Vocabulary: Let's Get Systematic

Here is a summary of my vocabulary reading: Effective content vocabulary instruction in the middle: Matching students, purposes, words, and strategies by Kevin Flanigan and Scott C. Greenwood

The authors note that the 3 tier system for vocabulary instruction is not specific enough to guide middle school teachers through teaching content vocabulary.
By systematically categorizing vocabulary we can identify words to prioritize and specific strategy and timing to make the most effective use of instructional time. If you are familiar with the 3 tier model of vocabulary instruction this should easy for you to grasp. This is a process that is a bit new to me, but I will become right at home with.

Overview:
Breakdown the vocabulary words into groups. Take the order of tier 1,2,3 words and invert it, and call it levels.

LEVELS

1. "Before" words -- essential to understanding the text and students must have an in-depth understanding of them to make sense of the text. They need to have significant time spent on them.
2. "Foot in the Door" -- essential to understanding the text but do not require a broad in-depth understanding to do so. New label / new concept or new label / known concept are 2 subtypes.
3. "After" words -- These words can be taught after the text is read if need be. Here we have words that are clearly defined within the text, high-utility words useful across multiple subjects, and words of greater precision (dour vs unhappy)
4. "No Teach" -- These are words the require no teaching. These can be words the students already know, unknown words that do not advance the learning goals, or words with sufficiently rich context relative to their importance that the text itself is sufficient.  

Armed with the four levels follow this procedure to identify the words.

1. Read the text and determine the instructional goals of the lesson. Everything depends on your goals, which may differ from the textbook's.
2. Identify words students should know after the lesson. (Levels 1-3)
3. Chunk related words together based on conceptual kinship. (ex. fulcrum, lever, pivot)
4. Identify words that are prerequisite to constructing meaning from the text. (Levels 1-2)
5. Identify the words students should know, but don't need to make sense of the text. (Level 3)
6. Based on your learning goals, what do you want the student to know about each word? This will help you determine how you teach the word.

Included in the article are some helpful tables that take the answers from the question in step 6 and suggest a vocabulary teaching technique.

Taken almost straight from the reading:

Bear in mind this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of outcomes or strategies. I linked up the strategies to external resources so you can get more information should you need to. 

Level 1

Outcome: compare/contrast content area concepts across multiple common features

Strategy: Semantic Feature Analysis

Outcome: know the defining features of a concept in depth and compare/contrast it with similar concepts

Strategy: Frayer Model

Outcome: deep knowledge of one word/concept
Strategy: Semantic Concept Mapping (<-- this link has info on the Frayer Model and SFA also)

Level 2

Outcome:  basic, “foot-in-the-door” knowledge of the word/concept

Strategy: Definition + Rich Context

Outcome: briefly extend their knowledge of a word/concept with which they are already acquainted

Strategy: Concept Circles

Level 3

Outcome: I want my students to be able to use adjectives that describe people (ex. obstreperous, trucu- lent, brutish)

Strategy: “Applause, applause!” or “Have you ever?”

Did you find anything useful at these link? Have another outcome/strategy pairing not listed in this article? I'd love to hear it.

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 _______________ UPDATE _______________ 

After today's fruitful discussions I deepened my understanding of this article. In the expert group the techniques were well received and identified as a good framework for prioritizing time and effort. By working on content vocabulary always with an eye toward the learning goals of the lesson systematically optimize our efforts. 

More importantly, I was able to more clearly identify the times when this approach would be appropriate. Spoiler alert: not always. This technique lends itself to teaching vocabulary related to unfamiliar content. It does not address the need for general ongoing vocabulary building that can be better supported by student selected vocabulary and personal journals.