Early Literacy part of the Education Reform Network

Vocabulary

• Developing Vocabulary With Contextual Redefinition
  Contextual Redefinition is a strategy that stresses the importance of context in predicting and verifying word meanings. This helps to use those clues as an aid in deriving meaning from print.
• Games
  This site of interactive activities includes making words, vocabulary, concept of word, phonics, alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, and others.
• Go to Paivi�s Library
  This site features stories that focus on different sounds. Categories include broad o, consonant blends, consonant digraphs, long and short vowels, silent letters and tricky endings, and others.
• List-Group-Label: A Simple Strategy for Improving Vocabulary
  The rationale behind List-Group-Label is based on the notion that categorizing words can help children organize new words and experiences in relation to previously learned words and seems appropriate for children at all grade levels across the curriculum.
• Literacy Training for Teachers Shows Positive Impact on Head Start Students
  This EDC study found that training Head Start teachers to enhance literacy activities in their classrooms translates into measurable vocabulary gains for their students.
• Semantic Feature Analysis
  This article deals with Semantic Feature Analysis and its relevance in exploring and reinforcing vocabulary concepts.
• Songs
  This site features video and audio clips of songs to reinforce early literacy acquisition and phonics concepts.
• Take Me To Your Readers
  This website was developed as part of Vanderbilt University�s �Young Children's Literacy Project.� The project is in its tenth year of research on the development of children's reading and writing skills - funded under a 1999-2003 grant from the IERI consortium of the National Science Foundation; the Department of Education; and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The project developed and tested new print and technology-supported tools to improve the reading skills of children in grades K - 2, targeting word-recognition skills and the development of literacy habits.
• Things to Print
  This site includes practice with short vowel sounds, word blending, alphabet skills, listening skills, word finding, and other activities to support early literacy development.
• Vocabulary
  This site contains interactive grade level puzzles and word activities to support vocabulary development. Material starts at junior high/middle school level, but would be valuable for teachers to use to enhance their own vocabulary knowledge.
• Vocabulary Development
  This PowerPoint presentation on vocabulary development is one of a series of presentations and workshops for teachers produced by Literacy Leaders as part of NREA coursework (Note: these workshops are copyrighted by NREA and the authors. You are welcome to use/adapt them to your school under two conditions: a) that you give credit to the author, and b) that you return a copy of improved/adapted versions of the workshop to the NREA in care of Joan Taylor ([email protected]).
• Vocabulary instruction
  This document contains definitions, how children learn vocabulary directly and indirectly, and types of vocabulary. A section on what does scientifically-based research tells us about vocabulary instruction is included.
• Vocabulary Instruction--Power Point
  This PowerPoint presentation on vocabulary instruction is one of a series of presentations and workshops for teachers produced by Literacy Leaders as part of NREA coursework (Note: these workshops are copyrighted by NREA and the authors. You are welcome to use/adapt them to your school under two conditions: a) that you give credit to the author, and b) that you return a copy of improved/adapted versions of the workshop to the NREA in care of Joan Taylor ([email protected]).
• Vocabulary University
  This site contains many word building activities including Fill-in-the-Blanks, Definition Match, Synonym & Antonym Encounters, Crosswords, Word Finds, True/False and Word Stories.