RM Winter 2016 FLIP

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Reading Matters
Teaching Matters
| 48| Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 |
ABSTRACT —This article highlights, through examples from
classrooms, the possibilities of modifying vocabulary strategies
intended for use in upper and secondary grades to use with young
learners. The authors introduce three strategies, Preview-Predict-
Confirm (PPC), Listen Sketch Label, and the Frayer Model, and provide
examples of their use in primary classrooms. These instructional
strategies were used during read-alouds of informational texts with
the purpose of expanding students’ content specific vocabulary.
Read-alouds are established as a widely accepted instructional
method for teaching vocabulary in the primary grades.
As Miss Brown prepared to teach a thematic unit on pumpkins
with her kindergarten students in late October, she knew she
wanted them to internalize the vocabulary introduced during
the three-week unit. Miss Brown planned to read informational
texts aloud as a primary source of science content during the
unit. She carefully combed through texts to determine the
important terms her students would need to grasp in order
to comprehend the material. Although these texts provide an
introduction to new and interesting words, she knew this one-
time exposure during read-alouds would not be enough for her
students to understand the vocabulary introduced. She began
to seek out vocabulary strategies to use in her classroom.
Miss Brown found several vocabulary strategies that were
well suited for the upper grade levels, but what could she
use for kindergartners? There were not many options. She
knew that she would have to modify and scaffold the
vocabulary strategies created for the upper grades to meet
the distinct needs of her young learners.
Vocabulary and Read-Alouds
Read-alouds provide a venue for rich and diverse language
(Kindle, 2009), which does not typically occur in our everyday
conversation. On their own, read-alouds are considered an
instructional approach for implicitly teaching new and interesting
words within a context (Nagy, Herman, & Anderson, 1985;
Newton, Padak, & Rasinski, 2008). While reading aloud a text,
students incidentally learn vocabulary through exposure (Carey,
1978), and teachers have opportunities to explicitly teach
vocabulary words (Antonacci & O’Callaghan, 2012). Repeated
readings of these texts, and therefore repeated exposure to the
vocabulary, provide students with a deeper understanding of
new words (Biemiller & Boote, 2006; Carey, 1978; Dale, 1965).
Vocabulary Strategies
Many existing vocabulary instructional strategies are geared
towards working with upper elementary and adolescent students.
We found that we were able to modify these strategies to work for
younger children, particularly those strategies requiring a higher
level of independence and writing skills than many young children
are capable of demonstrating in the early grades. While working
with students to encourage greater skill and independence, each
strategy allows a gradual release of responsibility. For example,
teachers working with pre-writers would need to complete all
of the writing tasks; however, students in the invented spelling
stage may have the ability to take on more writing responsibility.
With a host of preexisting vocabulary strategies, early childhood
educators should take advantage of the opportunity to modify and
scaffold these strategies to meet the needs of their students. Below
are a few examples of how this has been done in the classroom.
Preview-Predict-Confirm
According to the work of Yopp and Yopp (2004), Preview-
Predict-Confirm (PPC) is an instructional strategy that encourages
students to think about vocabulary relevant to the informational
text prior to being read aloud. By encouraging students to
activate prior knowledge and predict vocabulary before reading
a text, students’ comprehension during the read-aloud should
improve (Alvermann, Smith, Readence, 1985; Bransford &
Johnson, 1972). Critical to PPC is the opportunity for students to
engage with each other and share their vocabulary knowledge
related to the topic, while expanding on what they already know.
Preview-Predict-Confirm in the classroom.
Miss Brown used PPC in the classroom with her
kindergarteners during her thematic unit on pumpkins. Using
The Pumpkin Book, by Gail Gibbons, Miss Brown sat in front of
her class, flipped through the pages of the text, and discussed
some of the pictures before she turns the page. Following
the preview of the book, Miss Brown asked for volunteers to
share their predictions of any words they think the author
might have used. Miss Brown modeled this procedure with
the students by saying, “I think the author might use the word
‘gardener’ because I saw several pictures of people working
in a garden, and I know pumpkins can grow in a garden.”
Students then moved to literacy centers while Miss Brown
worked with small groups. Miss Brown realized her students
were not ready to work without guidance in small groups on the
next task, so she modified this instructional approach to support
students through the process. In small groups, Miss Brown wrote
down other predictions students shared on blank cards and then
instructed them to find words that can be grouped together
in a meaningful way. Miss Brown modeled this process for her
They’re Not Too Young: Unpacking Vocabulary
Strategies for Use with K-2 Students
Koti L. Hubbard, Clemson University, Rachael L. Huber, Clemson University
and Leslie A. Salley, Clemson University