Your Literacy Standards Companion, Grades K-2. Jim Burke

word or phrase to demonstrate this process.

       Using both fiction and nonfiction, think aloud as you decode a word, puzzling through how to read it, and contrast it with thinking aloud about your process for understanding what words mean. Chart various strategies for each of these processes and refer to them frequently to demonstrate the difference between decoding and comprehension (resources.corwin.com/literacycompanionk-2).

       Instead of simply telling students the meaning of an unfamiliar word when reading aloud or sharing a text, mark the text with a sticky note and return to it later and help students figure it out. Provide students with sticky notes to mark their own texts when reading in small groups or independently.

       Show students how to use the words and sentences surrounding an unknown word to figure it out. Also, be sure to explain and show examples of instances when using context clues is not helpful. For example, the sentence “These sod houses were very cozy” would not help a reader figure out the meaning of cozy.

       To have students interpret the meanings of words and phrases as they are used in a text:

       Work with students regularly to help them figure out the meanings of unknown words and phrases instead of telling them what the words or phrases mean.

       Direct students to use the pictures that accompany stories, poems, and songs, and the illustrations, photos/captions, and diagrams in informational texts to determine the meanings of words or phrases.

       Select words to teach explicitly that are most important to understanding an author’s message. For example, when reading Hurty Feelings by Helen Lester, we would teach the word fragile because the main character’s name is Fragility and she (a hippo) is most definitely sensitive and “breakable”—at least on the inside.

       Show students how authors often include the meaning of a word in the sentence itself or in one that follows. Two examples are “Woodchucks dig burrows, or holes, in the ground, where they hibernate for the winter” and “Canine teeth are for biting and tearing your food.”

       Guide students to identify root words and affixes to help them understand what a word means. Take apart compound words and work with homophones, synonyms, and antonyms as well.

       Devote a large section of your wall space to the posting of vocabulary charts, word webs, and so on that you’ve generated with students so that you have easy access to them when you want to review or add to the lists.

       To have students identify and determine the figurative meanings of words and phrases:

       Keep a basket of books that contain rich vocabulary and figurative language to read aloud and for students to read on their own. Helen Lester’s and Margie Palatini’s picture books are among those you’ll want to include.

       Provide each student with a copy of a poem or song containing figurative language or project the text on a whiteboard. Read the text several times and allow students time to discuss what it means. Help students identify figurative words and phrases and help them recognize how they help create a picture in a reader’s mind. Note that any attention given to figurative language (similes, metaphors, alliteration, idioms, and onomatopoeia) in grades K–2 should be done with a light and playful touch.

       Give students opportunities to illustrate idiomatic figures of speech, such as “butterflies in my stomach” and “a fish out of water.” The resulting illustrations might be compiled into a book.

       To have students describe how words and phrases supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song:

       Have students look back through a text that has been read aloud or shared to identify words and phrases they find interesting or pleasurable, and ask them to explain why. They might say that they like the way a word sounds or that they’ve never heard it before. We want students to learn to love words and enjoy distinguishing shades of meaning.

       Post a running list of onomatopoeic words (words like whoosh, clang, click, burp) since onomatopoeia shows up frequently in children’s books. These kinds of words are fun, and children can easily incorporate them into their own writing to give it voice.

       Help students recognize that when we want to highly exaggerate or emphasize something, we often use hyperbole. For example, the phrase “I’ve told you a million times not to do that” means I’ve told you repeatedly.

       Select alliterative poems and rhymes, such as “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” to read with students. Help them see how repeating the same sounds at the beginnings of words is similar to rhyming words at the ends of lines of poetry.

       To help your English language learners, try this:

       Meet with a small group of students for interactive read-aloud or shared reading to allow them to talk about words whose meanings they don’t know and for you to help them in an intimate setting.

       Facilitate conversation about words students love or find interesting. Create a chart on which to record these words.

       Developmental Debrief:

      The best way to help students recognize the important role that word meanings play in reading and comprehension is to read aloud to them at least once a day. Reading a text aloud multiple times provides implicit vocabulary instruction. By hearing words used in the context of a story, informational text, poem, or song, children will often be able to determine their meaning. At the very least it might be their first exposure to a word, upon which they can build. In addition, when reading aloud be sure to use facial and vocal expression and body language, and give brief explanations of what some of the unfamiliar words mean. It’s equally important to provide explicit vocabulary instruction, in which you decide beforehand which words you will teach directly through planned and purposeful experiences before, during, and after reading a text.

      Notes

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      Grades K–2 Common Core Reading Standard 4: Academic Vocabulary: Key Words and Phrases

      Alliteration: Repetition of the initial consonant sound in words that are close to one another (e.g., “wonderful wacky words”).

      Figurative meanings: Figures of speech (or figurative language) are often-colorful ways of saying something that help create a picture in the mind of the reader. For K–2 students the most common figures of speech are metaphor, simile, and personification. A metaphor compares two things that are not typically associated with each other (e.g., “That room is an oven”). A simile typically uses the word like or as when making a comparison (e.g., “A blue whale’s skin is as slippery as a bar of soap”). Personification involves attributing human characteristics to something that is nonhuman (e.g., “The wind howled”).

      Interpret: This is best understood as a way of explaining what an author wrote using more accessible, familiar language for those who lack experience with or knowledge of the subject or type of text.

      Technical meaning: In general this term relates to words with specialized meanings that are specific to a topic or subject being investigated. For K–2 students we can narrow this down to mean domain-specific words that typically occur in texts related