Reading

How are vocabulary and reading connected?

To be able to understand what you have read, you need to know the meaning of the words that you are reading. Research tells us that vocabulary knowledge, including both oral and written vocabulary, is critically important for a child’s success in school (Kamil et al., 2008).

That being said, each person has a specific vocabulary, words that they know and use. Vocabulary is the body of words a person knows. The bigger vocabulary that a person has, the easier it is to read and comprehend what it is that they are reading.

“Vocabulary knowledge could be considered a proxy for a person’s background knowledge. A person that has more knowledge of a subject is likely to better comprehend text about that subject, as well as know more words related to the topic.” The Journal of Educational Research, Volume 2, 2009

The Four Principles of Reading

Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension

There are 3 specific tiers of vocabulary:

Tier 1: Most Frequently Used Words

Tier 1 consists of our basic vocabulary such as the most frequently used words. These are the words you typically first learn to read. These words include sight words, nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

Examples:

Nouns: cat, dog, book, table
Verbs: run, jump, eat, sit
Adjectives: big, small, pretty, mean

Tier 2: Multiple Meaning Words

Tier 2 vocabulary consists of more difficult words that are used frequently in everyday life. These are words like coincidence, industrious, masterpiece. When you don’t experience these types of words in your everyday life, your vocabulary suffers, as does your factual knowledge base. Additionally, Tier 2 words are words that often have multiple meanings. These words can be used in a variety of subject areas. These are words that make a huge difference in your ability to comprehend what you read. They often are descriptive words that add detail.

Examples:

Board: wood, committee, food
Company: business, visitors, group
Grind: crumble, smooth, work
Hammer: pound, repeat, mallet
Rich: wealthy, valuable, flavorful, fertile

Tier 3: Words Specific to Subject Matter

Tier 3 words are used less frequently. These are words that are typically used in specific subjects such as math, science, medical, or legal terms. These words are too specific to be taught outside of their specific areas.

Examples:

Math: perimeter, ratio, percentage
Science: cosmos, constellations, periscope, tepid
Medical: antibodies, diagnosis, plasma
Legal: brief, compensatory damages, demurrer

The Best Ways to Learn Vocabulary

What are some of our favorite ways to learn new vocabulary?

1. Books

Vocabulary and reading go hand in hand. The more that you read, the more words you will be exposed to. The beauty of books is that they use vocabulary in context through stories or topics. Try to pick books that are at grade level, but introduce new words. Make sure to have a dictionary on hand to look up words that you may not know. Often times, you can infer the meaning of new words from the context that they are used in.

2. Flashcards with a Picture, a Sentence, and the Definition

Flashcards can be instrumental in learning new vocabulary. One of the best ways to make flashcards for vocabulary is to draw a picture of what the word means. Sometimes it may be a scene where the word is within the context of the scene. Take it a step further by writing the word in a sentence that corresponds with the picture.

3. Podcasts

Listening to podcasts can be a great way to build your vocabulary. There are podcasts on thousands of topics and can expand your knowledge in a field and are a great way to build tier 3 vocabulary. Some of our favorite podcasts include But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids and Wow in the World. For more great podcasts for kids, take a look at this top 25 podcasts for kids list.

4. Games

We love games to build vocabulary! This can be as simple as matching words with definitions. Our Reading Program includes numerous games to help build your vocabulary while having fun.

Studies from Sprenger (2005 and 2010) and the review of the current research on vocabulary instruction compiled by the National Reading Technical Assistance Center (2010) suggest the following ways to teach new vocabulary:

Use story examples to model what the word means.
Draw a picture of what the word means.
Write the new word in a vocabulary notebook and keep your story example and picture with it.
Use the new word every day for 5-10 days.
Play games with the words.

For direct instruction and specific activities on improving reading skills with vocabulary, learn more about our Reading Program. The program integrates both all five principles of reading seamlessly with step-by-step activities, games, and video lessons.

The Best Dictionary for Students

The Longman Dictionary of American English is our favorite dictionary for students and adults. It gives clear and simple definitions that anyone can understand. The font and type in the book are also easier to read than many dictionaries. Having a dictionary on hand can be crucial for your kids as they are in school.

Get The Longman Dictionary on Amazon

Download FREE Goal Setting Worksheet

Are you ready to do great things in 2020? We put together a goal setting worksheet to make the whole process of setting goals a little bit easier. We start off with a big audacious goal, move on to another goal that your child needs to accomplish (but might not be something that they are the most excited about), and we wrap up with one goal that they’d like to do if there is time to do it. Download the goal planning worksheet and share it with your friends.

Who is Scholar Within?

Scholar Within was founded by learning expert Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET. Bonnie began designing and developing her own custom educational tools when she started her private learning center in the 1990s. Teachers kept asking what she was using with the kids who saw her because of the dramatic improvements that the kids made in school. From there, Bonnie decided to make her materials available to teachers and families worldwide.

Now, Bonnie Terry has turned her materials into a full-service online program that you can follow step-by-step at home, on your schedule. School alone is not enough anymore. Bonnie’s programs boost your kid’s overall learning skills by focusing on improving the auditory, visual, and tactile processing areas of your brain to make it work more efficiently.

Learn more about Scholar Within.

How are Reading and Spelling Connected?

Reading and spelling are two sides of the same coin. In order to do one part well, you need the other part. In order to read, you need to decode (sound out) words. In order to spell, you need to encode words. In other words, pull the sounds apart within a word and match letters to the sounds. Encoding and decoding combine the components of auditory and visual processing. Here, phonemic awareness and phonics come together in the process of reading.

This is the reason why Scholar Within’s reading program includes spelling and phonics lessons. When you are able to spell more easily, you are also able to read more easily.

Phonemic Awareness Is Necessary for Reading and Spelling

Phoneme Blending

Phonemic awareness is your ability to manipulate the sounds in language. This is your ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds, phonemes, in spoken words. Then, you combine the phonemes to form a word. This is known as blending. You blend the individual sounds together to form a word. /c/ /a/ /t/ is cat. This is the process of decoding words.

Phoneme Segmentation

When you break a spoken word into its separate sounds, phonemes, you spell the word. This is known as encoding. This process is used when you spell a word phonetically. For example, there are five sounds in the word strip: /s/ /t/ /r/ /i/ /p/.

Combining Decoding and Encoding

So, pulling these two steps together, you are able to both sound out words, decode them, and spell them, encode them. Learning how we put letters together to make words improves your ability to read. The relationship between phonemic awareness, reading, and spelling is complimentary. As you improve your spelling skills, you improve your reading skills. As you improve your reading skills by working with sound/symbol relationships, you improve your spelling skills.

Research Supports Combining Reading and Spelling

Mandi Johnson, M. Ed., author of The Relationship Between Spelling Ability and Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Elementary Students, 2013 states:

“If students have a higher knowledge of spelling, they are able to make more sense of the words that they are reading; therefore, it is easier for them to remember what is being read.”

Dr. Louisa Moats, author of How Spelling Supports Reading states:

“Spelling is a critical element not only in reading fluency and comprehension but also across the curriculum in all subject areas. It is shown that students who improve in spelling instruction, also improve in writing fluency and reading word-attack skills. If students have a higher knowledge of spelling, they are able to make more sense of the words that they are reading; therefore, it is easier for them to remember what is being read. ”

“Research shows that learning to spell and learning to read rely on much of the same underlying knowledge. Learn more about the relationships between letters and sounds and how a proper understanding of spelling mechanics can lead to improved reading.”

Additionally, according to the 2007 study by Wilma Jongejan, Ludo Verhoeven, and Linda S. Siegel titled Predictors of Reading and Spelling Abilities in First-and Second-Language Learners:

“Phonological awareness was found to be of great importance for the development of literacy skills in both first and second language learners. The training of phonological awareness skills should, therefore, be encouraged for children of all linguistic backgrounds.”

Apply the Research

Look at the two sides of the coin: decoding and encoding. The research supports it. Reading programs should include a spelling component to help students master reading skills at a faster rate. So, we include spelling with our reading program. This solidifies the overall fluency and comprehension skills.

Download Free Reading Fluency Drill

Many parents and teachers have asked if they could try our reading fluency activities, so we have made the first reading drill available to download. This free drill helps your students work on their decoding skills.

Download Reading Fluency Drill

After-School Reading Program with Spelling and Phonics

Give your kids an academic advantage this year with our step-by-step, results-driven After-School Reading Program with spelling and phonics. Learn through our custom-designed visual, auditory, and tactile methods that actually help your brain work more efficiently and make learning easier.

Learn More

Who is Scholar Within?

Learn more about Scholar Within.

Tag: Reading

Vocabulary and Reading: The Connection

How are vocabulary and reading connected?

The Four Principles of Reading