Let's consider the first part of  Idaho Core (CCSS) .ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.4:

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

So what do we know about vocabulary instruction and strategies that can make the difference for all of our kids when it comes to using context?  In their book, Teaching Vocabulary in All Classrooms (I LOVE this book!), Camille Blachowicz and Peter J. Fisher give us a few key pointers.

Nagy & Anderson, 1984

First, at best we can formally introduce kids to approximately 400 new words a year, but they gain 4000.  How does this happen?  Through context!

1. Experience new words in new and engaging situations.
You learn at new hobby and tons of new words come with it as you whip, saute, braise, caramelize, roast and poach.  Sometimes you find out there is more than one way to beat something.

2. Learn through "vicarious experiences."
Think of all the new words you'd gain just by watching a tennis match (By the way....I still don't understand LOVE and all the other weird scoring.  Plus, I'm apparently not supposed to talk during the match so I can't ask either!)

3.  Pick up new words through listening.
We also learn by hearing words others speak or by being read to.  My neice Addie, at 2 1/2, when asked over the phone, "What's your mama doing?", would answer, "She's helping a tustumer (customer) at the tounter (counter)."  Addie learned that lanuage from being around it.

4.  Gain words through our own personal reading.
You might be surprised if you saw my copy of Pride and Prejudice.  When my book club read this book a few years ago, I added a page and a half of new vocabulary to the front of the book.  I didn't want to stop the story to find a dictionary, and I could use enough context clues to keep going, but there were a few that got looked up later.

All of these are important ways to get repeated exposure to new vocabulary.  But the reason that L.4 is a standard is because our kids also need specific modeling of thinking processes and other strategies so that they know how the context can help them when they are on their own.

Below is a quick checklist of easy strategies for starting to support this standard and making your room a place where kids are marinated in words.

Angie and Jayna

Carol Wells!

Carol Wells won coffee this morning with the following estimation of the meaning of the last post.

"I love the after dinner conversation with the lights  streaming from the trees , while feeling utterly full from the refreshments and good friends can’t help but find laughter in my   so unfunny jokes as my niece and nephew find their grandpa’s, who  is one of the last Old Masters, yet is also modern,   fish stories to be romantic in a way that only makes them yearn to be part of it themselves."

Sobremesa might be might new favorite word!  Below is the definition of sobremesa and the forgein words used.  They were first shared on Edudemic.  I'm also attaching a fun infographic that was shared their too.  Stay tuned for a vocabulary strategy coming this week!

Angie

• Cualacino – the mark left on the table by a glass
• Komorebi – sunlight that filters through the leaves
• Jayus – A joke told so poorly and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh
• Goya – the transporting suspension of disbelief found in good storytelling
• Sobremesa – the time spent after lunch or dinner, talking with the people you shared the meal with

Did you?  I told you not too!  I want you to read the post first.

New words!  I love them.  I'm not sure how or why they have come to bring me such joy, but they still feel like a fun discovery. There is great power in words too.  There is the power to change lives, encourage, love, and unfortunately, to destroy some of the same...with one small word.

As teachers we also know that words, how to choose them, how to research them, and how to appropriately employ them (hopefully and primarily for good), can make all the difference in the successful oral and written communication of our students.  The Idaho Core Anchor standards also emphasize the importance of vocabulary instruction:  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.  For many of us, this isn't a new insight, but have we recently considered the strategies we are employing in our classrooms to instill these skills and the excitement of new words?

So, I fell in love with some new words today and I have a challenge for you.  See if you can use the context clues (Including the picture at the end.  It's ok to look now.), analyze the word parts, and (if you must) consult reference materials (Admit it! You just went to Google. So did I.) to determine the meaning of my sentence.  If you are the first to respond to me (Angie) by email, with a very close approximation of what I love to do, I'll bring you a hot beverage of your choice on a morning of your choice next week.  

And then consider, "How might I instill the love and joy of new words in my classroom this year?"

I so love a sobremesa as the komorebi lights the cualacion left from the refreshments and good friends find laughter in my jayus as my nephew and niece find goya in their grandpa's fish stories.