Understanding Tiered Vocabulary

Understanding Tiered Vocabulary

We know that vocabulary knowledge influences fluency, comprehension, and student achievement. Vocabulary plays an even more important role in understanding nonfiction and informational text. It has been estimated that 80% of comprehension in nonfiction is dependent upon understanding the vocabulary.  

Tiered Vocabulary is an organizational framework developed by Isabel Beck and Margaret McKeown for categorizing words and suggests implications for instruction.

        

Tier 1

Tier I words are basic, everyday words that are a part of most children’s vocabulary. These are words used every day in conversation, and most of them are learned by hearing family, peers, and teachers use them when speaking.   Some examples of Tier 1 words are: big, small, dog, family, boy, etc.

Tier 2

Tier 2 words include frequently occurring words that appear in various contexts and topics. These are general academic words and have high utility across a wide range of topics and contexts. Another way to think of Tier 2 vocabulary is as cross-curricular terms. For example, the term “express”  frequently appears in Science, Social Studies, and English texts.  Some examples of Tier 2 words are:   contrast, generate, isolate, exhaust, process.

Tier 3

Tier 3 words are domain specific vocabulary. Words in this category are low frequency, specialized words that appear in specific fields or content areas. We anticipate that students will be unfamiliar with Tier 3 words. Beck suggests teaching these words as the need arises for comprehension in specific content areas.  Some examples of Tier 3 words are:  tectonic plates, alliteration, mitosis, imperialism, isthmus.

Like thinking about words?  Have you ever multi-slacked?  
Here is an interesting Ted Talk about words...

We have Amazing Online Resources for Reading!

All teachers kindergarten through fifth grade and resource teachers have Reading A-Z and RAZ Kids accounts. 

Reading A-Z is an online teaching product which has more than 2,500 downloadable books (including English and Spanish versions) as well as teaching and learning materials.  

RAZ Kids is an online student product that has hundreds of eBooks offered at 27 different levels of reading difficulty.

If you:

• don't know or remember your username or password
• have questions about various features in Reading A-Z or RAZ Kids 
• need help setting up your class in RAZ Kids 
• want to learn more about how to incorporate these resources in your classroom

please contact Janet or Emily!

All third through fifth grade teachers also have access to Kid Biz 3000.  Kid Biz 3000 is a web based reading program (with content in English or Spanish) that reaches each student at his or her Lexile level.  Kid Biz allows teachers to customize content and monitor student growth.  

If you:

• don't know or remember your username or password
• have questions about various features in Kid Biz 
• want to learn more about how to incorporate this resource in your classroom

please contact Janet or Emily!

  

Endings and Beginnings

mClass Window Closing Today! 

As the mClass window closes today, we want to share a huge thanks to all mClassing teachers!  This was the smoothest testing administration ever!  Please be sure to have all of your TRC written responses saved in the blue folders as we will be analyzing global and specific strengths and needs to drive our future instruction. If you have questions about mClass, TRC written responses, or are wondering, 'What blue folder?"  shoot an email to Emily or Janet. 

Guided Reading Groups Beginning!

Now that we have finished assessing our students, we are ready to begin guided reading instruction!  

The purpose of guided reading is to:

• implement differentiated instruction in a systematic way
• help students develop reading proficiency and fluency
• to focus on specific needs in order to accelerate progress

A short to do list:

• Develop and share your guided reading schedule with administration and coaches. Like examples? See below!
• Choose either a 3-ring binder or electronic system to organize your plans & notes.
• Plan for guided reading instruction.

• Record and collect anecdotal notes, running records, written responses, etc. as data to help inform future instruction. 

Here is an example guided reading schedule:

Sample Guided Reading Schedule
8:00-8:15	Minilesson	Minilesson	Minilesson	Minilesson	Minilesson
8:15-8:30	Level H Wes Rebecca Connor Annalise	Level H Wes Rebecca Connor Annalise	Level H Wes Rebecca Connor Annalise	Level H Wes Rebecca Connor Annalise	Level P Olivia Mellie Cyrus Fitz Huck
8:30 - 8:45	Level J/K Don Peggy Joan Pete Roger	Level J/K Don Peggy Joan Pete Roger	Level J/K Don Peggy Joan Pete Roger	Level J/K Don Peggy Joan Pete Roger	Level R/S Kimmy Titus Xanthippe Donna Maria Lillian
8:45-9:00	Level M/N Liz Jack Tracy Jenna Kenneth Frank	Level M/N Liz Jack Tracy Jenna Kenneth Frank	Level M/N Liz Jack Tracy Jenna Kenneth Frank	Conferences	Conferences

Embrace the Near Win!

See the value of near wins!

  

Summer Learning Loss

Statistics show the important of keeping children reading and academically active during the summer months.

But...we can help students and parents have access to reading materials over the summer to help prevent the summer slide!

• Make sure your students have usernames and passwords for RAZ kids (K-5) and Kid Biz (3-5) accounts. Students may know their usernames and passwords now, but those memories fade fast after the last day of school. Be sure to send home passwords for these accounts in their last Friday folders. Make parents aware that they child will have access to these resources over the summer and should take advantage of them to prevent summer reading loss. 

• Be sure to bring previously selected students down to the auditorium on Friday, June 5th between 11-2 to collect Books on Break books. If you can't remember who you have previously selected click here!

• If you have other students you feel might need books to have at home for summer reading, but are not on the Books on Break list, let Emily or Janet know. With a little information about your reader, we can put together a summer book bag for him or her! (The sooner we know the better!)

If you have questions, please let Emily or Janet know!

mClass Testing is Around the Corner

As the end of the year draws near, so do all of our end of the year assessments!

The mClass window opens early for our 3rd graders due to Read to Achieve and End of Grade testing.  Here are the windows for testing:

The 3rd grade mClass window is May 4- May 22nd. 

The K-2 mClass window is May 11th - May 29th.  

Since we are not assessing our own students for the end of the year testing, we assigned each teacher another group to assess.  Below you will see the assignments.  

Grade	Notes
Kindergarten	Testing Window May 11th - May 29th
Park will test Weatherly’s Class
Weatherly will test Park’s Class
Mabe will test Protti and Serafin Classes
First Grade	Testing Window  May 11th - May 29th
Manning will test Greeson’s Class
Greeson will test Manning’s Class
Protti will test Mabe & Botero Classes (with support from Davis-Castro & Botero)
Second Grade	Testing Window May 11th - May 29th
Betts will test Evans’ Class
Evans will test Betts’ Class
Davis-Castro will test Bigelow’s Class
Moorman/Davis-Castro will test Murray’s Class
Third Grade	Testing Window  May 4th - May 22nd
Kaudelka will test Jones’s Class
Jones will test Kaudelka’s Class
Soldner will test Tisocco’s Class
Moorman will test Fonseca’s Class
Tisocco will test Soldner’s Class

Prior to testing, you have three tasks:

1) Each K-3 teacher needs to go to the mClass Testing Schedule 2015 document to complete the level information and notes for your homeroom.  (If you have questions about this let Emily Moorman know!)

2) Practice logging into mClass and make sure you have access to the class you will assess.  For example, Amanda Weatherly should log in and make sure she has access to Grace Park's class.  Go to this link to see how to do this.  If you practice logging in and it doesn't work, let Emily Moorman know!)

3) Make copies of the writing sheets for the students you will be testing.  (For example, if I am testing Susan's class I will review her list of student levels and approximate the number of copies I will need for for each level.)  

If you have questions about anything - well most anything -  let us know!

  

Text Talk Lessons

Were you just fretting, 

"I need to plan a new text talk!"

Well, fret no more!

We have a great resource in the coach's room for text talks!   

We have purchased Scholastic's Text Talk Kits.  

We have three kits.  

• Kit A for Kindergarten and First Grade 
• Kit B for First and Second Grade 
• Kit C for Second and Third Grade. 

Each kit contains 20 trade books each with a text talk lesson!  That is over 60 text talk lessons!
Each text talk lesson plan begins with a teacher-led read aloud using a high-quality trade book. The stopping points and text talk questions are ready for you and on post-it notes already in the book! 

The post it notes include stopping points and questions to pose to the students.

The text talk notes include:

• Open Ended Questions - These prompt students to move beyond one word- responses and actively use word in dialogue.
• Follow Up Questions - These questions scaffold students' thinking by encouraging them to elaborate and develop their initial ideas
• Word Explanations - This allows the teacher to give immediate explanations of challenging words.

An example pre-made post it note!

Additionally, each text talk lesson plan focuses on six specific vocabulary words (120 words per level) that stretch students' minds to build overall facility with words.

Each lesson plan includes:

• Child-Friendly Definitions - These definitions were developed to ensure that meanings are both child-friendly and clear.
• Direct Vocabulary Instruction - Combines word definitions with rich instruction that requires children to engage in active talk about word meanings.
• Repetition of Words - Repetition of words deepens students' knowledge so that each new word "sticks."  Remember, students need to encounter a word many, many times before they own it!
• Words in Varied Contexts - Ensure that children experience vocabulary words in the context of the story and beyond.

So come down and peruse this new resource, choose a book and plan a date for your text talk!  If you want a tutorial or have questions, please feel free to let Emily or Janet know! 

Home Visit Closet!

The Home Visit Closet has been replenished with supplies and reorganized for your convenience!

We have added more homework supplies:

• Scissors
• Pencils
• Rulers 
• Dry Erase Markers
• Crayons
• Glue Sticks

We have added more math manipulatives:

• Dice
• Clocks
• Playing Cards
• Hundreds Charts
• Counters
• Flash Cards (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division)
• Base Ten Blocks

We have also added more books in English and in Spanish!  

You will find books labeled and leveled in tubs on the tall shelf.

 

You will also find pre-made book bags for each grade level if you prefer to grab and go!

Unconstrained and Constrained Skills

Unconstrained skills are learned over a lifetime.  These skills are never fully mastered because they depend on the text, vocabulary and situation.  On the opposite end of the literacy continuum are constrained skills.  Constrained skills can be mastered, no matter the situation.  The image below lists different skills readers use and classifies them as constrained or unconstrained.

In our delayed opening professional development, we handed out a list of possible intervention activities that could be used in the classroom.  Below are links that explain and/or model some of the strategies.  If you need a reminder of our presentation, check out the following link!
Intervention Presentation

Unconstrained Skills:

• Reader's Theater  
• QAR questioning 
• Exploding Moment
• Show Don't Tell
• Writing Territories
• Frayer Model
• Shades of Meaning
• Sorting (for content or word patterns)

Constrained Skills:

• Letter Naming Fluency
• Letter Naming and Sound Fluency
• Blending
• Phoneme Segmentation
• A little bit of everything!

Happy 2015!

Welcome Back

Hopefully everyone had an excellent break with time to relax and recharge for 2015!  As we come back, we hit the ground running starting with MOY assessments.

mClass MOY Assessments

The mClass testing window begins on January 7th and closes on January 30th.  These assessments give us an opportunity to chart progress from BOY as well as guide future instruction, guided reading group formation, intervention groups, etc.

If you have a new student or a student that switched to a new home room and they are not on the correct roster, let Emily Moorman know and she will work on making that right!

Performance Series Assessments

The Performance Series assessment window opens this month, too! Third graders will take the Performance Series math assessment.  Fourth and fifth graders will take the Performance Series math and reading assessments.

If you have a new student in your classroom or a student who is no longer at Carrboro, please check in with Janet Davis-Castro and Steve Barringer to make sure your roster is correct and up to date.

You will be hearing soon about your Performance Series testing dates and accommodation groups!
   

Alternatives to Round Robin Reading

Round Robin reading has been around for 200 years.  (Wait...what?!)  Check out this article that discusses facts about Round Robin Reading and eleven better approaches.      

Tuesday PD This Month...

Tuesday, January 6th - Equity Part II

Tuesday, January 13th - Anchor Charts & Word Walls

It's not too late to sign up!