Teachers should designate a block of time, usually 20 to 30 minutes for vocabulary instruction. Select two or three words a day from grade-level or slightly advanced level books or short stories. When choosing words, teachers can begin with those which are relatively high in frequency and appear in a wide variety of texts. A typical lesson includes word pronunciation, spelling, definition, usage in a sentence and further explanation with examples or pictures.
Teachers of all academic subjects can implement vocabulary mini-lessons every day. Science and social studies teachers have a ready-made vocabulary list in their textbooks. Instead of having students look up the words in the glossary and re-write definitions, they can put students in small groups and have them use words correctly in a brief paragraph that helps them learn concepts being studied. For example, a science teacher gives one group the following word list: germination, coniferous and photosynthesis. Students work together to write a coherent paragraph using these words to demonstrate understanding. This technique helps teachers identify students struggling with subject-specific content.
Teachers know that children need to connect the words they learn in school to real-life experiences. To encourage this connection, teachers should extend vocabulary instruction to include independent learning. Give students extra points for being able to tell the class where they saw or heard targeted vocabulary words, such as on a television program, in the newspaper or used by family members. Hopefully, this helps students understand that vocabulary knowledge is beneficial to them outside of school.
Students should be exposed to new words many times before adding them to their vocabulary and remembering what they mean. Teachers should keep words posted on a word wall in the classroom, including a brief definition and an example. As children read stories and books in class, they can add synonyms and antonyms for these words or enhance the definitions. Teachers should periodically review words, too.