Teaching Vocabulary in the Classroom

This week in class, we talked about methods and challenges of teaching vocabulary. In thinking about utilizing vocabulary at the first grade level and looking at the methods used in my field placement, I have numerous frustrations.

I have really not noticed any time set aside for vocabulary instruction in my classroom. Vocabulary is sometimes integrated into other subjects, but is not done so very often. For example, during a math lesson just recently, the first graders learned about greater than and less than comparisons. Because of this particular lesson, the students now understand what greater than and less than mean.

One method that my CT uses for teaching vocabulary is the utilization of worksheets. I would have to say that as far as I can tell, the worksheets are not proving to be effective whatsoever. The use of worksheets to teach vocabulary is not improving the students' skills in reading or writing from what I can tell. The use of only worksheets to teach such a valuable aspect of language arts frustrates me because I feel that students are not getting as much out of the lessons as they could be.

On a brighter note, I have noticed a method that my CT uses that I believe has proven to be rather effective. Every day after the students return from lunch/recess, my CT reads a book to the class. During this time, my CT will read through the book and when she comes to a word that the students might not know, she will take a bit of time to talk about the word and how it relates to the story. This method really helps the students to understand these new words, and they seem to enjoy when my CT introduces new words to them.

I wish that I could see a bit more creativity when it comes to vocabulary instruction in my CT's classroom. I definitely believe that vocabulary should be set aside and taught on its own once in a while. I also believe that vocabulary can be effectively integrated into other subjects as well. With a combination of these two methods and an emphasis on creativity to form lesson plans, I feel that vocabulary could be effectively taught in a classroom. Worksheets are not always the answer!