Developing Vocabulary and Concepts - Chapter 8

In chapter 8 of Content-Area Reading, the topic that is presented is the development of vocabulary and concepts.  "Teaching words well means giving students multiple opportunities to develop word meanings and learn how words are conceptually related to one another in the texts they are studying."  I am a big advocate of teaching vocabulary, but there is a right way and a wrong way.  The first thing that comes to mind when most people think of vocabulary instruction is the typical strategy.  First, you get a list of random words and definitions.  Then, you get a week to 'study' (memorize) them, and finally you are tested on them.  This is NOT the type of vocabulary instruction I advocate!  My English teacher during my junior year in high school taught vocabulary this way, and it was not productive or helpful at all!  Nobody would actually study them, we would all try to memorize them the morning of the quiz, and once the quiz was over we forgot them.  There are much better ways to implement meaningful vocabulary into the lesson plan.

First of all, as the chapter suggests, it is important that the vocabulary words being taught are words that are relevant to the lesson and what is being learned.  The 'random words theory,' as I like to call it, does not help students learn content.  Rather than strictly presenting vocabulary words, one way to teach your content is through concepts.  "Concepts create mental images, which may present anything that can be grouped together by common features or similar criteria: objects, symbols, ideas, processes, or events."  Through things such as concept maps, new vocabulary and key concepts can be learned simultaneously.  Also through other graphic organizers, students and teachers can group together words that fall into the same category, making it easier to remember.  When students can relate the vocabulary to the concept, both will be more easy to learn.

Another thing that a teacher can do when testing his or her students is get rid of the multiple choice vocabulary section.  Sure, some students likely spend time to learn all of the vocabulary, but there are some who simply rely on there being a common sense answer to every question.  This turns it into the 'multiple guess' section.  Instead, have the students write a short essay incorporating the vocabulary they learned in class.  This not only will help students remember the words, it will make the students more responsible for learning their vocabulary.

Vocabulary is so important to all content-areas, and it is important that teachers are aware of how they are instructing key words and concepts in their classroom.