Chapter two was all about vocabulary. I always learn many new things when reading Classics in the Classroom. By reading this chapter, I found out that what my elementary teachers used to have my class do was ineffective. This is looking up vocabulary words in the dictionary and then writing them down. This activity never helped me, but I always had to do it.
The chapter states, "Vocabulary experts tell us that for reasonable reading comprehension a student needs to know 90-95 percent of the words" (Jago 22).
The best way for students to learn more vocabulary is incidentally through reading. Those memorization definition-exercises simply do not cut it.
"Dale and O'Rourke (1986) describe four levels of knowing a word:
Stage 1: Never saw it before.
Stage 2: Heard it, but don't know what it means.
Stage 3: Recognize it in context as something to do with . . .
Stage 4: Know it" (Jago 29).
I really liked learning about the exercise Jago did with the words honorable, gullible, stoic, and idealist. Students learned these words by relating them to their own lives and using them to describe people they knew. I bet now they will never forget what the words mean.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with Malissa that copying definitions from a dictionary doesn't teach a student vocabulary. Neither does memorizing a definition and regurgitating it on a test help you learn. So, it's a real challenge as a teacher to not resort to the old methods of vocabulary lessons; but, like Melissa pointed out, Jago provides alternative lessons and pathways to really teaching vocabulary that sticks with students.
ReplyDeleteMarissa - I agree with your post (and Mary Katherine's response) about copying vocabulary from a dictionary just to memorize it for a test. There are definitely better ways to teach vocabulary!
ReplyDeleteI remember doing the same thing. Teachers would give a list, we'd look up the words! That was it! Sometimes, there would be a crossword puzzle if things were getting serious! I think that once you give a word meaning in your own way, it becomes a part of your own lexicon. It is so much better to truly know a word, than to simply memorize it!
ReplyDeleteI agree. In high school I always hated the way vocabulary was taught, and knew it was not benefiting me in any way. Reading Chapter 2 confirmed my beliefs that my teachers were doing it wrong and makes me want to do it so much better in my own classroom in the future.
ReplyDelete