Baker, D., Santoro, L., Ware, S., Cuéllar, D., Oldham, A., Cuticelli, M., Coyne, M., Loftus-Rattan, S., & McCoach, B. (2015). Understanding and implementing the Common Core Vocabulary Standards in kindergarten. Teaching Exceptional Children, 47(5), 264-271.
Summary
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) define the expectations and skills that students need to be successful in college and careers. Among the numerous strands, the CCSS for English and Language Arts imply instruction in vocabulary acquisition and use for all students. Baker, Santoro, Ware, Cuéllar, Oldham, Cuticelli, Coyne, Loftus-Rattan, and McCoach (2015) describe how teachers can provide effective vocabulary instruction to a class of kindergarten students largely comprised of English Language Learners and students with learning disabilities.
Following CCSS expectations, kindergarten students must use, demonstrate understanding, and analyze words. Teachers of students of varying backgrounds and abilities have the challenge of providing effective vocabulary instruction to all learners to help them meet these goals. The authors state five evidence-based practices that are effective in teaching all students. These practices include using clear and consistent routines, allowing additional time to complete tasks, using students’ prior experiences and background knowledge to layer and build instruction, exploring the multiple meanings of words, and using visual aids and nonverbal movements to demonstrate nuances among words. Along with these practices, students with vocabulary deficits also benefit from additional small group instruction to increase their exposure and opportunities to use new words in meaningful ways. When provided with such differentiated instruction, students do not require simplified content and can participate in the expectations of the regular curriculum.
The authors present four sequential vocabulary activities from a research project called Project Early Vocabulary Instruction and Intervention. The activities use pictures and wordplay activities to engage the students in the meanings and nuances of Tier 2 or academic vocabulary words. The teacher carefully selects words for the activities based on the needs of the students. The first activity focuses on students being able to distinguish and describe examples from non-examples of a word. Second, picture-sort games engage the students in sorting pictures by concepts or categories. Teachers encourage students to explain their thinking as they organize these pictures into groups. Developing distinctions in the shades of meaning among words are key. Then, word web activities help students connect the words to their own real-life examples. Finally, cumulative review activities extend and solidify previous vocabulary instruction. During these cumulative activities, students identify the pictures used to represent specified vocabulary words and explain what the words mean. The teacher may read a passage aloud to the students and ask them to signal when they hear the vocabulary words. The purposeful use of each of these activities provides deliberate, explicit, and clear instruction to foster vocabulary development.
In conclusion, in order for the requirements of the CCSS to be met, teachers must provide consistent vocabulary instruction. The authors of this article present evidence-based practices and vocabulary activities which have been shown to be effective in providing vocabulary instruction to all kindergarten learners, regardless of background or learning disability. Stating the benefits kindergarten students receive from such instruction, the authors further recommend that explicit and consistent vocabulary instruction continue throughout all grades.
Implications for Teachers
Based on the expectations of the Common Core State Standards, the authors of this article present the urgency for explicit and effective vocabulary instruction for all kindergarten students. The authors discuss numerous evidence-based practices and activities; however, they do not provide documentation of the extent of the effectiveness of these practices. Therefore, further research or citation of research is needed to support the impact of the described activities on the students’ achievement.
Despite the lack of quantified data in this article, kindergarten teachers cannot deny the importance of vocabulary instruction for all students. Teachers must be knowledgeable of the vocabulary requirements of the curriculum and the related needs of the students. Information from students’ IEPs, home language surveys, screening results, and teacher observations would help the teacher to identify which students require additional targeted instruction. Once the vocabulary deficits are delineated, the teacher must tailor the activities described by the authors to meet the students’ needs. Selecting pictures which clearly illustrate each word is a task which requires thought and time. Teachers need to be reflective and data driven to evaluate the effectiveness of the pictures and resources they choose in providing this instruction.
Finally, while the authors focus only on vocabulary instruction of kindergarten students, they do recommend that effective vocabulary instruction continue across all grades. Teachers of other grades should consider this recommendation and pursue supporting research and activities that will be effective with their student population. The CCSS states the expectations for the students; however, the teachers have the responsibility of ensuring all students acquire and use the vocabulary pertinent to their successes both in and beyond the classroom.