In the most famous vocabulary lesson of all time, Helen Keller learned that water could be symbolized by letters gestured into her hand. She wrote of the experience in her autobiography:

We [Teacher Ann Sullivan and Helen Keller] walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motion of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten - a thrill of returning thought, and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand . . . I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought.

A reader can smell, taste and touch the vivid experience of Keller learning the word "water."

Helen Keller's experience of learning the word "water" is far removed from abstract lists of words with definitions some students have to memorize and spit back on a regular basis in schools. It's hard to know how to begin to make the bridge between learning a new word through a powerful personal experience and traditional vocabulary instruction.

Students will pull and place new words into their experience, whether these contexts "fit" conventional definitions or not. Many teachers who do vocabulary drills end up with incorrect answers rooted in the experiences of their students.

For example, years ago my friend Ruth Shagoury had student teaching interns collect examples of incorrect answers from a weekly tenth grade vocabulary drill. The students were given words and definitions, and asked to use them in a sentence. Here are some of the contexts the high schoolers used for the assigned words:

1. Revise: to change, fix, improve

I need to revise my motorcycle.

2. Redundant: repeated, boring, over and over again

Mr. Donaldson is a very redundant science teacher.

3. Essence: the feeling, the voice, atmosphere, or flavor

There is a good essence at the house we rent at the beach.

4. Embolden: to empower, to make strong, gain strength

I am going to embolden my body this summer.

5. Celestial: heavenly seasons

My dad should put celestial in his pasta.

These students' incorrect answers make comical sense. As Vygotsky wrote, there is a "world in a word." You can easily picture the students' worlds through their definitions.

But where does this leave us when it comes to vocabulary instruction? Abandoning weekly drills? Telling stories instead of memorizing definitions?

Not quite. This week we're featuring links to a couple resources on the web with the latest research on connecting vocabulary learning with relevant personal experience. We've also got video from a classroom showing how to help students use the words on walls to expand their vocabulary, plus more advice from our teacher experts on those "worlds in words." Enjoy!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

www.choiceliteracy.com

***Free for All***

If you're looking for a brief overview of the most current recent research on vocabulary instruction, Reading Rockets has a concise article of basic research principles that would be useful in a staff meeting. The essay includes a few well-crafted and fun lessons on teaching idioms and keywords, as well as a handout for students on six types of context clues:

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/9943

From the Choice Literacy archives, Franki Sibberson finds vocabulary growth begins with fostering a playfulness with words in students. Her article includes a booklist of recent titles that engage and delight intermediate students with their language:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/156.cfm

Does the "Word of the Day" practice of emphasizing one word each day across the school have value for learning vocabulary? Catalyst magazine shares the pros and cons from researchers like Frank Smith and Isabelle Beck in this brief online article:

http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/arch/05-00/0500vocab.htm

We've launched our new Choice Literacy "Buy 5" DVD promotion, with 20% savings off the list price. Details and preview footage from our not-yet-released CAFE and Writers in Transition videos are included at this link:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/products/item10.cfm

***For Members Only***

Debbie Miller shares how our words subtly and not-so-subtly shape the ways students see themselves as learners, and especially, their ability to forge their own learning agenda in her new article, "Creating a Reflective Culture in Classrooms":

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/317.cfm

The Sisters share some of their strategies for building a shared language in classrooms through their "Learning to Confer with Children" article. The article includes a video clip of Joan Moser using anchor charts on the walls linked to read-alouds in a conference focused on vocabulary learning with a very young learner. After the conference, Joan and Gail talk about strategies to promote word learning:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/318.cfm

In her March New Teachers Group Update, Jennifer Allen writes about the power of being shadowed by a young teacher, Jeni, for a full day. This article describes what they learned, and includes a five-minute video of the conversation between Jennifer, Jeni, and a colleague about literature groups in the intermediate grades:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/312.cfm

That's all for this week!

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