It’s really this simple: If students are to comprehend what they read, they have to understand the meaning of the words used in the text. Teachers, therefore, should explicitly teach students the words they need to know if they are to truly grasp the content of a story. Take the word “dinghy,” for example. Students may need to be informed before they start reading that this word is a synonym for “boat.” The concept of “boat” would most likely be within the student’s background knowledge, so explaining the new term by sharing its synonym is a relatively easy way to assure student understanding.
We should also teach important terms for content-area classes. There may be words that students do not have in their working vocabularies–such as photosynthesis or mitosis–that they would need to know in order to comprehend the subject matter being presented. Other words that should be explicitly taught are those that have multiple meanings, such as “bank.” The student would need to understand that the term could refer to a financial institution, a curve in the road with a certain slope, or the side of a river, depending on context.

Here are some additional ideas for explicitly teaching new vocabulary to students:
Definition Game. Place sight words or subject matter vocabulary words on three-by-five-inch cards. Have students take turns drawing a card from a deck placed face down. When they draw words, students must say the word and use it correctly in a sentence or give a definition. Other students can use the dictionary to challenge the definition or sentence usage. If the student is correct, he or she takes the card and places it in his or her stack. The student with the most cards at the end of play is the winner.

I’m Thinking of a Word. In this game, the selected person looks around the room at words posted on the wall or on word walls and then says, for example, “I am thinking of a word that begins with ‘b’ and has two syllables.” Students then guess the word that the person has in mind.

Bluff. For this fun game, students are divided into teams of four and are each given one word. The students must look up the dictionary definition of the word and write it on one of the cards. One student takes the real definition card. The students then work together to come up with three false definitions for the word that could seem plausible. Student groups take turns presenting their definitions to the rest of the class. Students in the other teams must guess who has the real definition card and which students are bluffing.

Rewriting Paragraphs. Find a news or magazine article (or create one) that either has a lot of fancy words or a lot of simple, short words. Have students go through the story and either clip the article by changing the long words to shorter, space-efficient words or by changing the short, abbreviated words to longer and more descriptive words. The change should not change the meaning of the original article.

Featured Words. Provide students with 10 new vocabulary words per week on a bulletin board or chalkboard. Introduce all the words on the first day and then focus on two words per day with the students. Have students explore ways to use the word correctly. During the week, listen to student conversations and point out when the student uses one of the featured words in normal conversation.

Word Origins. Have students explore English words that have foreign origins. Students can make lists classifying words by their country of origin. Compare and contrast how close the American English meaning is to the meaning of the word in the original language of the word. Students will also be surprised at how many English words have been borrowed from other languages.

Approaching UnknownWords. Students must develop “word consciousness.” This is defined as an awareness of, interest in, and inquisitiveness towards words. Use “think aloud” strategies with students to model how to approach unknown words in a sentence. When they encounter an unknown word while reading, tell students they should:
• Use the words in the rest of the sentence to predict a word that would make sense in the sentence.
• Sound out the letters in the word to see if the word is a recognizable word.
• Look for root words, prefixes, suffixes, or endings that are known in the word.
• Try to pronounce the word to see if the word is a recognizable word.
• Continuing to read the passage to see if the meaning becomes clear with additional reading.
• Use a dictionary, asking someone for help, or skipping the word.

Teaching vocabulary is a complex process that demands multiple strategies and many opportunities to interact with new vocabulary terms. Fostering a love of playing with words in the classroom can help us to ensure that the vocabulary thread is well woven throughout the reading tapestry