Amanda C. wrote her 9th entry on expanding her students vocabulary through various word learning strategies. One strategy Amanda mentioned that she really liked from Tompkins was doing a word study to help her students become aware of the origins of different words. Not only are the different origins of words really interesting to know, but so are the different forms the word has taken throughout time, like the word "brave" as Amanda mentioned. I agree that her students could benefit from this not only by helping them learn more about the words and therefore increasing their vocabulary, but also by increasing their interest and motivation for learning about more words. This activity can create a lot of excitement and drive to find different words and their cool histories. Additionally, another beneficial thing that can come from word studies is seeing the words used in various contexts. This can help deepen their understanding beyond the definition.
I also think that Amanda's ideas regarding dramatizing words and having students act out words from a book deserves blessing. This could greatly help students have a physical meaning to the word and deepen their understadning. To further this, I think pausing to have students act out the answer to a question can help check for their comprehension for what they're reading. For example, pausing after reading about a stressful situation for a character and asking the students to act out how they think the character is feeling, can give you a visual of if they understand the vocabulary and/or if they were ale to comprehend what was read.
Adeline, this was a great blessing of Amanda C's entry, just would have liked to hear a bit more how she inspired you to think more concretely or what you now gained deeper appreciation of from the readings that week.
ReplyDelete