Vocabulary

Vocabulary is very important to everyday reading because it is all of the words in a language. According to Bursuck and Damer (2010) students “learn to decode harder text, they are more likely to encounter words that are not part of their oral language” (p. 231). Being familiar with words and the meaning of the word assists student’s fluency as well as comprehension. According to the National Institute of Literacy (2007) vocabulary is “words used in speech and print to communicate” (p. 14). Vocabulary can be divided into two categories “oral or spoken words and written words” (National Institute of Literacy, 2007, p. 14). The National Institute of Literacy (2007), agree with Bursuck and Damer (2010), stating that “vocabulary knowledge is important to reading because the oral and written words promote comprehension and communication” (p. 14). Since vocabulary is extremely important Pullen, Tuckwiller, Konold, Maynard, & Coyne, 2010 used a “three tier model for students at risk for a reading disability” (p. 110). Pullen et al. (2010) states that vocabulary development occurs through incidental learning and home environment before formal schooling” (p. 111)

The intervention created by Pullen et al. (2010) was meant to increase students’ vocabulary of at risk students. The intervention (2010) participants “were 224 first grade students in elementary schools in a diverse population and moderate percentage of students in socio-economic status” (p. 114). The intervention (2010) itself created by ___________________ was a three-tier system: Tier 1 consisted of classroom instruction and “students who do not respond to tier 1 will receive tier 2 instruction and tier 3 is the most intensive level and if student do not respond to this level they are referred to a special education evaluation” (p. 114).

To identify students who may be at risk of disability, the intervention (2010) used the PPVT-4 as a standardized test. Pullen et al. (2010) used the test to asses the baseline level “of receptive vocabulary and identify participants as either at risk of not for reading failure” (p. 115). The authors of the intervention (2010) selected the PPVT-4 because “it demonstrated reliability, indicating that is a sound measure for measuring receptive vocabulary” (p. 115). For a post-test, the authors (2010) used a researcher-developed measure to asses students’ acquisition of target words used in the intervention (p. 115).

Pullen et al. (2010) had a three-tier system where tier 1 and tier 2 were designed “around two story books appropriate for first grade students” (p.