Friday, April 3, 2009

Topic: Vocabulary and Reading

Elementary School Topic

10-second review: Types of vocabulary learned by young children and their relationship to reading.

Title: “Missing in Action: Vocabulary Instruction in Pre-K.” SB Neuman and J Dwyer. Reading Teacher (February 2009), 384-392. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Summary/Quote: “Vocabulary refers to words we must know to communicate effectively: words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary). Children use the words they hear to make sense of the words they will eventually see in print.” p. 385.

Comment: And teachers use a variety of tools, including phonics, to help children recognize (word recognition) the words they already know in print. Vocabulary refers to words they do not already know—a distinction I rarely see in articles on teaching reading. Word recognition and vocabulary are, in my mind, different. Word recognition refers to words the children already know the meaning of. Vocabulary consists of words with which the children are unfamiliar. Those words have to be explained. RayS.

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