As a third grade teacher I know the importance of teaching vocabulary, especially in subjects
that have a great deal of new terminology such as science. In an effort to help my students learn
these new words, I implemented vocabulary strategies as part of instruction in some of my science
lessons: word sorts, concept circles, list-group-label, and semantic maps. To determine if these
vocabulary strategies helped my students learn the material, I conducted a study in which I
incorporated the strategies with some units and did not for others. The purpose of this article is to
share my findings.
Vocabulary instruction is an important part of reading comprehension (National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000). Vocabulary is “the words we must know to
communicate effectively” (NICHD, 2000, p. 45). Determining how to teach vocabulary effectively is a
topic of debate. It is best to teach vocabulary using the greatest number of connections that can be
made among words and concepts (Beck & McKeown, 1991). Research has indicated that students
learn best when word learning is personalized and when students are repeatedly exposed to words
through varying instruction and natural contexts (Anderson & Kulhavy, 1972; Bauman, Ware, &
Edwards, 2007; Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000; Graves, 1986; McKeown, Beck, Omanson, & Perfetti,
1983; McKeown, Beck, Omanson, & Pople, 1985; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). With this in mind, it is
important for teachers to use strategies that help students understand specific words and concepts.
Words learned are building blocks for later instruction (Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000). Koeller (1981)
suggested that in order to build upon a student’s vocabulary, it is best to engage interest and
curiosity in unknown words and to group and organize words already known.
Vocabulary Instruction and Comprehension
David Brown received his B.S. Degree in
Elementary Education from College of the
Ozarks and his MS in Elementary Education,
Reading from Missouri State University at
Springfield. He has been an elementary
classroom teacher for 4 years in Aurora,
Missouri.
Vocabulary and comprehension are
closely linked. Research reveals that students
who do well on comprehension tests also do
well on vocabulary tests (Herman & Dole, 1988).
Stahl and Fairbanks (1986) conducted a modelbased meta-analysis of 52 studies and concluded
that “vocabulary instruction does appear to have
a significant effect on the comprehension of
passages containing taught words” (p. 100). More recently, Stahl, (2003) noted that the relationship
between vocabulary and comprehension frequently correlates around .90. He found that vocabulary
and comprehension are interdependent; vocabulary depends upon comprehension just as
comprehension depends upon vocabulary. Rupley, Logan, and Nichols (1998) state that vocabulary
and comprehension “provide a mutual benefit in promoting reading development". As children’s
vocabulary grows their ability to comprehend what they read grows as well; furthermore, as their
comprehension skills grow so do their abilities to learn new words from context” (p. 336).
McKeown et al. (1985) found that exposure to a word 12 times produced reliably higher recall
whereas four encounters did not produce reliably higher recall. Spe