Case Study

1 iris .peabody .vanderbilt .edu 1

About the Strategy Direct instruction requires the teacher to directly teach the pronunciation and definitions of new vocabulary words in a highly organized manner and to directly teach comprehension strategies in a highly organized manner .

What the Research and Resources Say • When learning is difficult and novel, teachers must provide support for their students (Mercer,

Lane, Jordan, Allsopp, & Eisele, 1996) . • Teachers must model what they want students to learn, provide guided instruction,

independent instruction, and frequent feedback (NRC, 2000) . • Students must be given ample opportunities to practice the task in order to generalize the

strategy to other settings (Gersten, Baker, Pugach, Scanlon, & Chard, 2001) . • Students’ reading comprehension is maximized when they glean meaning from context .

Students can learn a small set of words to build their vocabulary if they are taught these words “well and deep”––they receive direct instruction on the words, their meanings, and they are exposed to these words in meaningful contexts for both reading and writing (Leu & Kinzer, 1999) .

• Direct instruction is highly structured and does not allow students to infer from or personalize the content; however, this technique has been especially effective for teaching reading and other subjects to students with disabilities (Gersten et al ., 2001) .

Types of Activities to Implement Pre-teaching Vocabulary One easy way to increase a student’s vocabulary is to pre-teach vocabulary before a passage is read . When pre-teaching vocabulary, it is important to teach the words within the context of the passage . Carnine, Silbert, & Kame’enui (1997) suggest the following method for teaching new vocabulary words: • State the definition and have students repeat the definition . • Provide students with examples and nonexamples of the word in sentences .

Example: When I’m happy I smile .

Non-example: When I’m angry I smile .

• Review the new words along with those previously learned to ensure students have the words in their long-term memories . One tool teachers use in preteaching vocabulary is the word web . See “Word in Context” below and Graphic Organizers STAR Sheet .

STAR SHEET Comprehension & Vocabulary: Grades 3–5

Direct Instruction

2 iris .peabody .vanderbilt .edu 2

3 iris .peabody .vanderbilt .edu 3

Review and Practice Once students have explicitly been taught the new vocabulary terms, they must continue to practice them . Daily reviews can decrease in frequency, becoming weekly reviews when students become familiar with the vocabulary words . Review quizzes, repeated practice, and games, such as the self- correcting activities below, are tools teachers use to review and practice vocabulary with students . Review and practice activities can be completed with a peer, in small groups, or independently .

Examples of Teacher-Created Self-Correcting Materials

Matching Students are given a set of cards with vocabulary words written on one half of the cards and the corresponding definitions written on the other . Students match the vocabulary word with the correct definition . As seen in the example below, students can check their work by making sure the word and the definition have the same symbol in the upper right- hand corner .

Picture Cards Students are given a set of cards with vocabulary words written on the front of the cards and corresponding pictures drawn on the back . Students are shown the picture representation and provide the corresponding vocabulary word .

Deposition

Earthquake

the dropping off of bits of eroded rock

a sudden movement in the rocks that make

up Earth's crust

Hexagon

Trapezoid

4 iris .peabody .vanderbilt .edu 4

Modeling and Thinking Aloud Students can learn both new vocabulary and how to comprehend written passages by watching and listening to their teacher demonstrate these activities . Modeling and thinking aloud are effective strategies for all students but are even more effective when accompanied by the teacher giving supportive feedback as students attempt the same activities (Gersten et al ., 2001) Modeling and thinking aloud often are used in conjunction with other teaching strategies .

Example: Modeling – a teacher demonstrates how to play the matching activity outlined above, drawing attention to the pairing of vocabulary words with their definitions .

Example: Thinking aloud – a teacher explains how he or she learned the meaning of “warm-blooded” from the passage on whales provided in the Introduction, focusing his or her statements on the use of context to find meaning .

Keep in Mind • Direct instruction involves teaching students step-by-baby-step to the point of redundancy .

Though enormously effective for students who need the repetition, redundancy can be reached by some students very early leading to boredom or frustration . Consider how to provide engaging instruction to all students at the level they need .

• Direct instruction can be a challenge because it requires the teacher to break down an activity or skill she does automatically into its component parts in order to teach the skill to students . It may help to put yourself in the student’s shoes and try to imagine what it’s like to not understand or know how to do the task . Direct instruction also requires patience as you help students to build the composite skills so that they can eventually perform the skill as automatically as their peers .

Resources Carnine, D ., Silbert, J ., & Kame’enui , E . (1997) . Direct instruction reading (3rd ed .) . Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Merrill/ Prentice Hall . Gersten, R ., Baker, S ., Pugach, M ., Scanlon, D ., & Chard, D . (2001) . Contemporary research on

special education teaching . In V . Richardson (Ed .) Handbook of research on teaching (4th ed .), pp . 695–722 .

Leu, D .J ., & Kinzer, C . K . (1999) . Effective literacy instruction (4th ed .) . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall .

Mercer, C ., Lane, H ., Jordan, L ., Allsopp, D ., & Eisele, M . (1996) . Empowering teachers and students with instructional choices in inclusive settings . Remedial and Special Education, 17, 226–236 .

National Research Council (NRC) . (2000) . How people learn: Mind, experience, and school (Expanded ed .) . Washington, DC: National Academy Press .