Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction

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Hundreds of thousands of teachers have used this highly practical guide to help K-12 students enlarge their vocabulary and get involved in noticing, understanding, and using new words.

Bringing Words to Life, Second Edition - Yumpu download PDF Bringing Words to Life, Second Edition - Yumpu

Bringing Words to Life makes a powerful case for the need for systematic direct instruction in vocabulary and persuasively debunks the idea that students can readily learn the meanings of new words simply from context and reading exposure. Unlike so many education texts, it is well written, with clear summaries of current research along with excellent descriptions and examples of how to carry out "robust" vocabulary instruction in the classroom. Bringing Words to Life encourages high expectations for even the youngest students, who can readily learn to move from the everyday (Tier One) words that they frequently encounter to what the authors call "Tier Two" words; for instance, "talking about" something can become "mention." As a practitioner of the Orton Gillingham method of dyslexia remediation, I wondered why the book makes no reference to the use of morphology (prefixes, suffixes, Latin roots, Greek combining forms) as an efficient way to expand a student's vocabulary. In response to my inquiry, one of the authors indicated that a companion book, Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked Questions and Extended Examples (which I have not seen), does examine the use of morphemes. This author also indicated that she considered this to be a useful approach. Sample lessons and vignettes, children's literature suggestions, "Your Turn" learning activities, and a Study Guide for teachers enhance the book's utility as a classroom resource, professional development tool, or course text. Another justification for the fifth star is simply this--the book was fun to read. Honestly. The organization of the material provides an ease of use that guarantees I will grab this from my teacher bookshelf for refreshers. At the end of the book, the reader is rewarded with a menu of instructional activities and a study guide. Those are in additional to the summaries and the "Your Turn" activities at the end of each chapter. Plus, the language is a wonderful flow of technical jargon, real world words, and rare gem words. (I think of words that sound fun but you don't hear often as rare gem words.)Digital Reads A Curse For True Love : the thrilling final book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart series Browse our library of evidence-based teaching strategies, learn more about using classroom texts, find out what whole-child literacy instruction looks like, and dive deeper into comprehension, content area literacy, writing, and social-emotional learning. Anyone who works with students who have limited vocabularies should own this book. It contains that rare combination of theory and practice that distinguishes the best books about teaching.

Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction by Beck

It's a solid, solid foundation for teachers wanting to know what doesn't work. There's only one thing I don't agree with: the Word Wizard competition. I think there's a better way to do that. Chapters on vocabulary and writing; assessment; and differentiating instruction for struggling readers and English language learners, including coverage of response to intervention (RTI). This is wonderful. It overcomes the superstition to use contexts clues while reading. You should only use context clues while looking up a word in the dictionary to find which definition is the right one for the context the word is being used in the sentence. Hundreds of thousands of teachers have used this highly practical guide to help K–12 students enlarge their vocabulary and get involved in noticing, understanding, and using new words.Admittedly, I'm a word nerd. This book is only for other word nerds. More specifically, it is probably only for other word nerds who are also teachers. I learned a LOT in this book about teaching vocabulary to kids. It is definitely written to an audience of teachers but I have already used things I learned as a parent. And I want to give this book to every teacher I know. The authors are trusted experts who draw on extensive experience in diverse classrooms and schools. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this book is its personal touch—reading it is like having a conversation with the authors about robust vocabulary instruction. The authors share their decision making, offer warnings about potential challenges, encourage thoughtful planning, and insist on follow-through. Teachers are amply supported in their learning by the 'Your Turn' and 'You Try It' features, whether working on their own or in a course on literacy instruction. This is a book designed by teachers for teachers.” Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this book is its personal touch--reading it is like having a conversation with the authors about robust vocabulary instruction. The authors share their decision making, offer warnings about potential challenges, encourage thoughtful planning, and insist on follow-through. Teachers are amply supported in their learning by the 'Your Turn' and 'You Try It' features, whether working on their own or in a course on literacy instruction. This is a book designed by teachers for teachers.--Joanne F. Carlisle, PhD, School of Education, University of Michigan