BY ALLY HAUPTMAN Why do we teach vocabulary? At its core increasing a student’s vocabulary gives that student power. The power to express ideas, opinions, and feelings. The power to find the right words to persuade, inform, or to bring joy to readers. The power to build knowledge and understand complex concepts across disciplines. To effectively teach vocabulary and empower our students, teachers must provide rich and varied language experiences, learning experiences that connect words within a context, and opportunities to develop word consciousness (Allen, 2014). Students need opportunities to read, write, and talk in authentic ways. Teachers can model how to use words in context, and immerse students in the language of different disciplines. We need to show students how powerful words are in helping us communicate our ideas. We have to show them how to become “word collectors.” We need to teach vocabulary within context, and intentionally put students in situations where they make connections between words and concepts. One of the most effective ways for students to make connections and construct meaning is to make sure new vocabulary is presented within a meaningful context. This is where excellent children’s literature comes into play. There are so many brilliantly written non-fiction picture books that can be used to teach vocabulary within a context. With students, I refer to these non-fiction books that are accessible to young readers and use text features in interesting ways, as jazzy non-fiction. Students are drawn to these texts because they make the subject fascinating for readers. One author whose jazzy nonfiction I often use is Jess Keating. She is an author, artist, and zoologist who creates texts that spark curiosity about animals and women in science. In her World of Weird Animals series, she uses photographs, cartoons, and text features in unique and engaging ways. This is what makes her books so appealing to young readers, but as a teacher I am drawn to the complex vocabulary she uses in her writing. Jess Keating books can be used as mentor texts for writing, sparking a myriad of writing possibilities for students as they begin to see creative ways to write nonfiction. Jess Keating books are perfect for modeling a rich array of metacognitive comprehension strategies like determining importance. Jess Keating books are the best for teaching science concepts and related vocabulary within an authentic context. Cute As an Axolotl: Discovering the World’s Most Adorable Animals
In this text, Jess Keating and David DeGrand present a combination of stunning animal photographs, cartoon animals, and text features that invite readers to learn about some seriously cute creatures. For each animal, Keating lists facts like species name, size, diet, habitat, predators and threats. She also tells the reader strange, interesting facts that leave you wanting to do more research on these adorable creatures.
Learning Experience Using Cute As an Axolotl
|
STEP 1: |
Determine the standards, learning goals, and outcomes for an instructional unit.
|
STEP 2: |
Begin with your curriculum to integrate content.
|
STEP 3: |
Determine areas of the curriculum or unit that require additional resources for students to build conceptual knowledge.
|
STEP 4: |
Gather texts based on the topic.
|
STEP 5: |
Use texts to build a bridge between students' lived experiences and the school curriculum.
|
References
Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1998). What reading does for the mind. American Educator, 22, 8-17.
Fleming, J., Catapano, S., Thompson, C. M., & Ruvalcaba Carrillo, S. (2015). More mirrors in the classroom: Using urban children’s literature to increase literacy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Guthrie, J.T., & Wigfield, A. (2000). Engagement and motivation in reading. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research: Volume III (pp. 403-422). New York: Erlbaum.
Reynolds, R.E., Taylor, M.A., Steffensen, M.S., Shirey, L.L., & Anderson, R.C. (1982). Cultural schemata and reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 353-366.
Margaret Osgood Opatz is a doctoral student at the University of Utah in Educational Psychology. Her studies include reading, literacy, and linguistics. She is a past recipient of the CLA Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award.
Authors:
CLA Members
Supporting PreK-12 and university teachers as they share children’s literature with their students in all classroom contexts.
The opinions and ideas posted in the individual entries are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of CLA or the Blog Editors.
Blog Editors
contribute to the blog
If you are a current CLA member and you would like to contribute a post to the CLA Blog, please read the Instructions to Authors and email co-editor Liz Thackeray Nelson with your idea.
Archives
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
Categories
All
Activism
Advocacy
African American Literature
Agency
All Grades
American Indian
Antiracism
Art
Asian American
Authors
Award Books
Awards
Back To School
Biography
Black Culture
Black Freedom Movement
Bonnie Campbell Hill Award
Book Bans
Book Challenges
Book Discussion Guides
Censorship
Chapter Books
Children's Literature
Civil Rights Movement
CLA Auction
Classroom Ideas
Collaboration
Comprehension Strategies
Contemporary Realistic Fiction
COVID
Creativity
Creativity Sponsors
Critical Literacy
Crossover Literature
Cultural Relevance
Culture
Current Events
Digital Literacy
Disciplinary Literacy
Distance Learning
Diverse Books
Diversity
Early Chapter Books
Emergent Bilinguals
Endowment
Family Literacy
First Week Books
First Week Of School
Garden
Global Children’s And Adolescent Literature
Global Children’s And Adolescent Literature
Global Literature
Graduate
Graduate School
Graphic Novel
High School
Historical Fiction
Identity
Illustrators
Indigenous
Indigenous Stories
Innovators
Intercultural Understanding
Intermediate Grades
International Children's Literature
Journal Of Children's Literature
Language Arts
Language Learners
LCBTQ+ Books
Librarians
Literacy Leadership
#MeToo Movement
Middle Grade Literature
Middle Grades
Middle School
Mindfulness
Multiliteracies
Museum
Native Americans
Nature
NCTE
Nonfiction Books
Nurturing Lifelong Readers
Outside
#OwnVoices
Picturebooks
Picture Books
Poetic Picturebooks
Poetry
Preschool
Primary Grades
Primary Sources
Professional Resources
Reading Engagement
Research
Science
Science Fiction
Self-selected Texts
Social Justice
Social Media
Social Studies
Sports Books
STEAM
STEM
Storytelling
Summer Camps
Summer Programs
Teacher
Teaching Reading
Teaching Resources
Teaching Writing
Text Sets
The Arts
Tradition
Translanguaging
Trauma
Ukraine
Undergraduate
Using Technology
Verse Novels
Virtual Library
Vocabulary
War
#WeNeedDiverseBooks
YA Lit
Young Adult Literature