By implementing the right teaching strategies, teachers can make sure students gain an understanding of vital verbal building blocks.
For students to understand the complex concepts explored in subjects like math, chemistry and social studies, they first need to have a firm understanding of more generally applicable academic terminology. Vital vocabulary words, such as process, formulate and structure, set the stage for further academic development by giving students the tools they need to untangle a more subject-specific vocabulary later in life. By implementing the right teaching strategies, students gain an understanding of these vital verbal building blocks.
Pick the Right Vocabulary
Kindergarten through 12 education puts a heavy emphasis on subject-specific vocabulary, including words like equation or invertebrate but tend to ignore words in other key categories. The most important--and often neglected--categories include words used in the process of deduction, like hypothesize or criterion; words used to describe classifications, like vehicle or process; words used in communication, like negotiate or affirm; and words used to describe relationships, like correspond.
Properly Present the Vocabulary
Instead of promoting the rote repetition of words and corresponding definitions, teach students the over-arching, more generalizable meanings of these words by embedding them in interesting reading material and asking open-ended, thought-stimulating questions about the material.
Increase Exposure Through Implementation
After introducing a word, sprinkle it throughout your own vocabulary and use it regularly in the classroom. Encourage students to provide oral and written responses that require them to use these words in their own sentences. Provide multiple readings, using the vocabulary in a variety of contexts, to your students to familiarize them with the words' varying definitions and to encourage a reasonable comfort level with the new vocabulary.
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