FEATURE ARTICLE

Going Nuts for Words:

Recommendations for Teaching Young
Students Academic Vocabulary
Tricia A. Zucker, Sonia Q. Cabell, Danielle L. Pico

Teachers of young children can consider how to directly teach academic

vocabulary and motivate their prekindergarten to grade 1 students to be
interested in using these words.

H
ave you ever had a young child ask you what a academic advantage as this knowledge builds over
word means and, although you knew the word, time (Stanovich & Cunningham, 1993).
you struggled to explain this in a way the child Building vocabulary should start early in chil-
could understand? Asking what a word means is a dren’s lives. Young children must learn a large
valuable word learning strategy. Educators should number of words each school year to be success-
celebrate such questions that demonstrate chil- ful readers. Researchers have varied in their esti-
dren’s interest in words. mates of how many words children must learn to
In this article, we explain why early vocabu- be successfully prepared for college and careers,
lary development is critical to later reading success but estimates range from 3,000 to 4,000 words per
and describe strategies for high-quality vocabu- year (Anderson & Nagy, 1993; Snow & Kim, 2007).
lary instruction. Throughout, we share examples of Therefore, from the youngest grades, educators
effective vocabulary instruction observed through must be intentional about providing children with
our research in early childhood classrooms (e.g., experiences to build a broad vocabulary.
Zucker et al., 2019, 2020). We conclude with evidence
that early childhood teachers can improve both the
quantity and the quality of their academic vocabu- A Comprehensive
lary instruction with these instructional strategies. Vocabulary Approach
What does a complete vocabulary program for young
The Importance of Vocabulary children include? Graves, Schneider, and Ringstaff
(2018) have long argued that a comprehensive vocab-
Building a strong vocabulary is essential for read- ulary program for in upper elementary includes four
ing and broader academic success (Foorman et al., components: wide reading, direct instruction for
2016). Indeed, vocabulary is a strong determinant of
reading comprehension (Ricketts, Nation, & Bishop,
Tricia A. Zucker is an associate professor in the Children’s
2007). Knowing the meanings of words in a text
Learning Institute at The University of Texas Health
enables the reader to better comprehend (Wright &
Science Center at Houston, USA; email tricia.zucker@uth.
Cervetti, 2017). Moreover, vocabulary is viewed as tmc.edu.
an indicator of what children know about the natu- Sonia Q. Cabell is an assistant professor in the Florida
ral and social world (Anderson & Nagy, 1993). Having Center for Reading Research and the College of
broad world knowledge and vocabulary provides an Education at Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA;
email [email protected].
Danielle L. Pico is a doctoral student in the School
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and Childhood Studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville,
distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use
USA; email [email protected].
is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

© 2021 The Author. The Reading Teacher

published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf
The Reading Teacher   Vol. 0   No. 0   pp. 1–14 1 doi:10.1002/trtr.1967   of International Literacy Association.
 Feature Article

individual words, word learning strategies, and word Snell, 2016), multiple-turn conversations (e.g., Cabell,
consciousness. These four components are effec- Justice, McGinty, DeCoster, & Forston, 2015), and
tive in grades 2–5 (Blachowicz, Baumann, Manyak, & engaging science, social studies, or other content
Graves, 2013). area instruction (Gonzalez et al., 2010). Although
We have extended this comprehensive vocabu- incidental word learning opportunities are essential,
lary model for younger prekindergarten to grade 1 our focus in this article is on the other two compo-
children who cannot yet read widely on their own or nents: direct vocabulary instruction and promoting
use word learning strategies such word consciousness.
as referencing dictionaries. On the PAUSE AND PONDER
basis of vocabulary programs eval-
uated with younger prekindergar-
■ How much instructional time
Why Is Direct
ten through grade 1 children (e.g.,
Coyne, McCoach, Loftus, Zipoli,
(minutes) might you devote daily to Vocabulary Instruction
& Kapp, 2009; Neuman & Kaefer,
directly teaching vocabulary?
Important?
2018; Zucker et al., 2019), educators ■ What steps do you use to plan how Incidental learning happens
should promote incidental vocabu- you will teach academic words to through mere exposure to a
young children? word; in contrast, direct vocabu-
lary learning, provide direct vocab-
ulary instruction, and foster word ■ How do you celebrate and reinforce lary instruction includes asking
consciousness. These three com- learning when children use children to attend to a word’s
ponents are illustrated in Figure 1. sophisticated words? explanation and remember its
Extensive empirical research ■ How might you increase children’s meaning. Although children do
has suggested that various rich lan- motivation to learn new vocabulary learn words incidentally from
guage experiences promote inci- and understand the power of words? quality language input, directly
dental word learning: shared book teaching vocabulary improves
reading (e.g., Wasik, Hindman, & recall of words and deepens

Figure 1
Components of a Comprehensive Vocabulary Program for Young Children

Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

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understanding of the word’s meaning (e.g., Penno, some approaches encourage tracking and celebrat-
Wilkinson, & Moore, 2002; Sonbul & Schmitt, 2010). ing when children use focal words (Zucker et al.,
Research has repeatedly demonstrated that chil- 2019).
dren learn words they are directly taught (Marulis &
Neuman, 2010). For example, a seminal study found
children learned 25% more words when teachers What Words Are Worth Teaching?
directly explained word meanings during shared book Although researchers have suggested different
reading, compared with simply hearing them read approaches to determining which words are worthy
aloud (Elley, 1989). Extensive evidence demonstrates of the limited instructional time (Beck, McKeown, &
that the quality of direct instruction as well as subse- Kucan, 2013; Biemiller, 2010), there is consensus that
quent opportunities to use new words helps solidify young children are able to learn sophisticated words
vocabulary learning (e.g., Coyne et al., 2009; Penno et that express a known concept with more precision
al., 2002). or nuance.
Importantly, using words encourages active, Current recommendations for evidence-based
rather than passive engagement with vocabulary. practice (Foorman et al., 2016) include an explicit
Providing multiple opportunities for discussion and instructional focus on academic vocabulary that
practice using new words is more effective than pro- comprises two types of sophisticated vocabulary:
viding definitions alone (Ebbers & Denton, 2008). For (a) domain-general topics, most of which include
example, a recent study demonstrated that having concepts that are not present in the immediate
children engage with teachers and their peers in cen- context, such as emotions, cognition, judgments,
ter activities that used taught vocabulary improved causal explanations, or predictive inferences; and
general vocabulary skills (Wasik & Hindman, 2020). (b) domain-specific topics that are technical vocabu-
Children’s use of taught vocabulary is essential for lary specific to various disciplines such as science,
deep understanding of word meanings; therefore, engineering, history, or the arts. See Figure 2 with

Figure 2
Three Types of Words

• Common words
• Typically learned independently through daily
Basic words conversaons or shared reading
• Examples: phone, book, mad

Domain- • Used in a variety of texts and learning domains

general • More precise or complex form of a concept
sophiscated • Important for comprehension of all text genres
words • Examples: clever, complicated, frustrated

Domain- • Specific to a learning domain or subject area

specific • Important for comprehension of informaonal
technical text genres
words • Examples: photosynthesis, ukulele

Note. Focus direct instruction on sophisticated and technical words.

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examples of these types of academic words and multiple meanings facilitates flexible word learn-
nonacademic, basic words. ing strategies. Similarly, even preschool-age bilin-
Some experts (Beck et al., 2013) use synony- gual children can readily learn cognates, words that
mous terms like Tier 1 for basic words, Tier 2 for sound the same and have similar meanings across
domain-general academic words, and Tier 3 for languages (e.g., Lindgren & Bohnacker, 2019).
domain-specific words. Basic words do not need
direct instruction in most cases. English learners
may require direct teaching of some basic words, but Why Is Word Consciousness Beneficial
they can also learn and use sophisticated words (see for Young Learners?
Manyak & Bauer, 2009). Children (and adults) who are word conscious are
When teaching academic vocabulary, consider interested in learning new words and motivated to
referring to these as “amazing words” or “wondrous use them correctly (Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2008). If
words.” Early in the school year, introducing a term like direct instruction is the initial invitation to learn a
this allows children to understand these are powerful new word, word consciousness supports are the next
words that warrant attention. Academic vocabulary is step to harnessing the power of words as children
a key currency in school because it is required for suc- make them their own in conversations. Given that
cess in classroom discourse and learning from texts in children need to learn thousands of words per year,
elementary school through college (Snow, 2010). getting children to love new words becomes critical.
Importantly, vocabulary instruction should teach There is limited research on the effectiveness of pro-
conceptually related words to expand semantic net- moting word consciousness. Yet it stands to reason
works and to ensure that children learn conceptually that promoting word consciousness can support lan-
linked categories of words (see Hadley, Dickinson, guage and reading outcomes (Scott & Nagy, 2004).
Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2019; Manyak & Latka, Launching a playful word consciousness pro-
2020). Curricula that are designed to systematically gram during prekindergarten through grade 1 may
teach conceptual knowledge in science and social support positive word learning dispositions that are
studies topics lend themselves to repeated exposure sustained into later grades when children need to
to related words (Gonzalez et al., 2010; Neuman & be motivated to look up unknown vocabulary they
Kaefer, 2018). Importantly, these curricula encour- encounter in reading and use precise, academic
age children to actively use newly learned words in words in their writing (Baumann, Ware, & Edwards,
conversation. 2007). Combining word consciousness supports with
direct vocabulary instruction is a promising practice
for the following reasons:
Word-Learning Strategies
for Young Children ■ Word learning is incremental: Distributing practice
Asking questions such as “What is that for?” or “What hearing and using words over time will improve
does that mean?” are important tools young children learning.
use for cognitive development and word learning ■ Word knowledge is complex: Understanding a
(Chouinard, Harris, & Maratsos, 2007). By preschool, word receptively is an important step for young
children have sophisticated skills in actively process- learners, but being able to eventually use a
ing new words and inferring their meaning. Young word in conversation requires multiple encoun-
children test their hypotheses about word meanings ters with words in diverse contexts.
using a process of elimination (Halberda, 2006), but ■ Young learners are proud of using big words: An
the trial-and-error processing of guessing a word’s early mind-set that young children can use
meaning can lead to errors (Warmington, Hitch, & sophisticated words may produce positive
Gathercole, 2013). Asking adults what words mean beliefs that support later literacy.
can reduce errors in word leaning.
Young learners, ages 4 to 6 years, demonstrate
increasing f lexibility in learning new words and
multiple meanings (Deák, 2000). Thus, a second
Planning Direct Instruction
word learning strategy is noticing words that have of Academic Words
multiple meanings, such as an ocean wave and using In this section, we elaborate on practical components
your hand to wave goodbye. Noting words that have for planning direct vocabulary instruction based on

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the research summarized earlier and our work with Although educators may reasonably arrive at dif-
early childhood teachers (e.g., Zucker et al., 2019; ferent final lists of words worth teaching, what is
Zucker, Solari, Landry, & Swank, 2013). All teacher important is to use a systematic selection process
names are pseudonyms. in which you articulate why you selected words that
are (a) essential for comprehension, (b) accessible for
children’s level, and (c) valuable for long-term read-
Create a Vocabulary-Focused Shared
ing and academic success. For example, Figure  3
Reading Routine shows the steps we used to select a set of four words
Vocabulary-focused shared book reading is a central to teach from a long list of potential words within
component within most intentional vocabulary pro- a popular version of the classic folk tale The Three
grams (see Wasik et al., 2016). Three or four times a Little Pigs:
week, plan to read aloud a book that contains aca-
demic vocabulary. Consider using the steps detailed in 1. List all the words that are potent ially
Table 1 to preview academic vocabulary before read- unknown, important, or difficult.
ing, elaborate on them during reading, and extend 2. Cross out words that are not essential for
opportunities to use these words after reading. comprehension.
3. Cross out words that can be understood
through context or illustrations.
Choose Words to Teach 4. Star the sophisticated (high-mileage) words.
As stated, academic words that warrant direct teach-
5. Circle the final words you will teach.
ing include both domain-general sophisticated words
and domain-specific technical words (see Figure 2). We recommend teaching two to three words
Our approaches follow other detailed resources on per reading. Ms. Hartmann selected four words to
selecting words that warrant teaching (see Beck et teach across two readings of The Three Little Pigs:
al., 2013; Graves et al., 2014). We begin with sticky afford, terrified, frustrated, and ruined. Ms. Rodriguez
notes or spreadsheets to comprehensively list all taught mostly English learners, though, so she
potentially unknown words within a text or unit selected different words that were essential to
of study. This usually produces an extensive list of comprehension, such as straw and bricks, for her
words to teach that we must narrow down. students.

Table 1
Book Reading Routines to Support Vocabulary Learning

Timing Steps
Before reading 1. Preview two or three vocabulary words to listen for using picture cards:
■ Have children say the word after you.
■ Give a child-friendly definition.
■ Describe the picture card and how it links to the word.
 eep these picture cards displayed. Invite children to put their thumbs up when they hear a
2. K
word read aloud.
During reading  ead with expression, use gestures, and nonverbal cues to support word learning. Point to
3. R
illustrated basic words rather than directly teaching.
4. Pause at pages with focal vocabulary to elaborate on focal word meanings:
■ Repeat the word’s definition and link to its meaning in text.
■ Ask a question about the word or act out the word with children.
After reading 5. Encourage children to use these new “amazing words” by displaying picture cards at a
vocabulary wall/chart and tracking when children say/hear these words.
6. Revisit these words in various extension activities so that children use the words:
■ In small groups for children who need targeted language support
■ As center extension activities, such as sorting example/nonexample picture cards
■ Acting out some words playfully in review/transition activities

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Figure 3
Example of Word Selection Process for The Three Little Pigs
Possible vocabulary
Word selection steps (order presented in text)
1. List all possible words. ■ straw
■ bricks
■ afford
■ admire
■ beverage
■ tender
■ pounced
■ flimsy
■ frightened
■ terrified
■ sturdy
■ chimney
■ frustrated
■ boiling
■ unfortunately
■ ruined
2. R
 emove words ■ beverage
not essential for ■ tender
comprehension. ■ pounced
■ unfortunately
3. Remove words that can ■ flimsy
be understood through ■ sturdy
context or illustrations. ■ chimney
■ boiling
4. M
 ark all the academic Domain-general words:
words with a star or an ■ afford
asterisk. ■ admire
■ frightened
■ terrified
■ frustrated
■ ruined
Domain-specific words:
■ straw
■ bricks
5. Finalize the two to six ■ afford
words that are best to ■ terrified
teach in this text to my ■ frustrated
students. ■ ruined

Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

Select Related Academic Word Sets classification: fruits, vegetables; plant parts: stem,
Core curricula vary in the extent to which they pro- root, petal; e.g., Gonzalez et al., 2010; Hadley et al.,
vide support for teaching taxonomies of semanti- 2019; Neuman & Kaefer, 2018). As you prepare for
cally related words. Several effective approaches a new unit of study, critically analyze if you might
emphasi ze teach i ng-related academ ic words add semantically related words to those in your
around social studies or science topics ( plant core curr iculum. Previously published articles

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 Feature Article

in this journal have shown how selecting sets of we captured examples of feedback that coaches
semantically related words is more efficient than have given teachers to refine academic word defini-
teaching unrelated words (Baumann et al., 2007; tions. Also note in the right column of this table in
Manyak & Latka, 2020). which teachers support children in saying and using
these defined words.
Plan Child-Friendly Definitions in Advance
It is easier for children to understand definitions Create and Display Vocabulary Picture
that are child friendly and do not use any additional Cards
sophisticated language, as often occurs in tradi- For young learners, picture cards provide an impor-
tional dictionary definitions (Gardner, 2007). Yet tant visual aid to support new word learning. Picture
child-friendly definitions always originate from dic- cards can be used to preview focal academic vocabu-
tionary definitions to ensure they are accurate and lary to listen for during read-alouds (e.g., August et
complete. Some experts recommend making word al., 2018). This provides an opportunity for children
explanations sound conversational so they are eas- to experience the word in a context beyond that pre-
ier to understand than the dense, concise manner of sented in the text.
many textbooks (Beck et al., 2013; Snow, 2010). For Selecting images that clearly illustrate the vocab-
example, a dictionary definition for the word ter- ulary word is a critical and often challenging step.
rified might be “extremely frightened”, but a more An example of a picture card for teaching the word
child-friendly definition replaces the sophisticated coincidence is shown in Figure 5. As shown, this image
word frightened with a simple word and uses a more is accessible because it features young children and
conversational tone: “When you are terrified, you feel clearly illustrates similarities between the two girls.
very scared.” Yet without one or two sentences that describe the
Writing child-friendly definitions requires con- picture, the link to the academic word is not clear.
siderable practice and ref lection to ensure you Therefore, it is helpful to write a concise sentence
explain an academic word without using other that links the word and the picture, such as “It was a
sophisticated words. Consider using the child- coincidence that these sisters put on the same shirt—
friendly definition checklist in Figure 4 to critique they didn’t plan it!”
and improve initial drafts of definitions. Joining pro- In Figure  6, an obscure temporal concept is
fessional learning communities or soliciting coach- made visual for the word recently by explaining,
ing focused on planning vocabulary instruction “This girl has some milk left on her lips. She must
provides valuable contexts to reflect on the qual- have drank a cup of milk recently.” When selecting
ity of vocabulary explanations (Gersten, Dimino, images for picture vocabulary cards, search not
Jayanthi, Kim, & Santoro, 2010). See Table 2 in which only for the focal word but also search terms such

Figure 4
Child-Friendly Definition Checklist

Score
Characteristic Description (0 = No, 1 = Yes)

Conversational The definition is expressed as a complete thought and No Yes

references the focal word in the first clause of the sentence.

Simple The definition avoids using other sophisticated words to describe No Yes
the word’s meaning.

Accurate and The definition is correct in all of its details and expresses the full No Yes
complete meaning of the word.

Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

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Table 2
Examples of Refining Initial Definitions of Academic Vocabulary and Promoting Children’s Use

Vocabulary Area to Suggested

word Original definition Coach feedback improve definition Student’s word use
frustrated When you are The word discouraged Simple When you feel Student: I’m mad.
frustrated, you feel is a sophisticated wording; frustrated, Teacher: Are you
angry, discouraged, word. We can remove accuracy you feel upset frustrated he does
or upset that and convey the because you can’t not want to play?
same idea with a do something. Student: I’m
simple word such as frustrated cuz he
upset. Also, a missing won’t play tag.
concept is that
frustration occurs
when one is not able
to do something.
label A label is a piece This definition was Simple A label is when Student: My water
of paper or a bit complicated wording words are printed bottle has a label.
plastic that has and uses the word on something to Teacher: Yes! There’s
information about connected instead of tell what it is or a label with your
the thing it is a more simple term. who it belongs to. name.
connected to.
manage If you manage to The wording is Accuracy If you manage to Teacher: Can you
do something, nice and simple, do something, manage holding that
you do it even if it but adding the you are able to door and your bag?
is hard. concept of being do it even if it is Student: Yes, I can
able is important to hard. manage it.
make this definition
complete.

as child so that the image is more likely to illustrate for children to solicit direct explanations but also
a context that children can relate to. An example promotes word consciousness.
of a relatable image for the word frustrated is a girl
upset while tying her shoe, unlike an image of a
frustrated businessman, which is not accessible to
Go Nuts for Words: Word
children. Consciousness Strategies
In this section, we consider ways to promote broader
Encourage Children to Ask About Words word consciousness with examples from classrooms
in our past research (e.g., Zucker et al., 2019).
A simple, age-appropriate word learning strategy to
teach young children is that they should ask adults
what words mean when they encounter a new word Use a Mascot
(Chouinard et al., 2007). Encourage this during activi- For younger children, including a mascot can add an
ties such as shared reading by reminding children to element of playfulness and whimsy to word learn-
show a hand signal like thumbs-sideway if they want ing. This mascot can be tied to a theme the children
to slow down and talk about a word. can relate to, such as a squirrel that collects “word
For example, before showing a science video acorns” or a dog that collects bones. For example,
about phases of the moon to her prekindergartners, Ms. Asher used an adorable squirrel stuffed animal
Ms. Williams said, “You will hear some big words named Scout who was “nuts for words.” Scout col-
in this video. Listen for new words so we can talk lected word nuts (i.e., acorns) to fill his jar each time
about what they mean.” Nudging children to notice he heard children use a wondrous word recently
and ask about new words not only is a mechanism taught.

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Figure 5
Sample Picture Cards With Child-Friendly Definitions

Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

Likewise, another prekindergarten teacher, Mr. they used an amazing word (Zucker et al., 2020). An
Tompkin, used a superhero-themed stick puppet advanced tracking system Ms. Asher used when
named PJ Pig who wanted to fill his “word bank” studying baby animals (e.g., mice and rabbits) not
because his “word power” was his superpower. only included stickers to collect word nuts for Scout
Children put a penny in a piggy bank each time the squirrel but also served as a visual word web.

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Figure 6
Sample Picture Card in Which an Implicit, Temporal Concept Is Made Explicit

Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

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This display included a web of words showing ani- & Watts-Taffe, 2008). Fun jokes like “Why are teddy
mal behaviors (e.g., groom, protect, nibble, jump) and bears never hungry? Because they are always
physical traits (e.g., sleek, slick, tiny). stuffed!” delight children and shows the power of
multiple meaning words.
Track and Celebrate Sophisticated Word
Use Model Sophisticated Vocabulary Use
Children can be motivated by keeping track of the When teachers use sophisticated vocabulary, this
sophisticated words they use and celebrating when also encourages word consciousness. Rather than
they reach goals (Beck et al., 2013). For example, dumbing down what we say to young children,
in Mr. Tompkin’s prekindergarten class, children teachers can model using academic vocabulary (Lane
counted the words in the piggy bank every week and & Allen, 2010). For example, rather than asking chil-
celebrated every new 20 words they learned. In a dren to “put away” their markers and crayons, Ms.
first-grade classroom, a teacher recorded the words Williams asked her preschoolers to “gather and cat-
children learned and used in a spoken or written sen- egorize” these writing tools. Transition times can be
tence on a 100s chart. used to review focal academic vocabulary; embed
As children reach important word-learning mile- vocabulary into playful approaches to lining up. For
stones, celebrate their accomplishments in diverse example, Ms. Rodriguez asked her first graders to
ways. Some teachers used classroom dance parties consider taught words (e.g., famous, admire) with play-
or extra center time as an easy, cost-efficient way. ful instructions such as “As we walk to our meeting
Other teachers used word consciousness games area, let’s think about one of our amazing words,
such as bingo parties using amazing words or sent famous. Imagine you are a famous actor who is wav-
families videos of children young “getting caught” ing to crowds of admirers.”
using powerful words.
Putting It Together: Improving
Explain Multiple-Meaning Words the Quantity and Quality of
Discovering that words can have multiple meanings
can increase children’s interest in word learning.
Vocabulary Instruction
Noting multiple meaning words also reduces poten- Intentional planning for robust vocabulary instruc-
tial confusion and increases flexible thinking. When tion is important for children’s learning and can be
teaching words with multiple meanings during a guided by high-quality curricula and professional
read-aloud, it is important to first explain the mean- development. For example, we originally developed
ing relevant to understanding the book. After read- English and Spanish versions of a vocabulary cur-
ing, review the focal word’s primary meaning before riculum called Developing Talkers and Hablemos
explaining the word’s other meaning(s). Juntos, respectively, to be used in a statewide pre-
For example, when Ms. Asher read an informa- school professional development program in Texas
tional book about rabbits to her kindergartners, (Zucker et al., 2019; Zucker, Solari, Landry, White,
she directly taught the word groom in the context et al., 2013). We have further studied this curricu-
of the rabbits grooming themselves. After read- lum in other contexts (e.g., Zucker, Carlo, Montroy,
ing, she reviewed this primary meaning with a & Landry, 2018; Zucker et al., 2020). This curriculum
picture card before explaining this is a multiple provides both professional development and supple-
meaning word. She showed a second picture card mental lessons to support teachers in more effective
and explained that a groom is also a man getting vocabulary instruction. Teachers receive training
married. She asked the children if they thought and coaching on how to assess children’s vocabu-
a groom would groom himself before going to the lary knowledge so they can provide universal, Tier
wedding. They laughed as they discussed that the 1 instruction to all children as well as targeted, Tier
human groom would not groom himself quite like 2 small-group instruction to children demonstrating
the rabbit, but would do other things to look good weak vocabulary knowledge.
on his wedding day. After using provided lessons that feature direct
The flexibility that certain words offer allows instruction of two or three vocabulary words across
children to engage in wordplay with puns (Graves 24 books, teachers in bilingual classrooms showed

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 Feature Article

significant growth (greater than chance) in the perfect time to spark children’s excitement for word
quantity of their vocabulary instruction during read- learning. We suggest strategies to directly teach
alouds (Zucker, Solari, Landry, et al., 2013). That is, individual words and to promote children’s word
49 prekindergarten teachers doubled the number of consciousness. Challenge yourself to use multiple
times they defined vocabulary words after the pro- suggested strategies to improve the quantity and
gram, moving from four- to eight-word elaborations. quality of academic vocabulary instruction in pre-
As part of the program, teachers were coached kindergarten through grade 1.
in creating their own shared reading lesson plans As you take action, consider how schoolwide mod-
featuring direct vocabulary instruction before and els could be even more effective (Ebbers & Denton,
during reading of narrative and informational texts. 2008). There are resources for vertical planning of
We reviewed up to eight lesson plans per teacher what words to teach across early grades versus later
(143 total) and examined whether teachers improved grades (e.g., Biemiller, 2010) to ensure that children
their skill in selecting important words and devel- build increasingly robust academic vocabularies.
oping quality definitions. After receiving coaching,
teachers selected 98% academic, rather than basic,
NOTES
vocabulary words. These academic words were
Research reported in this publication was supported by
almost evenly distributed between domain-general grants (R305A190065 and R305A150319) from the Institute of
words (n = 190) and domain-specific (n = 226). Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, and by the
Most of teachers’ definitions (82%) were accurate Dan L. Duncan Family Foundation.
representations of the word’s meaning. There was
one area of the child-friendly definition checklist REFERENCES
where some teachers needed improvement. That Anderson, R.C., & Nagy, W.E. (1993). The vocabulary conundrum
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MORE TO EXPLORE

Readers interested in supplemental information on this topic may find these resources useful:
■■ Check out this song from a program called Teaching Together that explains “Word Power” and encourages children to
use amazing words: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/sgUty9W6-OZwX2Uq2.
■■ The CIRCLE Activity Collection includes hundreds of lesson plans for prekindergarten and kindergarten levels that
include direct vocabulary and model videos: https://cliengage.org/public/tools/materials/cac-prek/.
■■ Consider reading aloud the book Big Words for Little People by Jamie Lee Curtis. It is a humorous book designed to
help young children communicate with sophisticated words.
■■ As you write child-friendly definitions, we recommend using learner dictionaries such as this one from Merriam
Webster: https://learnersdictionary.com/. If you’re teaching semantically related words, consider word association
dictionaries such as https://wordassociations.net/en/.

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