Teaching Vocabulary
Explicit Vocabulary Teaching
What is Explicit Vocabulary Teaching?
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Explicit vocabulary teaching (EVT) is a practical, deliberate approach to teaching key academic words as part of a subject curriculum
- A deep dive into the meaning and nuances of carefully selected words with many opportunities for student practice
Why
Achievement
Alongside socio-economic status, vocabulary is one of the significant factors in determining children’s achievement. It is highly correlated with reading comprehension and it helps students remember what they read.
Mental Health
Children with a poor vocabulary at age 5 are 4 times more likely to struggle with reading in adulthood and three times more likely to have mental health issues.
Life after school
The limits of our pupils’ vocabulary are the limits of their world. It is our job to teach them the ‘academic language’ they need to succeed.
High Frequency Errors
- Teacher allows ‘I say, you say’ to be completed with muted voices
- Teacher definition and example is not student friendly
- Teacher hasn’t IP’d the means of checking for understanding
- Student has a muted voice
- Student has split-attention
Success Criteria
- Tier 2/3 words are deliberately mapped out as part of the curriculum design
- I say, you say is utilised with excellent voice projection
- Teacher has IP’d a student friendly definition example and non-example
- Teacher has IP’d means of checking for understanding of the new tier 2/3 vocab
WAGOLL
Key takeaways
- HODs - ensure tier 2/3 vocab is mapped out as part of the curriculum design
- All - embed the EVT play in every lesson, using the actions steps. Build this as a habit.
Key reading