Vocabulary Instruction: Examples and Non-Examples

One of the facets of teaching that is still difficult to me is reading my students' understanding of vocabulary words. It occurs to me that even though my students may be able to tell me a definition of a word or point to the word on the word wall, that their true understanding and ability to apply this new vocabulary goes without being noticed. While I was reading Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching by Anita L. Archer and Charles A. Hughes (2011), I was provided with many strategies to use to both teach vocabulary and assess for understanding. One very simple and seemingly effective scenario was presented as follows: (Lesson was teaching vocabulary word elude to prep for reading a biography on Harriet Tubman, but method is adaptable to any content)

"Please get out your Yes and No cards. I will ask a question. When I say, 'Show me,' hold up a Yes or a No card.

If a slave wanted to elude patrollers, would that slave protest slave practices in the marketplace? [Pause.] Show me. [Students hold up a No card.] Ones, tell your partner why runaway slaves would not protest slave practices in the marketplace.

If a slave wanted to elude patrollers, would that slave move only at night and then sleep undercover during the day? [Pause.] Show me. [Students hold up a Yes card.] Twos, tell your partner why a slave would move only at night and sleep undercover during the day." (page. 77)

This was a simple way to help students develop examples and non-examples for a word. Also, completing an activity like this would be especially helpful for a classroom containing students on multiple levels. Numbering students by ones and twos allows the teacher to purposefully number students. The higher level student could be asked to "tell their partner" first, to provide a model to a student who might need extra support in that area.

Archer and Hughes argue that, "In fact, a vocabulary word or concept is not truly understood unless the learner has learned both when and when not to apply it" (2010, p. 53). Completing and activity like this might help our students develop the associations and categories necessary for taking a vocabulary word from the wall to their language.

Works Cited:

Archer, A., & Hughes, C. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. New York: The Guilford Press.