The days of writing the definition of new vocabulary words on Monday and having a quiz on Friday are over. Now, students are to take ownership of their new words. Can they do that? In Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, Marzano, et al. has a five-step process that he considers “the most powerful way to teach new terms and phrases” (128). Through his research, Marzano gained insight about how students learn vocabulary terms. Here are the five generalizations that came from his research:
How Do I Implement this Process Within My Class?
- Instruct students with a brief description of the new vocabulary word.
- Give students a nonlinguistic representation of the word.
- Have students generate their own definition of the word.
- Have students create their own nonlinguistic representation of the word.
- Occasionally, have students review the accuracy of the word.
I created a freebie PDF just for you so that you may use it within your classroom. I have listed the steps for processing the vocabulary along with an example of what each step could look like. I hope you will enjoy the freebie and place it near your desk to reflect on it when it is time to introduce a new vocabulary term.
Work Cited
Marzano, Robert J. Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. Alexandria, Va.:Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001.
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