Choosing
Words to Study
Tompkins
describes the three tiers of the practice of choosing words to study. Tier 1, or basic words, contains words that
are used socially, in informal conversations.
Very little instruction is needed on these words. Tier 2 includes words that are used more
frequently in writing than in speaking, or “academic” words. Tompkins states, “Students often understand
the general concept represented by the word, but they don’t recognize the
specific word”. Tier 3, the most specific
tier, involves specialized words. These
words are those that are content-specific and are not frequently used in
speech; thus, it is only necessary to teach them as part of a thematic unit.
All three of
these tiers are represented in The Breadwinner, specifically in the first
chapter, as the reader is introduced to the characters, as well as the
community and culture of the characters.
Many Tier 1 and Tier 2 words are used, as well as a number or Tier 3
words. While reading the chapter, it seemed
to me that there were an overwhelming number of Tier 3 words since both the Afghan
culture and community are very different from American communities and
culture. Examples of words belonging in
each tier are listed below:
Tier 1:
- afraid
- school
- marker
- family
Tier 2:
- enemy
- forbade
- false
- attack
- conqueror
- Pashtu
- Dari
- burqa
- chador
- Taliban
- bomb
The words that seem most important to focus on to help students
better understand The Breadwinner are those that are in Tier 2 and Tier 3, specifically
forbade, attack, enemy, Taliban, and burqa.
From what I have read so far, these words are frequently used throughout
the novel. Without knowledge of their
definitions and meanings in the initial stages of the book, students will have
a difficult time comprehending the events of the story, as vocabulary is an
essential factor in comprehension levels.
For instance, the involvement and rule of the Taliban is briefly
described in the first chapter; however, Parvana and her family are confronted and
questioned by Taliban soldiers on a daily basis. Without understanding of the function and
purpose of the Taliban, students may be confused as to why Parvana and her
family are constantly harassed and oppressed.
Mini-Lesson
As stated previously, students benefit from vocabulary instruction
most if it is focused around Tier 2 words, as they have a strong impact on
students’ vocabulary development. The
Tier 2 words listed above are somewhat content-specific, but more importantly,
can be used in other subjects and across the curriculum. However, two of the Tier 3 words, burqa and Taliban, are necessary for students to know in order to understand the various unfortunate events in the novel. A possible lesson involving these words is described in the following outline:
1.
Introduction
Before beginning The Breadwinner,
students will be introduced to the words enemy, forbade, attack, Taliban, and
burqa. These words will be displayed on
the SmartBoard for all students to see.
After all five words are chorally read, the teacher will explain that
they are frequently used in the text and that it is important to become
familiar with them before reading.
2.
Prior
Knowledge
The teacher will read each word
again, but afterwards ask students to indicate if they are familiar with the
word or not by giving a thumbs up or thumbs down. The teacher will then record these numbers
for each word and place students in small groups accordingly. These groups will contain two or three students
who are familiar with a word, and two or three students who are not.
3.
Group Work
In the five small groups,
students will create a diagram for the word that they are assigned. Tompkins states, “They write the word, make a
box around it, draw several lines from the box, and add information about the
word in additional boxes they make at the end of each line” (241). The category of the word, examples, characteristics,
and a sentence using the word will be included in the diagram. While students are working, the teacher will
monitor for progress and understanding of the word and the task.
4.
Share
Once all students are finished,
the diagrams of each group will be shared with the whole class. A representative of each group will share
each branch of their diagram and answer any questions their fellow peers have
about the word.
5.
Closure
Once all groups have shared, the
teacher will explain to students that each of these words will be used
throughout the novel, so it is important to know their meanings in order to understand
the text. The teacher will then check
for any remaining questions or misconceptions about the words presented.
I think this is a great mini lesson. Having students work together with one another and grouping students that know the word with students that do not is a great idea for students to share ideas and answer each other questions. I also like that the introduction of the words will be chorally read, this way students are able to pronounce the word and hear the word out loud. I also like how students give thumbs up or down on if they know the word or not. This will provide an easy way for the teacher to see how many students know the word and which students are struggling.
ReplyDeleteA couple of areas that I would like to add is when the students are working in groups, I would provide students with dictionaries, computer and other books to look up the word and help use references from different location. There is no mention of how the student will find out what the word means and different ways to use the word. I think this lesson would be great to help students realize that they can find the answers themselves through different resources and does not have to just ask the teacher. This also leads me into worry if the whole class does not know what a word means. The lesson is set up to place students that know a word with students that do not know the word. If a group of students do not know the word I think this would be a great opportunity to work with the students in working together and using different resources other than the teacher to help them. I think this is a great lesson and since the words a directly tied into the story it will help students to want to read the book and help them learn how to break apart words and look up words that they are not familiar with in order to understand the information they are reading.
I also really enjoyed this lesson! My mentor teacher uses a strategy similar to this when she is teaching vocabulary words each week. She will say the word, have the kids repeat the word, then ask for thumbs up/down to get an indication of how familiar everyone is. She usually follows this activity by giving the students definitions of each word.
ReplyDeleteI feel that your activity for learning the new vocabulary would be much more beneficial than just telling the students the basic definitions of each word. Simply learning the dictionary definition of each word will not help the students when they are reading their novels, they need to be able to discuss the words in depth and use their own words to explain the vocabulary, I think this can be accomplished by your mini lesson activity.
I thought the words that you chose to focus on were appropriate because they were referred to a number of times throughout the story and were essential to understanding what was going on in the book.I liked how you used a combination of tier 2 and 3 words. Students will learn vocabulary that helps them describe the story and major themes as well as very content specific vocabulary.
I like the idea of having the students work together and discuss in groups to come up with ideas and definitions about each word. However, as Lorraine stated, there could be a problem if none of the students are familiar with the word, or if they have an idea(maybe even an incorrect idea) about the word but are not entirely sure what it means. I feel that the students will need resources to refer to. This doesn't necessarily mean they need dictionaries, there's actually a lot of other resources that can be used when students need to find information about vocabulary words. For many of the vocabulary words my mentor teacher uses a picture representation. Pictures could be provided for the students to give them a better idea of what some of the words actually look like. For example, burqa would be a word that would benefit from having a picture to associate with it. Other resources could include newspaper clips, online articles, videos, kid-friendly magazines, etc. These resources along with the group web activity would allow students to create well-rounded ideas of each vocabulary word. Because the students took time to look up and discuss each new word they will be more likely to read and understand them in context when reading "The Breadwinner."