Investigation C

Students’ writing at curriculum level 5

This investigation is for secondary school teachers with students working at this level.

Use Web VP to think about students’ writing at curriculum level 5.

• Cut and paste the level 5 social studies curriculum exemplars in the associated material Materials for vocabulary analysis into the Web VP.
• Compare the Water Woes text with the Parihaka text, “ My ancestor Te Whiti ”.
• How many academic and off-list words do these two students use?
• How do the different patterns of use relate to the different style and effect of the writing?
• Look at the three Parihaka texts together

You will see that, taken together, the three Parihaka texts use a wider range of different words (types) than any one of the individual texts. This reinforces the idea that when students share what they say and write across the whole class (rather than working individually or with one other student), there is a rich source of input and a wider vocabulary for students to learn from. The inquiry Learning from listening and reading explores how students learn from input.

Extending students’ vocabulary

One teacher who used the Web VP site to analyse vocabulary commented on how it made her more aware of the need for vocabulary extension. (Read the section Approaches to vocabulary in the Literature review (Franken, May, and McComish, 2005). Refer also to the inquiry How many words should my students know? .)

Most teachers are aware of the importance of vocabulary and pay attention to teaching it, especially content words. However, there are many aspects to the process of learning a word. Students need to extend their understanding and use of the words they have already met, as well as learning new words.

You may find it helpful to use and adapt this checklist:

Some aspects of knowing a word	What students need to do
form	Can the students recognise the word when they hear or read it on its own?
	Can they say the word easily, and write and spell it?
	Can they recognise other members of the word family (for example, ‘compare’: ‘comparing’, ‘comparison’, ‘comparatively’)?
meaning	Do the students know what the word means?
	Can they give a definition or an example?
grammar	Can they understand the word in a sentence?
	Can they use the word correctly in a sentence?
collocations (other words or phrases that are commonly used with a word)	Do they recognise other words and phrases that often occur with the word? (This is important for understanding how the meaning of texts is built up and holds together.)
	Can they use the word with other appropriate words?

Return to top

The video clip Secondary curriculum and vocabulary shows teachers carefully scaffolding aspects of vocabulary learning.

Planning vocabulary learning with your students

Students are not likely to know how many new words they need to learn to understand and use, or what these words are. It’s a good idea to share the need for vocabulary goals with them and to construct their language-learning goals together. Using the Web VP site. with them, so that they can see how vocabulary can be analysed, will raise their awareness of the nature of vocabulary and suggest to them where their next word learning needs to occur. Other things they should know are:

• They need to learn to use about one new word every day – seven each week.
• They need to learn to understand the meaning of a second new word each day – one that they may not use themselves.
• They should gradually learn to use and understand all the words of the Academic Word List, including many concrete words, such as ‘adult’, ‘community’, ‘computer’, and ‘vehicle’, but also many abstract words, such as ‘access’, ‘available’, ‘despite’, ‘issue’, ‘maintain’, ‘occur’, and ‘valid’.
• They should consciously try to extend the range of different words they use.
• The class can act as a learning community to provide each member with input based on more word knowledge than any individual student has, and to support individuals in practising and trying out new skills with words. Refer to the section on expanding students’ vocabulary as a classroom community, on pages 126–127 of Effective Literacy Practice in Years 5 to 8 (Ministry of Education, 2006). A reference copy of this book is available to all secondary schools.

Extending Pasifika languages

The same vocabulary goals as those described above can be used to develop Pasifika language use. Your bilingual students can work together to construct shared goals and check their progress in their Pasifika languages.
You may be surprised to know that translation is one of the best ways of learning words. (See Learning vocabulary in another language: A test of teachers’ knowledge .)

Bilingual students can make bilingual vocabulary lists and records, and learn from those. This is one of the benefits of the ‘interdependence’ of languages.

Return to top