Grades 3-5 Vocabulary Instruction With Word Wizard Dictionary
Literacy experts estimate that students in grades 3-5 should be learning between 300-500 new words each school year to keep pace with successful academic development. In order for students to absorb so many new words, vocabulary needs to be introduced and taught throughout the day. Research has shown the vocabulary instruction is most effective when it is integrated across the curriculum and not just relegated to a list of words taught during a language arts lesson.1
The Word Wizard Dictionary can help your students learn new words in context and with differentiated support for their individual needs. The audio, images, and video that accompany word entries help all learners grasp new vocabulary. The following are some examples of how the Word Wizard Dictionary can enhance vocabulary instruction during these key elementary school years. These activities incorporate regular class time as well as computer-based learning.
Choosing Words for Grades 3-5 Vocabulary Instruction
"Which words should I teach?" Research has shown that students can realistically only learn about eight to ten words each week, so it indeed pays to choose these words wisely.
Through exhaustive analysis of data, Edward Fry and other researchers have come up with 300 "Instant Words" that students should know by the time they reach 3rd grade. You can access the Instant Words (PDF) list from the National Institute for Literacy, a government agency. The words were compiled by determining the most frequently used words in a study of 5 million words used in magazines, books, and newspapers.
For more information on picking the best word lists for vocabulary instruction, read Francie Alexander's Recommended Word Lists for Vocabulary Instruction. Alexander is Scholastic's Chief Academic Officer and an expert on reading, literacy, and vocabulary instruction. You can also find grade-level vocabulary lists in these Scholastic professional books of 100 Words Kids Need to Read at different grades. You can also see Word Wizards Words to Keep Kids on Track for specific, detailed word lists.
Using Word Wizard in the Classroom
Use our Word Wizard Dictionary Lesson Plan to introduce students to dictionary skills in general, and to highlight the features available to them through Word Wizard.
Flag It Now, Check It Later
Although it's ideal to look up words right on the spot, sometimes that's impractical or is too disruptive to the reading process. Other times, students may feel self-conscious about popping up to use the dictionary frequently. Encourage students who are reading within literature circles to flag unfamiliar words as they crop up. They can write the words on a piece of paper or sticky note and place it on the page. Ask them to take a guess about the word's meaning using context clues. Later, they can take their books to the computer station, look up the definitions, and write them on their sticky notes. As a group project, students from one literature group can combine their sticky notes and make a Mini-Dictionary to accompany that book.
Word Webs and Other Graphic Organizers
Vocabulary learning is enhanced when words are learned in a rich context, with connections to other words. Graphic organizers such as word webs and concept definition maps help students explore the relationships among words. Word Wizard helps students explore connections because they can click on "similar words" and also explore the word in different parts of speech.
For example, see airplane and find the similar words, as well as the words used in the context sentence. Explore from there! Print out this Word Web Graphic Organizer (PDF) and keep a stack of them by the computer.
Students also can use Word Wizard within a Scholastic article, and search for words that are all related to one theme. For example, direct students to Animals in Your Backyard. Ask them to find words in the article that relate to the environment, such as habitat, wildlife, preservation, and ecology.
You can also use Word Wizard to develop concept definition maps. One method is to explore words that are related to each other thematically. You can print a Concept Definition Map and start with a key word at the top. Have students explore related uses of the word through Word Wizard's Word Connection feature. To learn more about working with concept definition maps, see this sample lesson plan from Scholastic Red (PDF).
Play With Words!
Through all the changes in vocabulary strategy over decades, one recommended practice has not changed. Word play is one of the most engaging techniques for making learning vocabulary fun and lasting. Direct students to Scholastic's word games, which incorporate the Word Wizard floating dictionary.
Games such as charades engage active learners and cement strong mental images for students to recall later. Have students work in pairs or small groups. Create and print your current vocabulary list using the Mini-Dictionary. Print out your list on heavy card stock paper, with the definitions included. Cut the list into cards and mix them up. Place them in a bag. Have students take turns choosing a word and acting it out. When someone correctly guesses a word, that player gets to act out the next word.
Online Games
You can also use Word Wizard to create online games for your students featuring your own vocabulary words. A scrambled word game using the Word Scramble feature of the Quiz Maker can help students understand the spelling and phonics patterns on a different level, as they reconstruct the correct spelling. Use Word Wizard to generate a list of words that target a particular strategy, such as a prefix or root word. For example, look up the prefix inter-. Word Wizard provides examples such as interlace, interlude, intercontinental, interchange, and more. Unscrambling these words will help students isolate the prefixes from the jumble of letters.
For games that get kids up and moving, see our Get Up & Move word list (PDF) and activity ideas.
Using Word Wizard With Online and Computer-Based Instruction
Cross-Curriculum Access Word Wizard allows your students easy access to definitions in all curriculum areas. A floating dictionary window on all Scholastic's student resources, from current events and history to science and math, allows students to find out what a word means on the spot, in the context of learning. In addition, if students are choosing to read the articles that are most interesting to them, they will be more actively engaged in learning the new terms. Create a set of bookmarks that feature Scholastic articles related to current topics across the curriculum. Here are links for features related to the Computer Lab, Writing, Reading, Research and Current Events.
Self-Assessment With Quiz Maker, you can generate quizzes easily to assess how well your students are learning new terms. To encourage self-assessment, keep some print-outs of quizzes near your classroom computer. Let students check their answers with Word Wizard. If they still need help learning the word, they can hear an audio pronunciation of the word and read the word used in a context sentence.
Interactive Games Word Wizard can make other interactive games more accessible as well. For example, if your students are playing the Smarter Than a Fifth Grader trivia game, they won't have to stumble over the directions or words that are above their reading level. They can hear any word on the page read aloud. Then their true trivia knowledge can shine!
References:
- Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G Mckeown, and Linda Kucan, Bringing Words to Life: robust Vocabulary Instruction (New York: The Guilford Press, 2002).
