The Importance of Learning NewWords An important component of oral language and vocabulary acquisition is learning new words. Preschool-aged children do this in a variety of ways. That’s why it’s so important to be intentional about vocabulary instruction and provide children with multiple ways to build their vocabularies. Peer-to-Peer Interaction: Encouraging conversations and social interactions during small group and play time helps children develop strong social communication skills. Indirectly: Listening to adults read aloud and hearing them repeat several words during the day help children determine the meaning of words indirectly. Directly: Explaining the meaning of a word directly to a child in clear simple language is the ideal way to help children comprehend challenging words and concepts. Reading Is Better When It’s Interactive Another essential piece of the oral language and vocabulary puzzle is interactive reading—or pausing during read alouds to ask questions and converse. By periodically breaking up the text to discuss the book as you’re reading, children have the opportunity to use newly learned words, build knowledge, and connect the book to their own experiences. Below are three of the most effective question types to ask during interactive reading.
Build children’s confidence by asking questions that are answered directly in the text. Encourage children to make connections with questions that require them to combine background knowledge with information from the text. Give children the opportunity to actively practice and process new words by asking questions that require more than one-word answers. These types of questions spark meaningful conversations by asking why, how, or what if.
Concrete Questions
Abstract Questions
Open-Ended Questions
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