Chapter 12 Word Learning Strategies

Chapter 12 Word Learning Strategies By Rebecca Harker

Effective Word-Learning Strategies

Dictionary Use 

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Students need instruction in how to use what they find in a dictionary entry. Teacher should model how to look up meanings of unfamiliar words and how to choose appropriate definitions. Students should be taught to use a dictionary to further their knowledge of a word.

Morphemic (word part) Analysis 

Two basic types of morphemes 

Free – can stand alone as words  

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Anglo-Saxon root words Compound words

Bound – Cannot stand alone as words    

Prefixes Suffixes Greek roots Latin roots

Anglo-Saxon Root Words 

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Cannot be broken down into smaller words or word parts Knowing the meaning of one root word helps the student learn the meaning of other related words

Compound Words  

Contains two word parts. The meaning of some compound words is equal to the meaning of the two word parts. 

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Example: doghouse, bluebird

Other compound words have a meaning different than their two parts. 

Example: butterfly, airline

Prefixes   

Affixes that come before root word. Can alter the meaning of the word. Reasons to teach prefixes.     

Small number of them Used in a large number of words Usually consistently spelled Easy to identify Have clear meaning

Suffixes   

Affixes that follow root words. Can alter the meaning of the word. Two types 

Inflectional (-s, -es, -ed, -ing) 

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Change the form of the word but not its speech part

Derivational (-ful, -less) 

Alter root meaning

Greek and Latin Roots  

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Cannot stand alone as words in English. Most appear in combination with each other Common Greek and Latin Roots (See pg. 494)

Cognate Awareness 

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Words in two languages that share similar spelling, pronunciation and meaning. Several categories of cognates    

Cognates that are spelled identically Cognates that are spelled nearly the same Cognates that are pronounced nearly the same False Cognates 

Pairs of words that are spelled identically or nearly identically but do NOT share the same meaning.

Contextual Analysis 

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Understanding the meaning of a word by using the surrounding text. Helpful context clues (see pg. 499)  

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Definition Synonym Antonym Example General

Unhelpful context clues  

Misdirective Nondirective

Word-Learning Strategies Students will learn words independently if they are taught strategies for determining meaning.

Word-Learning Strategies 

Sequence of Instruction 

Contextual Analysis 1st – Context clues in read-alouds 2nd – Context clues in independently read texts 3rd – Types of context clues

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Morphemic Analysis 1st – Compound words 2nd – Prefixes and derivational suffixes with Anglo-Saxon root words 3rd – Greek words 4th – Latin roots 5th – Greek and Latin roots plus affixes

Teaching Word-Learning Strategies 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Using the Dictionary Pave Procedure Concept of Definition Map Compound Words Word Familes Word-Part Clues Context Clues Vocabulary Strategy

Using the Dictionary 

Direct Explanation 

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Use dictionaries to define, clarify and confirm meaning of words Display Guidelines for Using Dictionary (see pg. 507)

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Teach/ Model  

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Read all the entries Read all the different meaning in an entry Choose the meaning that makes the most sense

Using the Dictionary Cont. 

Guided Practice 

Practice “Guidelines for Using the Dictionary” with the class.

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Independent Practice 

Allow class time for independent practice

PAVE Procedure Stands for: Prediction, Association, Verification and Evaluation

PAVE Procedure 

Direct Explanation 

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Explain to student that PAVE can help them determine meaning to unfamiliar words.

Teach/Model 

PAVE Map (see pg 512)

PAVE Procedure Map 

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1. Copy the Context Sentence 2. Print the Target Word 3. Predict the Word’s Meaning 4. Write a Sentence Using the Word’s Predicted Meaning

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5. Use Dictionary to Verify the Word’s Meaning 6. Revise the Sentence Using the Word’s Verified Definition 7. Draw a Picture to Associate the Word’s Meaning

PAVE Procedure Cont. 

Guided Practice  

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Give student copy of PAVE map. Guide students through the steps

Independent Practice

Concept of Definition Map Three Elements

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1. What is it? 

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2. What is it like? 

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Category the word belongs to. Characteristics of the word.

3. What are Some Examples?

Concept of Definition Map Cont. 

Direct Explanation 

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Teach/Model 

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Explain this map will help them understand three elements of good definition Complete the map (See pg. 517)

Guided Practice Independent Practice

Compound Words 

Direct Explanation 

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Teach/Model 

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Meaning can sometimes be understood by the smaller two word parts of compound word. For ideas see pg 522

Guided Practice Independent Practice

Word Familes 

Direct Explanation 

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Remind student root word cannot be broken into smaller words Group of words with same root word is called Word Family

Teach/Model  

Display examples of word families Explain meaning of root word

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Guided Practice

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Independent Practice

Word-Part Clues   

Prefixes Suffixes Roots