To increase students’ comprehension of texts and help mitigate intimidation, boredom, and loss of interest by front-loading challenging vocabulary.
Outcome
Students will be able access and comprehend challenging texts through their vocabulary understanding.
Action Steps
Introduce words and concepts in context of things that are familiar to students.
Use analogies and metaphors; encourage students to create a symbol or drawing for challenging words.
Give time for discussion of the words.
Only use dictionaries after the initial steps have been used. Avoid having students start with looking up definitions.
Differentiate: Root Words:
Assign students a list of common prefixes/suffixes and Latin roots.
Teach them to break down words using those prefixes/suffixes for words they already know. For example: Teach that circa is the root for around and it comes from circus for circle.
Then have them think of words they can think of with this root: circumstance, circum-navicate, circumference, circle, circuit, etc. Show them this is a common way to try to understand new words they don’t know.
Explain that many words come from Latin and therefore understanding Portugeuse or Spanish can be a huge asset and they should use it, and that, even if not a root, they should run it through their brains in another language if they can’t recognize the word in English (e.g. edifice vs edificio).
