Introduction to Exemplary Practices
Best practices in vocabulary instruction require a multi-faceted approach to help students build their word bank of Tier 2 and Tier 3 words (Hutton, 2008). Tier 2 words are important for students to learn, must be explicitly taught and are important for students’ progress throughout their school years, unlike Tier 1 words that are basic, simpler, and easily learned. Tier 3 words refer to words that are content specific and not frequently encountered in text. This explicit approach to literacy instruction requires incidental as well as intentional word learning strategies. Read-alouds, wide independent reading, and use of sophisticated words in the classroom are examples of incidental vocabulary instruction. Children are exposed to the words that are important for them to learn, by exposing them to rich, high frequency, Tier 2 words. This can be done through the reading of text silently and aloud, the discussion of concepts and potentially unknown words in that text, and the use of challenging and rich discourse in the classroom. Students will encounter these words in texts and, through incidental and intentional instruction of those words, be expected to improve the quality of their writing by using Tier 2 words.
Explicit, intentional instruction involves specific word learning strategies instruction. Exemplary practice involves going beyond rote memorization of word lists, to more generative word learning, which allows students to become more independent word learners. By providing the tools of scaffolded, morphological analysis and word mapping skills instruction, teachers provide generative word learning and empower their students to build their word schema and increase the likelihood that, when faced with an unknown word, students will make connections with known word parts and will be encouraged to decipher the word on their own. Providing fun, interactive games and activities has been successful in building vocabulary skills and word consciousness (Athans & Devine, 2010, p. 62; Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2008).
Best practices in writing instruction include the use of an Analytical Trait Writing model known as the 6 + 1 Traits Model (Culham, 2006). This model provides students with a framework of guidelines, giving them the tools and the understanding of the concepts behind an exemplar piece of writing. Students are then able to see weaknesses and strengths in writing and verbalize them with the language of 6 + 1 Traits writing (Culham, 2006). During the writing process, students are armed with the concepts of strong writing and can recognize specific areas that need revision. Group conferencing with writing allows for the important social aspect of learning, as students analyze samples of writing together. Using the language of trait analysis, students become more familiar with the concepts behind the traits and the goals of good writing.
