“Readers, after I learn what the word means, I think, ‘How does this word connect to the words I already know?’ Think with me.” Tap the words as you mention them. “Well, sedge connects to habitat , right? I could say ‘The habitat for a sedge is a wet place, a wetland.’ Oh, and sedge connects with soil . Sedges need wet soil to grow.’ “Do you see how we collected sedge and thought, ‘What does this word mean? And how does the word connect to the other words we’ve learned?’ and we tried out a few connec- tions. Thinking about networks that link words together helps us learn words in a way that lets us use them in our talking, writing and most of all, in our thinking.” ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT Invite students to add to their own word collections, and then share with partners how that word fits with the other words the class has gathered. “We’ve been building this word collection together—but I think you’ve probably got some plant words you’ve come across in your reading as well. Will you open up your notebook to the word collection you started during vocabulary time? Right now, think about a word or two you’ve encountered that you could add to your personal word collection for your subtopic. If you think of any new words, jot them on sticky notes and add them to your collection.” “Now, give you and your partner a number: Partner 1, Partner 2.” “Partner 1, ask Partner 2 to help you do all the steps we just did with sedge with one of your new words. Figure out and record the definition, then talk about the one new word using as many words from your word collection as possible. It will help to touch the new word, and then touch the other word as you connect them!” Coach partners as they work. LINK Send students off with a reminder to draw on a repertoire of strategies as they read. “Readers, I hope that what you learned today sticks with you always: You can read, col- lecting words that are important, which might be words that repeat or bolded key words. You can collect all the words you learn on a new page in your reader’s notebook. After you record a word and its definition, it helps you learn if you talk about the word, using as many other topic words as possible. “Today, as you read, use everything you’ve already learned about nonfiction research. Right now, think about what you’ve learned readers often do when they want to learn about a topic.” Pause briefly. “Are you remembering that it helps to preview not just a book you are about to read, but also a new part of a book? Today, look over upcoming parts of books, thinking about what you expect to learn. “Are you remembering to be alert to text features? You’ll want to read the illustrations and the text boxes—everything–thinking, ‘How does this fit with the rest of the page?’ “Head to your treehouses, and take a minute to be sure everyone in your research group has something interesting to read. Then get started. I’ll be admiring the times when you add new words to your word collections.”
Coaching to Support Vocabulary Building • “What new words have you discovered? What do they mean?” • “How does that word fit with your topic?” • “When you learn a new word, talk about it. Chal- lenge yourself to say a lot.”
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Session 6 • Word Consciousness: Develop a Content Word Collection
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