictor of their language and reading comprehension in third grade (Hart & Risley, 1995). Further, it has been shown that children with poor vocabulary skills struggle with reading comprehension.
Not only does vocabulary play a crucial role in reading comprehension, it is also highly correlated with academic success (Lehr et al., 2004). As students progress through the grades, the vocabulary necessary to succeed in higher grades becomes more extensive. Typically, academic vocabulary demands appear in children’s 3rd and 4th grade books (Chall, Jacobs, & Baldwin,...
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...ice activities for the spelling words that pertain to each unit. These activities include phrase completion, identifying misspelled words, adding prefixes, adding suffixes, and sentence completion.
Statement of the Problem
The problem to be investigated is whether the students are increasing their vocabulary through the current methods used in the classroom. Students’ vocabulary knowledge will be assessed through expressive knowledge of current vocabulary words. Those results will be compared to standardized vocabulary measures to determine the relationship to overall vocabulary ability. The following questions will be explored:
1. Are 4th grade students in Grand Forks public schools learning vocabulary using the Reading Street curriculum??
2. Is 4th grade students’ vocabulary knowledge of weekly spelling words related to overall vocabulary ability? (PPVT, EVT)
From the Glass Castle, Jeannette’s mother read picture books with Jeannette and her siblings in their early childhood. This activity established good reading habits for Jeannette and her siblings. When she was older, after dinner, her father read the dictionary with the kids, looked up the words they did not know, and discussed the definitions (Walls 56). Because of the reading habits her parents gave her, every time Jeannette did not understand a word, she looked up the word in the dictionary. The routine of reading dictionary after dinner and the habit of looking up an unknown word in the dictionary helped Jeannette build up her vocabulary. With abundant vocabulary and excellent reading skills, Jeannette did not have problem with her college admission test. Studies show that having good reading habits not only increase the volume of children’s vocabulary but also help them perform well on their exams. In the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Policy Information Center 's report, The Family: America 's Smallest School, the author points out the importance of reading to children:
After, reviewing the vast amount of reading inventories that can be utilized to obtain a reading competency level for a student. I decided to utilize the Jennings Informal Reading Assessment, this assessment had all of the essential elements needed to analyze and evaluate the reading styles and comprehension level of a student. The unique qualities that assist me in selecting this strategy were that of the preprimary word list. The word list offers the student a chance to learn and observe terms that he/she may not have known prior to the assessment. This also provided me with a better understanding of the student usage of visual cues and ability to utilize prior knowledge to understand and recognize information. This is a cognitive ability
...y and Vocabulary Development During the Early School Years: A Longitudinal Study. Developmental Psychology. American Psychological Association Inc.
Vocabulary- it is very difficult to understand a given text if a student is stopping at every other word because a student does not know those words. This is a very critical component and will be discussed later in this paper.
Both shared book reading and independent reading can develop learners’ vocabulary. The idea is to expose learners to new words as much as possible to implant these new words in their vocabulary knowledge. However, monitored reading should be done where possible for the amplification of some words during reading. Moreover, explicit approach to vocabulary should also work hand in hand with extensive reading. (Min, 2013). ESL/EFL class should have dictionaries at their disposal and if possible, have posters around the wall with different vocabulary; to create a vocabulary rich
The National Reading Panel identifies alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as four literacy essentials. These fundamentals are what make up readers, without these skills students’ cannot progress in reading. In order for each individual student to thrive teachers must diagnose and implement appropriate reading content. There are many ways to assess each student in the classroom. A favored methodology among classroom teachers is Informal Reading Inventory.
...lary and allows them to understand and gain knowledge from the classroom within which that vocabulary is being used. Consequently, learning vocabulary skills addresses the problem of students being able to read but not having sufficient vocabulary skills to understand what they are reading within and outside the classroom environment.
Scott, T. M., & Shearer-Lingo, A. (2002). The effects of reading fluency instruction on the academic and behavioral success of middle school students in a self-contained E/BD classroom. Preventing School Failure, 46, 167-173.
The assignment and over dependence on Lexile levels has turned teachers into gatekeepers instead of educators, turning students away from reading for enjoyment. (Pennington, 2013) The Kentucky MAP test is given at the beginning and end of each school year to assess student growth in several subjects. One of these subjects is reading level. Once children reach a certain literacy level they are given a Lexile score to coincide with how literate the MAP test shows them to be. These levels coincide with “grade levels” and are meant to show at what “grade level” each student is reading at. (Handsfield et al. 2012) Students are then told to read books +/-50 of their Lexile and are prohibited, by some educators, to read anything outside (generally
School readiness is an important issue that is gaining attention across the country. Children who are lacking in letter knowledge, language skills, and social skills not only disadvantage themselves but also their classmates coming into first grade (Lillard 2012). Students may have a hard time in a traditional classroom where they are forced to work and their time to explore is taken away. Reading comprehension is one of the many important skills that students learn beginning from a young age. Education has shifted to be of more importance for all children, and parents, teachers, and curriculum developers need to have the best resources for helping students learn to be great readers.
Martínez, Harris and McClain (2014) maintain that, “among all of the academic skills a student learns in school, none is more fundamental than reading” Furthermore, they believe that competence in reading is essential for education, employment, productive citizenship, and living a successful and satisfying life. (p. 129) Daggett and Pedinotti (2014) explain that “life outside of school requires substantially higher levels of reading proficiency than most students experience in the high school classroom and even in post‐secondary education” (p. 1). Students, who struggle with reading in early elementary years, tend to fall farther behind as they progress through the educational system. Fiester (2010) confirms, “The National Research Council asserts academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of third grade” (p.9) Thus, efforts to meet the needs of all learners remains a priority across the nation. As a result, states and districts require schools to submit school improvement plans, which identify specific needs based on data, strategic goals and instructional strategies targeted toward
With this in mind, Crawford W. Long Middle School received the Georgia Milestone Assessment results which revealed students are deficient in vocabulary usage across all content areas. In-class observations, I did not see students using strategies to decode or recognize vocabulary for comprehension and mastery. As a result, a schoolwide action plan in vocabulary instruction was integrated across all content areas. For this reason, all teachers had to use the first 20 minutes of class incorporating vocabulary strategies in the lesson such as showing students how to recognize word parts(decoding), and context to figure out new words through reading a caption or paragraph, writing a sentence, or analyzing a picture. Overall, will this intense, purposeful vocabulary instruction be enough to increase student comprehension and science literacy at Crawford Long Middle
In the content area in Language Arts, students will develop the reading skills necessary for word recognition, comprehension, interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of print and non-print text activating prior knowledge, processing and acquiring new vocabulary, organizing information, understanding visual representations, self-monitoring, and reflecting. This can be accomplished by implementing pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading strategies into the lesson plan. Fifth grade students will read and write a variety of texts with greater scope and depth. In addition, they will analyze and evaluate information and ideas by revisiting and refining concepts about the language arts benchmark and will become more refined and independent learners.
Vocabulary development should give the students the ability to learn the meaning of new words and concepts that are presented to them in their text. Learning this skill will help students with comprehension and their content area curriculum. By teaching students vocabulary development, students will have a reserve of new words, connect new words with their previous knowledge, gain the ability to understand and comprehend the text, and lastly, it will increase a students’ word knowledge to connect with their comprehension and success.
How can what we know about the development of readers inform reading comprehension instruction? Reading instruction typically starts in kindergarten with the alphabetic principle, simple word blending, and sight word recognition. Texts read by early readers usually include very little to comprehend. As children develop reading ability, they are able read more complex texts requiring greater comprehension skills. Separate and explicit instruction in reading comprehension is crucial because the ability to comprehend develops in its own right, independent of word recognition. The ability to read words and sentences is clearly important, but as readers develop, these skills are less and less closely correlated with comprehension abilities. (Aarnoutse & van Leeuwe, 2000) While no one would argue that word blending and sight word reading skills be omitted from early reading instruction, vocabulary and listening comprehension may be at least as important in achieving the even...