The Science of Reading Simplified
Do you know The Silent Signs of Reading Struggles? Get the Guide!
Hey there! Can I share something that happened in a third-grade classroom last week? I was sitting with a teacher during her planning time, and I could see the frustration in her eyes. “I feel like I’m spinning my wheels with vocabulary,” she confided. “We have our word wall, we practice definitions, we do the whole routine… but the words just aren’t sticking.”
The other day, a teacher in my building stopped me in the hallway with an interesting question. “My students keep asking about word origins, and I realize I’m not quite sure how to explain what is etymology in a way that makes sense to them.” It’s one of my favorite questions to answer, because understanding what is etymology can transform the way we teach vocabulary.
You know that moment when a student gets stuck on a long word and their whole body tenses up? I see it all the time in the classrooms I support, and honestly, it breaks my heart a little. But here’s the thing – I’ve got something in my teaching toolkit that’s been a total confidence-builder for my struggling readers, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Can we talk about vocabulary instruction for a minute? After spending fifteen years supporting teachers with vocabulary strategies (and learning plenty of lessons the hard way!), I’ve noticed something interesting: we all know vocabulary matters, but finding strategies that actually work can feel overwhelming.
You know how we teach phonics patterns in a specific sequence? We start with those simple CVC words before tackling vowel teams and eventually multisyllabic words. Well, back in 1985, literacy researchers Isabel Beck and Margaret McKeown realized vocabulary needs a similar thoughtful approach. They noticed that not all words serve the same purpose in language development and created what we now call vocabulary tiers.
You know when you’re reading aloud to your class, and you hit a word that makes half your students scrunch up their faces in confusion? We’ve all been there! I was working with a teacher who had this exact experience with the word “crampon” during a mountain climbing story. Some kids lit up (thanks, family hiking trips!), while others were totally lost. It’s moments like these that really drive home why vocabulary is important in ways we might not always think about.
Grab your free lesson plan!