Running head: Vocabulary Development 1

Vocabulary Development:

Supporting New Vocabulary for All Learners

Shannon Skelton

National University
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Abstract

The following two lesson plans are designed to introduce key terms at the beginning of

the lesson or unit, in order to build the foundation for reading comprehension and content

literacy. The vocabulary words are crucial to understanding Chapter 12 in the Prentice Hall,

Focus on California Life Science Seventh Grade textbook. The two lessons were chosen to best

represent the list of vocabulary words and appeal to a diverse student population.
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Introduction

Most seventh grade, public school science classes follow the guidelines of the Prentice

Hall textbooks for unit plans throughout the year. As such, key terms are derived from those

highlighted in the text. However, rather than assigning textbook reading and associated note-

taking for individual study, teachers should prepare their students for reading comprehension

through class and group learning activities before they are asked to interpret text. As such,

research has conrmed the need to introduce terminology before students read, as a means of

removing roadblocks to comprehension (McKenna & Robinson, 2014, p. 86). Moreover,

terminology should be stressed in a more meaningful way than highlighting key terms and

writing the definition to study for the test. Rather, techniques must be sought that relate new

vocabulary to old and stress the interrelationships among words in a way that is most effective

and memorable for the set of words (McKenna & Robinson, 2014, p. 87). Science terms are

often interrelated as key parts to a whole process, and therefore I feel that the set of vocab words

are best represented through two different learning activities involving graphic organizers.

Unit Vocabulary Words

muscular system involuntary muscles smooth muscle cardiac muscle

voluntary muscles skeletal muscle striated muscle

skeletal system joints immovable joints movable joints

ligaments cartilage compact bone spongy bone

bone marrow red marrow yellow marrow

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Graphic Organizer: Tree Diagram

Just as young students are constantly seeking out answers to interpersonal relationships,

their minds crave a deeper understanding of the relationships within their curriculum. Rather

than saying a solitary word and expecting a student to pull the definition out of their extensive

and ever-expanding dictionary, students should see key terms as part of a puzzle that fits together

and understand relationships between terms and concepts, not just definitions (McKenna &

Robinson, 2014, p. 99). When key terms break down or expand upon other vocabulary, graphic

organizers, namely tree diagrams, are a tremendous visual and systematic aid for developing

content literacy. I have chosen to display the terms using a tree diagram because students will be

able to compare the terms to each other linearly and laterally. They can also break the tree down

even further or extend more branches as they continue with their reading and pick out key

concepts in the chapter. The tree diagrams below are typical of what I would ask students to

work through with a partner at the beginning of class, based on their previous knowledge and

deductive reasoning. However, the tree diagram is easily manipulated depending on the needs of

the class. I can fill the diagram in further for EL or special needs students or let accelerated

students create their own tree diagram based off of the word bank. Students would have 8

minutes to fill in their tree diagrams and then we would review as a class using the projector.

Students are encouraged to discuss their reasoning and share the relationship between the words

that they interpreted. Finally, a sizable body of research has determined that graphic organizers

are highly effective tools for helping students understand the important relationships that exist

among technical concepts and for this reason, a tree diagram is highly effective in forming a

systematic understanding of the muscular and skeletal system terms at hand (McKenna &

Robinson, 2014, p. 99).

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Graphic Organizer: Labeled Diagram

One thing that really excites me about teaching science is the possibility of bringing

terms and concepts out of the textbook pages and into life in my classroom. When the subject

matter is so real and tangible as parts of the human body, pictures, diagrams, models, etc. should

be employed to demonstrate what it is and how it works. As stated by McKenna and Robinson,

when a cluster of terms is related chiefly by the location of the things to which they refer, a

picture with the terms as labels can be highly effective in teaching both the location and the

function of the term (2014, p. 94). Teaching the anatomy of plants and animals is the perfect

environment to use diagrams, and by having students label using their key terms they are

retaining a visual understanding of the curriculum. However, diagrams do not speak for
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themselves, and students sometimes have difculty interpreting them (McKenna & Robinson,

2014, p. 100).Therefore students must be given ample resources to solve the puzzle, whether it

be their text book, examples done in class, internet research access, etc. I plan to let students use

their textbooks and their iPads to research the correct labels to the diagrams below. EL and

special needs students can work with a partner. Answer keys are shown above the blank versions

that I pass out to the students, and they can be modified to made more challenging or supportive

as necessary.
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Conclusion

While graphic organizers will namely appeal to visual learners like myself, these teaching

techniques are highly effective for a variety of learners as it adds context and relationships to the

key terms. As such, graphic organizers have been used successfully with a wide variety of

populations, such as students with various types of language disorders, physical disabilities,

learning problems, and limited English procient (McKenna & Robinson, 2014, p. 90).

Students are able to use their prior knowledge, classroom resources, teamwork, and educated

guesses to unscramble their key terms and make sense of the terms relationships to each other as

well as their personal, bodily relationship to these terms. These two learning activities put the

key terms into perspective and offer an interpersonal relationship between student and

curriculum, and therefor are effective tools in developing vocabulary and setting the groundwork

for reading comprehension.

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References

McKenna, M. & Robinson, R. (2014). Teaching through text: Reading and writing in the content

area. Boston, MA: Pearson, Inc.

Padilla, M.J., Miaoulis, I., & Cyr, M. (2007). Focus on California life science. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.