![]() I try to keep the game moving, and I am also taking mental notes on the words that students think they know and the words that are new to nearly everyone).Īfter the 4-Corners game is over, I like to make a class word knowledge continuum to post in the room. ![]() (I use a bell to get their attention when they have moved to a new spot and are noisy. ![]() I post these posters in the corners of the room and have students move around to their "word knowledge" comfort level as I call out the vocabulary words. Using the list of words I have drafted, I play a game of 4 corners with my students using the 4 levels of word knowledge:Ģ) I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means.ģ) I know one definition could use the word in a sentence.Ĥ) I know many ways this word can be used, can explain the word, and can give examples. I use these word lists with the following strategies: 1) Vocabulary Knowledge Continuum I type these words in large font, copied onto card stock, and laminated them for posting in the classroom. You can read more about the process my grade-level team went through to identify our "tier-3" key vocabulary for our units in this post. (This works for social studies and other content-areas too!)įirst, I prepare a list of key words for the unit, including a few words that are not necessarily new for our grade-level, but that will provide students with some words that they feel confident about. (Believe me, #ImGUILTY!) Engaging & Assessing Students' Background Knowledge at the Beginning of Your UnitĪt the beginning of our science units, I use three main strategies to assess students' background knowledge and expose them to key vocabulary that they will need to master. >We busy our students with ACTIVITIES and then wonder why they don't remember things. We don't spend enough time having them work with and utilize the VOCABULARY of the domain. I think this is because we often don't spend enough time helping students access and master the vocabulary of the content area. Think about it.students have "experienced" content in previous years, they have read about the content (potentially glazing over the vocabulary words that the *teacher* knows are important for the content), and they have probably been quizzed or tested on the content- only to move on to the next grade level without really being able to ACCESS their "learning" quickly to attain new concepts. I think that VOCABULARY MASTERY is one of the places where the ball of all of the above gets dropped. How do we get new information to "stick" and stay so that it is accessible not just for the duration of our unit or grade level, but as a permanent fixture ready to be accessed whenever it is needed? It is a start but is not exhaustive.The problem is there are so many steps along the way where the ball can easily get dropped and the information/understanding/skill doesn't get filed away into students' long-term memory. Please note that, like all dictionaries, this is a work in progress. In the video to the right, Geoff explains the purpose of the dictionary, how it was created, how it works, and who it is for. ![]() To address these concerns DeafTEC, with the support of a gift from The Dow Chemical Company, has developed this STEM ASL Dictionary under the stewardship of Geoff Poor, Professor of American Sign Language (ASL) at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, NY. For the deaf or hard-of-hearing student, this is extremely problematic and interferes with the acquisition of knowledge. In educational settings, these technical signs may also be different from one course to the next, and from one instructor to the next. Since the vocabularies of STEM disciplines are often not used in the common vernacular of the ASL community, interpreters, teachers and tutors are forced to create technical signs for these words or concepts ad hoc, which may result in signs that lack both semantic accuracy and specificity.
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