STRATEGIES
"I know, find, and use interesting words."
"I know, find, and use interesting words."
CAFE Menu Strategies
- Voracious reading
- Tune in to interesting words and use new vocabulary in speaking and writing
- Use pictures, illustrations, and diagrams
- Use word parts to determine the meaning of words (prefixes, suffices, origins, abbreviations, etc.)
- Use prior knowledge and context to predict and confirm meaning
- Ask someone to define the word for you
- Use dictionaries, thesauruses, and glossaries as tools
Other Useful Strategies
- Provide for Meaningful Repetition and Retrieval- In order to allow students to fully comprehend the vocabulary words, they need to have several repetitions of the words and in different contexts. The process of actually retrieving the word repeatedly strengthens the neural pathways between form and meaning. Rather than "cramming" words, students should be allowed a period of rest in between each retrieval. Technology can be a great resource to provide children with the repetition that they need. Audiobooks for example, enable students to experience literature and vocabulary through listening.
- Combine the Enactive, Iconic and Symbolic Modes- The intertwining of all of these modes will maximize student comprehension. The enactive mode engages students in actually doing something in order to connect it with language (ex. reciting a fingerplay and performing the accompanying motions). The iconic mode uses concrete objects (ex. fruit or plastic replicas of fruit) or pictorial representations of objects (ex. photographs or clip art) to support vocabulary growth and make language that is heard more understandable. Finally, the symbolic mode incorporates letters, words, numbers and other abstract symbols with the enactive and iconic modes.
- Build Vocabulary by Reading Aloud in a Dialogic Style- Reading aloud and discussing picture books from an early age can greatly assist students in developing their vocabulary. Children's active participation in read alouds and discussion is key to supporting literacy growth. Repeated readings of children's books, accompanied by toys and other props are ways to enrich and extend young children's understandings of picture books.
- Additional Support for Children from Low-Income Backgrounds- Many references are made to the issue of limited vocabulary knowledge of children from low-income backgrounds. Children raised in poverty have different opportunities for word learning, fewer resources in their homes, and often have parents focused on daily survival concerns that limit interaction with their children. It is important to provide these children with additional support in vocabulary instruction.
- Supporting Vocabulary Growth in Young English Language Learners-With the English learner population on the rise, the importance of supporting these students in vocabulary instruction is highly important. Effective instruction can draw on the sum of ELL's experiences in listening, speaking, reading and writing as a whole for their literacy growth.