Building+Backgrounds

Building Backgrounds:

**Links Concepts to Students’ Background **
 * Provides Links between Past Learning and New Concepts
 * Develops Key Vocabulary

1. **Contextualizing Key Vocabulary: **
 * Review content and select key terms that are critical to understanding the lesson’s most important concepts.
 * Introduce and define terms simply and concretely
 * Demonstrate how terms are used in context
 * Explain use of synonyms, or cognates to convey meaning; clarify multiple meaning words

**2. Vocabulary Self-Selection: ** After reading a content text, students self-select vocabulary they think is essential to the understanding the content concepts.

**3. Personal Dictionaries: ** Personal dictionaries are created as an individual vocabulary and spelling resource for students.
 * Students read text with partners or teams and select unknown words
 * Teacher works with teams to review each student’s personal dictionary and provide clarifications where needed
 * Words can be arranged alphabetically, by concept, or structure

**4. Content Word Wall: **
 * Display key words are alphabetically
 * Revisit frequently during lessons
 * Have students use words throughout unit of study
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Remove some words regularly in order to keep words displayed to a reasonable number

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">5. Concept Definition Map **
 * A simple graphic system used to discuss complex concepts and clarify the meaning of a concept.

**<span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">6. ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Cloze Sentences: **

 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Teacher chooses a sentence that has a strong contextual support for the vocabulary focus word.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Possible replacement words are brainstormed
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Teacher assists students in choosing correct word

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">7. Word Sorts: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Students categorize words or phrases (previously introduced) and sort them according to meaning, structure, word endings, or sounds. This reinforces word relationships, spelling, and word structure.

**<span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">8. ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Word Generation: ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">Ex//: port// “to carry”—portable, export, transport, deport…
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">This is a review of new content vocabulary through analogy. Students brainstorm words that contain a “chunk” of a word.

**<span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">10. ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Vocabulary Games: **

 * <span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Use commercial word games to practice words—Pictionary, Scrabble, Word Search (use only for beginners, with only 5-6 words, all going left to right) Crossword Puzzles—work with a partner or in teams

**<span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">11. ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Visual Vocabulary: **

 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Use stick figures, a picture- dictionary format, or a photograph **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">. **