clair055

Vocabulary is key when teaching any subject from Math ( integer….diameter….cotangent ) to Science ( antimatter…circuit…velocity ) from Language Arts ( compound sentence…simile…alliteration ) to Social Studies ( amendment…capital resources…inalienable ). If students are unable to master and manipulate the subject’s vernacular they will encounter difficulty reading various texts, understanding their notes, and once April rolls around the student might not be able to understand the questions on the all important state mandated test. Vocabulary acts as the foundation for each instructional unit. In fact, Marzano contends in his book Building Academic Vocabulary (2005), “…students in the 50th percentile in terms of ability to comprehend the subject matter taught in school, with no direct vocabulary instruction, scores in the 50th percentile ranking. The same student after specific content-area terms have been taught in a specific way, raises his/her comprehension ability to the 83rd perce...