What Is It?

The essence of good vocabulary instruction is the creation of contexts in which students constantly use relevant vocabulary in their reading, writing, and speaking. This is in contrast to the ineffective, but far more prevalent, "assign, define and test" approach. Teachers in each content area should implement purposeful vocabulary instruction to: 1) increase reading comprehension, 2) develop knowledge of new concepts, 3) improve range and specificity in writing, 4) help students communicate more effectively, and 5) develop deeper understanding of words and concepts with which students are only familiar.

Suggested Strategies and Resources

Before you can implement this Key Component, your stakeholders will need to consider some or all of these questions. The questions could be used in group discussions, needs sensing activities, and informal small-group conversations.

• How do teachers currently support vocabulary development as part of content area instruction?

• How would planning and teaching change if the strategies described were common practice? How would it remain the same?

• What are the existing barriers to incorporating more of a literacy-focused approach to content area teaching and learning?

• What needs to happen to address these barriers?