Words Count: Effective Vocabulary Instruction in Action

By Scott C. Greenwood

Lists, definitions, memorizing, Friday quizzes--these are the best ways to bore students, and the least effective ways to build their vocabulary. And vocabulary knowledge has long been regarded as one of the keys to children's successful reading comprehension. Scott Greenwood offers a new view of vocabulary instruction and debunks approaches that center on definitions and memorization. Drawing from both principles and sound practice, Greenwood offers progressive teachers direction, support, and strategies for teaching effective meaning-making from new words. Greenwood not only provides effective vocabulary teaching strategies. He makes strategic connections to literature, the curriculum, and writing. He also makes his book user friendly with plentiful classroom vignettes, portrayals of teachers in action, photos, and samples of student work. Extensive appendixes consist of reference materials that are both fun to read and convenient to use--from nonstandard words recently added to Webster's to strategies for solving analogies. Construct a word-aware classroom in which students are attuned to listening for new and interesting words. Celebrate these new words and practice them constantly. Become a word-aware model by exhibiting enthusiasm for and curiosity about words, recounting word-learning anecdotes, and making a habit of using new words. Get the incentive and tools to do this effectively, right now, with Greenwood's Words Count.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325006482
• ISBN13: 9780325006482
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Heinemann
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 0.5" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8