Reading First New Jersey - Professional Development
Video-based Reading Strategies and Techniques: Fluency
Resources - Vocabulary
| Acquiring New Vocabulary Through Book Discussion Groups | This lesson explores various ways in which the teacher can foster students' vocabulary skills through direct instruction and small-group discussions. Grades 3-5. |
| The Big Green Monster Teaches Phonics in Reading and Writing | In this lesson students begin with a shared reading of a story. They also play a card game to reinforce high-frequency vocabulary. Grades K-2. |
| Figurative Language: Teaching Idioms | In this lesson, students explore figurative language with a focus on the literal versus the metaphorical translations of idioms. Grades 3-5. |
| Learning Vocabulary Down By the Bay | This lesson uses a popular children's song that contains several high-frequency vocabulary words to assist students in recognizing, reading, writing, and using the words in several contexts. Grades K-2. |
| Some Empirical Findings on How First and Second Language Learners Acquire New Vocabulary | A primary research article in which "...studies looked at the acquisition of literacy skills like vocabulary and grammar among first and second language learners, both children and adults." Scroll down to page 6 for the article. |
| Vocabulary Acquisition: Synthesis of the Research | In this report, several conclusions are made, such as "Even as early as kindergarten, sizable differences are found between students in the number of words known. This vocabulary gap tends to increase significantly throughout school. Thus, early differences in vocabulary knowledge have strong implications for students' long-term educational success." |
Read*Write*Think contains a wealth of reading and writing lessons. It is a collaborative effort between the International Reading Association, NCTE, and Marco Polo.
Bank Street's Guide to Literacy for Volunteers and Tutors, Bank Street College of Education provides reading tutors with a variety of information ranging from background information on literacy and early reading, sample lesson plans, activities, and information on other literacy and reading resources.
Instructional Resources Database: Instructional Activities from SEDL is a search tool for locating instructional activities.
