Vocabulary Lesson

Kim Jacobs
6/24/17
Vocabulary lesson Chapter 2, A Bear Named Trouble
Words: Carcass
Loped
Encounter

1. Students will fill out a Word Web Graphic Organizer (Orton Gillingham IMSE lesson

resources) for each of these words before reading the chapter 2 in the book, A Bear

Named Trouble.

2. The student will find the word in the chapter and write the sentence from the book that

contains the word.

3. Next, the student will look the word up in the dictionary and write down the meaning. A

discussion about multiple meanings of words may need to occur here if necessary. The

student should try to pick the definition that fits the meaning in the book.

4. The student will then write a new sentence with the word.

5. The student will draw a picture that helps them remember the meaning.

The teacher will model the first word for the student. It may be necessary to assist with the

other words until the student feels comfortable with the process.
 I completed this reading activity with Kayla, a rising 6th grade student who’s Instructional

Guided Reading Level is S. We completed this activity with Chapter 2 of the book, A Bear

Named Trouble. I had Kayla write down any words she didn’t know from chapter one and then

we went over them. This helped her understand the words, but would have been more beneficial

if she would have been familiar with the words before reading the chapter. In Beers book, When

Kids Can’t Read, she discussed some suggestions to help teach vocabulary to students. One of

the suggestions was to use graphic organizers. Her experience is that students who used graphic

organizers remembered more of the vocabulary words than the students who just copied

definitions. I modeled and did a “think aloud” with Kayla on the first word, carcass. She did not

know what the word meant and even after finding it in the book she had trouble understanding

the word. Beers (2003), also discusses the fact that telling students to use context clues is not

always the best way. Dependent readers are often not ready to use context clues from the story.

This requires an interaction with the text that they have not yet developed. In fact, one of Beers

suggestions is to teach students how to use context clues. If I have learned anything from this

class and the books we have read it is to not assume that students understand what you mean by

phrases such as “use the context clues”, “did you comprehend what you read”, or “use your

decoding skills”. These commands often take explicit instruction especially for our struggling

readers. One of the words that I did not include on the vocabulary list was Spina Bifida. Instead,

of having Kayla complete a Word Web I chose to explain this word and answer any questions

she may have. In the book, Johnathon’s sister has Spina Bifida and it is a big part why they are

apart for six months. When Kayla completed the word webs on her own she needed some

guidance. The hardest part for her was to come up with a picture that would help her remember
the word. I explained to her that it could be anything that helped her remember what the word

meant.

This assignment taught me the importance of vocabulary instruction with the students and

how it plays a role in their comprehension skills. It took quite a bit of modeling and verbal

prompting for Kayla to complete the word web, but I felt like she was progressing. I have used

the word web from the Orton Gillingham Multisensory Lesson Planning tools. I think that it is a

great visual and helps students connect to the words. The challenge is fitting all this instruction

in during the limited amount of time I spend with my students. Thinking back to our discussion

on how little time is spent on Social Studies and Science, I think that vocabulary is a great way to

extend our reading instruction into our content areas.

 Works Cited

Beers, K. (2003). When Kids Cant Read (6-12): What teachers Can do. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.

IMSE's Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2017, from http://orton-gillingham.com/