adapted from J. Ruddiman, Journal of Reading, February,1993

RULES:

1. Each student or small group of students is responsible for one word each week to be presented on the designated vocabulary.

2. The word must be from any text (writing) the class is reading and must be able to be applied to the real world as well. No proper nouns may be used.

3. Students must be able to tell how the word is used in the text, give the page number, and apply the word to a context outside the textbook.

4. If a student or group fails to produce a word, the class loses five points to be subtracted from the running weekly vocabuscore.

5. The word is given to the teacher in isolation with no context clues. If the teacher does not know the word, the class gets five points.

6. If any other students know the word, the class gets five points.

7. At 100 points, the class gets a reward. This can be a grade for work accomplished or any other acceptable reward.

PROCEDURES:

On vocabu-day each group meets for the first ten minutes of class. Each group decides on a word to present to the rest of the class. They should check the dictionary meaning, etymology, as well as the way the word is used in the book and the way the word might be used in other contexts. The group decides on one word to be presented to the class. The harder the word, the better, since the first object is to stump the teacher. One student should be the scorekeeper each week, and a running score should be kept. Also have a recorder to write down each word including its definition and contexts of use. Keep a running list of each week's words, definitions, and contexts.

1. The word is given by the group and spelled out on the board.

2. The teacher declares whether or not s/he knows the word.

3. Students from other groups offer possible definitions.

4. Prefixes, suffixes and roots are isolated and identified and possible definition and word use are discussed as the teacher attempts to define the word. Initially, the teacher models all the analysis. As soon as possible, the students can begin to take over the word analysis. The teacher gives a definition for the word.

5. Individual students also try to define the word. The dictionary definition is read, and points are recorded by the scorekeeper.

6. Etymology is checked and related to the definition, historical definitions are discussed related words are found, the word is read in context and is put into other contexts discussed, synonyms and antonyms are discussed.

It is important for the teacher to model the word analysis process and to move students gradually to do the word analysis as a class, and then as individuals. The class should be able to work through four to six words each vocabu-day. These become the vocabulary words for the week, and students can be tested weekly or at the end of each grading period.

Denver Public Schools Secondary Education Literacy Tip #13

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