Celebrating Growth: Sharing Vocabulary Wins Schoolwide
March 17, 2024
Highlighting student vocabulary use across the school builds momentum. This week’s post looks at ways to celebrate growth: vocabulary walls, student spotlights, cross-grade word challenges, and integrating vocabulary into student performances and displays.
Vocabulary learning becomes part of school culture when students see it valued everywhere. What are you doing to make word learning visible and joyful?
From Strategy to Ownership: Elevating Student Voice in Vocabulary
March 10, 2024
Ownership is the ultimate goal of vocabulary instruction. When students can independently recognize, define, and apply new words, they’ve moved from surface learning to true mastery. This entry explores tools like student-generated dictionaries, self-awareness charts, and vocabulary journals.
How do your students track their word knowledge? Do they have space to reflect on which words are important to them and why?
Repetition, Retrieval, and Retention: Making Vocabulary Stick
February 19, 2024
The science of memory tells us that repetition matters—but not all repetition is equal. Spaced practice, retrieval opportunities, and varied context use all enhance vocabulary retention.
This post encourages educators to plan purposeful spiraling of academic vocabulary, so students encounter key words repeatedly and in meaningful ways over time.
Thinking Maps and Vocabulary Development
February 12, 2024
Thinking Maps provide a consistent visual language for organizing and connecting vocabulary. Whether defining terms with a Circle Map or comparing concepts with a Double Bubble Map, these tools support comprehension and long-term retention.
This week’s focus: leverage Thinking Maps not just as graphic organizers, but as scaffolds for deep vocabulary conversations.
The Importance of Using Academic Language in the Classroom
February 5, 2024
Academic conversations enhance learning. Students need structured opportunities to use domain-specific and Tier 2 vocabulary across all content areas. This post highlights how sentence frames, accountable talk protocols, and intentional modeling can transform a classroom into a language-rich environment.
Encouraging student talk helps solidify learning and ensures students aren’t just learning content—but learning to communicate that content effectively.
Vocabulary Instruction: Creating a Culture of Curiosity
January 22, 2024
Vocabulary development isn't just about memorizing definitions—it’s about building a bridge between language and meaning. This post focuses on how to make vocabulary instruction intentional, transparent, and transferable. Using morphology, context, and student-friendly strategies empowers students to become curious word learners.
When students connect new words to prior knowledge, explore word parts, and apply vocabulary in real contexts, they build deeper, more durable understanding.
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria: Why Clarity Matters
January 15, 2024
Clear learning intentions and success criteria are not just teacher tools—they are student tools. When students understand what they're learning and how they'll know they’ve learned it, their engagement and ownership increase. Drawing from Fisher and Frey’s framework, this post emphasizes that visible learning starts with visible goals.
This week, consider: Are your students able to explain the purpose of the lesson in their own words? Are you giving them the roadmap and the markers to check progress along the way?
The Power of Mistakes: Growth Mindset and Brain Development
December 4, 2023
Mistakes aren’t just opportunities for learning—they are the very moments when the brain grows. Neuroscientific research shows heightened brain activity during errors, especially among students with a growth mindset.
Cultivating a classroom culture where mistakes are welcomed encourages metacognition and resilience. As Piaget suggested, learning happens during disequilibrium—when current knowledge is challenged, and adaptation occurs. How do you frame mistakes in your classroom? Are they stepping stones or stumbling blocks?
The Brain Behind Learning: Synaptic Plasticity
November 27, 2023
Our brains are wired to learn. Synaptic plasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections, reminds us that every interaction matters. When we challenge students, support them, and encourage them, we’re strengthening neural pathways. Statements like “This is hard, but you can do it” contribute to how students perceive themselves as learners. Let’s build strong, lasting learning connections—one interaction at a time.
Empowering Students to Monitor Their Growth
November 18, 2024
As we head into the season of gratitude, it’s a perfect time to reflect on how we foster student independence. Metacognition—knowing how you learn—is critical for vocabulary mastery. Three student-centered strategies stand out:
Self-Awareness Charts
Personal Dictionaries
Vocabulary Journals
Each allows students to track, reflect, and refine their understanding of new words. These tools not only support academic achievement but also build a lasting appreciation for language.
Assessment, Feedback, and Differentiation in Math
October 30, 2023
Assessment isn’t about grades—it’s about insight. Formative feedback, not just scores, helps students reflect and improve. Differentiation, grounded in data and flexibility, ensures every student gets what they need. RTI frameworks support this by providing layers of support. The key? Quality core instruction and a mindset that prioritizes feedback over praise.
Transfer Learning: When Math Becomes Meaningful
October 23, 2023
True mastery happens when students apply what they’ve learned to new contexts. That’s the essence of transfer learning. It involves metacognition, real-world connections, and strategic use of prior knowledge. Whether through structured support (low-road) or independent exploration (high-road), teachers can design lessons that push students to apply and adapt their understanding. Think about your last math lesson—did students transfer their learning?
Promoting Deep Mathematical Learning
October 2, 2023
Deep learning builds conceptual understanding through discourse, open-ended problem solving, and frameworks like Accountable Talk. Encouraging students to explain, justify, and rephrase builds deeper engagement. Small group collaboration, Kagan structures, and language supports help ensure every student is part of the conversation. Let’s increase meaningful math talk and watch understanding deepen.
Surface Learning in Mathematics
September 25, 2023
Surface learning is the first critical step in mastering math. It includes acquiring vocabulary and procedural skills needed to move deeper. Tasks like number talks and worked examples, paired with methods like manipulatives and spaced practice, support this phase. As Hattie says, “As fast as we can, as slow as we must”—knowing when to move from surface to deeper learning is key.
Empowering Students to Monitor Their Vocabulary Growth
November 18, 2024
As we head into the season of gratitude, it’s a perfect time to reflect on how we foster student independence. Metacognition—knowing how you learn—is critical for vocabulary mastery. Three student-centered strategies stand out:
Self-Awareness Charts
Personal Dictionaries
Vocabulary Journals
Each allows students to track, reflect, and refine their understanding of new words. These tools not only support academic achievement but also build a lasting appreciation for language.
Context Clues: When They Help… and When They Don’t
October 21, 2024
Context clues are a double-edged sword. While sometimes helpful, they can also mislead. Fisher and Frey categorize them as:
Misdirective
Nondirective
General
Directive
Teaching students how to evaluate context clues—and verify meaning with morphology—strengthens comprehension. Modeling this evaluation process in real time is key. Let’s help students build not just vocabulary, but discernment.
Modeling Matters: Teaching Through Thinking Aloud
October 6, 2024
This week’s focus is on direct instruction and modeling. Some words—especially Tier 3 and complex Tier 2—require careful teaching. Using strategies like student-friendly definitions, visual representations, and repeated modeling helps deepen understanding.
Students benefit when we “think aloud” as we decode or analyze words. Modeling our metacognitive process—why we choose a definition, how we break down parts of a word—gives students tools they can internalize and apply independently.
Balancing Incidental and Explicit Word Learning
September 30, 2024
Students acquire vocabulary in two major ways:
Incidental Learning: Words picked up through reading, conversation, and media exposure.
Explicit Learning: Direct instruction of specific words and strategies.
Both are vital. While intentional teaching builds accuracy and depth, incidental exposure enhances volume and flexibility. Teachers can promote both by using academic vocabulary throughout the day and reinforcing it with strategic instruction. Remember—every moment can be a vocabulary moment.
The Gradual Release of Vocabulary Mastery
September 22, 2024
Fisher and Frey’s gradual release model offers a simple yet powerful path for vocabulary instruction:
I do: Teacher models.
We do together: Shared instruction.
You do together: Peer collaboration.
You do alone: Independent application.
Using strategies like Vocabulary CODE, Thinking Maps, and morphology-based exercises, students progress from exposure to ownership. This scaffolded approach ensures words stick—and stay useful.
Mining Standards for Key Vocabulary
September 15, 2024
State standards are a treasure trove for essential vocabulary. For example, a math standard like 5.OA.1 introduces terms like "expression," "evaluate," and "parentheses." Reviewing standards alongside assessments like CAASPP helps pinpoint which terms students must understand to succeed.
This practice ensures vocabulary instruction is not only aligned with content but also supports assessment readiness. Let’s use standards and sample questions to guide vocabulary selection that truly matters.