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October 27, 2015
Vocabulary Workouts
I have been “shopping” for Evidence-Based Reading Instructional (or EBRI) resources for over three years. During this time, the quantity and quality of FREE “goods” has increased and improved. One of my favorites is Vocabulary Workouts, generously shared by Susan Finn Miller, an adult literacy teacher and teacher educator from Lancaster, PA. This individual or group vocabulary curriculum features the most common academic words from across academic disciplines.
The Vocabulary Workouts are available in the Reading resource library on the ATLAS website, under Resources.
The teacher-student exercise format is both evidence-based and explicit:
- Teacher writes each academic word and pronounces it several times.
- Teacher models syllabication tapping and emphasizes the stressed syllable.
- Teacher guides students in pronunciation and syllabication practice.
- Teacher provides a definition or explanation using student-friendly language.
- Teacher provides easy-to-understand contexts or examples.
- Teacher engages students in oral-to-written tasks to deepen their knowledge and use.
Below is Vocabulary Workout 1. It demonstrates how the 60 workout pages offer “EBRI-thing” ABE/ESL/GED and Adult Diploma teachers need to exercise their students’ academic vocabulary knowledge! Teaching academic words aligns with CCRS ELA Reading Standard, Anchor 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Interested in seeing more Vocabulary Workouts? Simply visit the Reading resource library!