Word 1-surreptitious-describes act that is performed or achieved by stealth or secret

Dictionary Definitions–adjective1.obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine: a surreptitious glance.2.acting in a stealthy way.3.obtained by subreption; subreptitious.Synonyms-covertly, secretly

Ms. Smiles stepped out of the room a moment to grab some copies she left in the workroom.As she walked in she complimented the class on their excellent behavior. It took Ms. Smiles a minute to notice that a student had flipped his desk upside down and was sitting normally reading his book. She walked up to him looking confused trying to figure out what was odd.The boy's surreptitious act caused the class to laugh hysterically when the she noticed his desk was flipped upside down.

Word 2-sagacious-describes someone who is wise and demonstrates good judgment

Dictionary Defintions–adjective1.having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd: a sagacious lawyer.2.Obsolete . keen of scent.

— adj1. having or showing sagacity; wise2. obsolete (of hounds) having an acute sense of smell

Brittany walked passed Al's locker several times a day. He was cute and seemed friendly. She noticed the scattered papers in his discombobulated locker. Later that afternoon she noticed that he was flirting with two other girls and overheard a teacher fussing at him for incomplete assignments. Demonstrating her sagacious nature, Brittany decided she wasn't interested in Al anymore. He wasn't that cute.

“Vocabulary Instruction that inspires fascination with words needs to be robust: vigorous, strong, and powerful in effect. It also needs to be interactive and motivating.”

Why Teach Vocabulary?

Problems with Dictionary Definitions

Typical student sentences after consulting the dictionary

Does this demonstrate understanding of the words within an appropriate context?

We must create student friendly definitions.

Why should we teach vocabulary?

·Vocabulary knowledge is strongly related to reading proficiency and achievement.·Often context is an inadequate vehicle for learning unfamiliar word because often it doesn't given enough information about the unfamiliar word. ·People must have multiple encounters with the words at least 12-15 before a deeper word knowledge is attained. ·A combination of definitional and contextual approaches is more effective than either approach alone.

Who should teach vocabulary?ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO TEACHES KIDS!

What Research Says...

·Vocabulary knowledge is fundamental to reading comprehension; one cannot understand text without knowing what most of the words mean (Nagy, 1988).·A wealth of research has documented the strength of the relationship between vocabulary and comprehension. The proportion of difficult words in a text is the single most powerful predictor of text difficulty, and a reader’s general vocabulary knowledge is the single best predictor of how well that reader can understand text (Anderson & Freebody, 1981).

What vocabulary should be taught?

3 Tiers of Vocabulary

Tier 1: Basic words which rarely require instruction house, book, shoeTier 2: Words that are of high frequency for mature language users and are found across a variety of domains ludicrous, vanished, coincidence Tier 3: Words whose frequency of use is quite low and often limited to specific domains

orthography, endocrine, molecule

Tier 2 words should be targeted for instructional use since they frequently appear in various contexts. Tier 3 words may be included when necessary to understand concepts within context.

How many vocabulary words are appropriate for instruction at one time?

·10 words at most

·2 out of 10 words should be review.

·Why? Studies have shown that introducing more than 10 words per week doesn’t provide adequate interaction with the vocabulary necessary for deeper retention.

Activity 1Alike and DifferentWhat is alike and different about sagacious and circumspect?

Questions, Reasons, ExamplesHow positive would it be take to ...A. sagaciously determine how to fix your car B. surreptitiously eat a candy bar before dinnerC. sagaciously make your brother perform a surreptitious act

Activity 2

Cloze sentences that make the child consider deeper meanings.

A ____________ child would eat the last brownie before anyone else noticed.

It would not be __________ to stand out in a thunderstorm with a large metal pole.

What do I do to make vocabulary instruction robust to provide a deeper understanding of words?

Provide meaningful activities that support students in developing connections with the word and discussing the various facets of word meanings.

Provide multiple encounters with semantic relationships among words. (synonyms, antonyms)

Have students write sentences for each word, but provide hooks which they can center their thoughts.

Can you think of anyone you would call a misanthrope? What does he or she do to cause you to label him or her so?

Philanthropist is definitionally the opposite of misanthrope. Discuss.

Is inhospitable active or passive?

How do we measure whether word knowledge is attained?

Matching assessments do not tell teachers that the instructional goal has been reached. They can’t differentiate shallow from deep word knowledge and are based on rote memorization rather than deeper understanding of the word.

Assessments should be based upon application of the words to various concepts through carefully created multiple choice questions and placing word phrases within a word line that represents a continuum. This should elicit students to provide explanations that target word meanings.

For example: How much energy does it take to...

1. meander down a hill2. banter with your best friend for an hour3. be a spectator at a concert4. stalk a turtle

Check what you know1. If a person is surreptitious you might expect him or her to be:

a. cheeryb. underhandedc. blatant

2. If you met a sagacious person you would not expect him or her to be:

a. reasonableb. foolishc. profound

3. Describe a time when you acted surreptitiously. 4. Describe what is alike and/or different about these related words. sagacious/circumspect

Beck, I.L., Mckeown, M.G., & Kucan. L. (2002). Bringing words to life:robust vocabulary instruction. New York: The Guildford Press.