We all have opinions about the best way to teach vocabulary. Marzano's Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement (2004) recommends five key components of effective vocabulary instruction:
1. Initially provide students with a description, explanation, or example as opposed to a formal definition.
2. Have students generate their own descriptions, explanations, or examples.
3. Have students represent each term or phrase using a nonlinguistic or graphic representation.
4. Have students keep an academic vocabulary notebook.
5. Periodically review the terms and phrases and provide students with activities to practice.
The six activities included with each list of words provide opportunities for you and your students to try these components.
*Big thanks to Sherri Sampson at RPDC for her cool activities.*
