Background Information of Use of Practice
For the fourth-grade classroom where this study took place, vocabulary instruction had typically involved lists of words, dictionary use, context clues, and sentence use. Efforts had been made to focus on words encountered in content area texts, which would be classified as Tier 2 or Tier 3 words, (Hutton, 2008). However, there had been no practice in word origins or the kind of generative word knowledge instruction that would promote independent learning of words. Anticipating which words would present a challenge to the students is an important first step in vocabulary instruction in the content areas. In this classroom, the teacher would present some content-area words on the board as a pre-reading exercise. Those words were addressed briefly as they were encountered in the text. However, there were not supplemental activities that would go along with best practices in acquiring new vocabulary, such as word analysis.
In this fourth-grade classroom, the teacher chose 4-5 words and wrote them on the board for the duration of a themed unit. Giving content area words “center stage” is considered good practice (Graves, 1997, p. 67). Thus, the teacher can refer back to those words. Providing frequent exposure, without frequent practice with the words; looking at context clues; and using the words in a sentence is incomplete instruction, as not enough connections are made for the students. The teacher also must provide students with information that is generative about the word, such as different forms of the word, and the word as it may appear in different contexts.
Although the teacher of this fourth-grade classroom was familiar with Analytical Trait Writing, it had not been implemented in her classroom as an instructional tool or as a form of student self-assessment. This teacher found Analytical Trait Writing “complicated,”and she didn’t know where to start. Her method in working with students’ writing was a simple, holistic approach. Students were given a prompt in the genre in which they were working. The students then wrote down a few ideas and began the process of writing, without any discussion or brainstorming. After several revisions, one of which included circling 8 adjectives and replacing them with “stronger” adjectives, they checked for correct use of conventions and wrote a final draft. It is important to note that this classroom only had one computer. The benefit of technology was not present in this classroom, which could add built-in support and a “rich context for word learning” (Blachowicz, Fisher, Ogle, & Watts-Taffe, 2006, p.10). Additionally, computers would make revision easier during the writing process and provide an interactive resource as well.
