333

WORDS,
WORDS
E V E RY W H E R E , BU T
W H IC H ON ES
DO W E T E AC H?
Michael F. Graves ■ James F. Baumann ■ Camille L. Z. Blachowicz ■ Patrick Manyak ■

Ann Bates ■ Char Cieply ■ Jeni R. Davis ■ Heather Von Gunten

The CCSS emphasize the importance of teaching vocabulary but say

nothing about selecting the words to be taught. This article provides a
detailed procedure for selecting words to teach.

R
uby Meadows (all names are pseudonyms) Michael F. Graves is professor emeritus of literacy education at the
was frustrated again, as she all too often was University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA; mgraves@umn.edu.
when she surveyed the vocabulary of a text James F. Baumann is the Chancellor’s Chair for Excellence in Literacy
her class was about to read and tried to decide Education at the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA; baumannj@
missouri.edu.
which words to teach. Her class was about to read a
Camille L. Z. Blachowicz is professor emeritus and co-director of The
chapter in Island of the Blue Dolphins, and as she was Reading Leadership Institute at National College of Education of National
rereading the chapter, she had underlined words that Louis University, Chicago, Illinois, USA; cblachowicz@nl.edu.
seemed likely to challenge her students. Unfortunately— Patrick Manyak is an associate professor of literacy education at the
University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA; pmanyak@uwyo.edu.
and this is what happened all too often—she had
Ann Bates is adjunct professor at National College of Education of National
underlined nearly 50 words! She could, of course, attempt Louis University; annbates515@gmail.com.
to teach all 50, but that would be far more than students Char Cieply is adjunct professor at National College of Education of
were likely to learn and the attempt would bore them, National Louis University; ccieply@comcast.net.
bore her, and leave little time for other activities with the Jeni R. Davis is an assistant professor in elementary science education at
the University of South Florida, Tampa, USA; jenidavis@usf.edu.
novel. So, guided by the realization that she could only
Heather Von Gunten is a literacy education doctoral student at the
teach a small number of words, she began the task of University of Wyoming; heather@uwyo.edu.
deciding which ones to focus on.

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We sympathize with Ms. Meadow ’s relatively common words that are not SWIT word-selection process, as impor-
frustration over selecting which words likely to be known by students with lim- tant as it is, relates primarily to just one
to teach from a selection students are ited vocabularies, including English of the MCVIP goals, teaching individ-
reading and believe that she is not alone learners? Should we teach words that ual words, and that a comprehensive
in that frustration. Having just com- are not in the selection but represent and balanced vocabulary instruction
pleted a project in which we worked themes in narratives or key concepts in program includes all four of Graves’s
closely with teachers in identify- informational texts? components.
ing words to teach from the selections These are vexing questions that
their students were reading (Baumann, challenge both Ms. Meadows and Some Basics on the English
Blachowicz, Manyak, Graves, & Olejnik, vocabulary researchers like ourselves. Lexicon and Vocabulary
2009–2012; Baumann, Manyak, et al., They are particularly important in this Instruction
2012; see the Appendix for a descrip- age of Common Core State Standards Complicating the word-selection chal-
tion of the project), we recognize how (CCSS) because the Standards put great lenge are several facts about the English
challenging it is to decide which words emphasis on vocabulary: The require- lexicon, the set of words that make up
to teach. ment to “Acquire and use accurately a our language. First, there are a huge
For example, should we select words range of general academic and domain- number of possible words to teach.
that are essential for comprehension of specific words and phrases” (National Nagy and Anderson (1984) estimated
the selection? Should we select words Governors Association Center for Best that printed school English contains
that may not be crucial for compre- Practices & Council of Chief State 88,500 word families, and if one adds
hending the selection but are important School Officers, 2010, pp. 25 and 51) multiple meanings, idioms, and proper
for developing a broader reading and appears as an anchor standard at both words, this number increases to some-
writing vocabulary? Should we teach the K–5 level and the 6–12 level, yet thing like 180,000 words (Anderson &
the Standards say nothing about how Nagy, 1992). Second, students’ vocab-
to identify the general academic and ularies vary considerably. Although
domain-specific words to teach. the average high-school student knows
In this article, we address these about 40,000 words (Nagy & Herman,
Pause and Ponder questions by describing a principled 1987; Stahl & Nagy, 2006), some stu-
■ How do you currently go about deciding approach to word selection. We begin dents have much larger vocabularies
by discussing three features of the and others have much smaller ones.
which words to teach your students?
English lexicon and three approaches Third, the English language con-
■ Once you have identified words to teach, to selecting vocabulary that have been sists of a very small number of frequent
do you typically teach them all in the suggested. Then, in the major section words and an extremely large number
same way or vary your instruction so that of the article, we provide a theoreti- of infrequent words. As Hiebert ’s (2005)
it is particularly fitted to the words you cally and practically based approach to tally of the words in The Educator’s Word
are teaching and how well students word selection named Selecting Words Frequency Guide (Zeno, Ivens, Millard, &
need to know them? for Instruction from Texts, or SWIT. We Duvvuri, 1995) shows, there are 8 words
developed SWIT during our three-year that occur at least once per 100 words of
■ Although student choice is not a part of research project named the Multi- text, about 200 words that occur at least
Selecting Words for Instruction from Faceted, Comprehensive Vocabulary once per 1,000 running words, about
Texts, doing so from time to time is Instruction Program (MCVIP). 1,000 words that occur at least once
certainly a good idea. Do you involve your MCVIP was based on Graves’s per 10,000 running words, and about
students in the process of identifying (2006) four-part approach to vocabulary 5,000 words that occur at least once per
words they need to learn? If so, how do instruction that includes (1) providing 100,000 running words. The remaining
you do so? If not, how could you do so? rich and varied language experiences, words—well over 100,000 of them—
(2) teaching individual words, (3) teach- occur somewhere between nine times
■ Can you think of some ways to select ing word-learning strategies, and (4) and less than one time per million run-
words to teach beyond those you already fostering word consciousness. Before ning words. Most students who are
use and those described here? proceeding, we emphasize that the native English speakers (although, as we

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whereas dealing with words from

“There are a huge number of possible narratives “requires that students
words to teach. Nagy and Anderson (1984) understand the ways in which authors
vary their language to ensure that
estimated that printed school English contains readers grasp the critical features of the
story” (p. 341).
88,500 word families.”
Tier Approach
Taking still another tack, Beck and her
noted previously, not all students) will Word List Approach colleagues (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan,
have learned the 5,000 most frequent Some authors suggest the use of lists 2002, 2008, 2013; Kucan, 2012) suggested
words by the third or fourth grade. in selecting words to teach. Graves that there are three tiers of words and
Beyond these grades, most of the words and Sales (2012) and Hiebert (2012) that most attention should be focused
you teach will be relatively infrequent— have developed word lists that contain on the middle tier, Tier Two. They define
occurring between nine times and less the 4,000 most frequently occur- Tier Two words as those that have “high
than one time in a million words of text. ring word families. Biemiller ’s (2009) utility for mature language users and are
Fortunately, over the past 30 years, Words Worth Teaching is a list of 5,000 found across a variety of domains” and
educators have learned a huge amount root words that are likely to be known note that examples include “contradict,
about teaching vocabulary. Research by 40–60% of kindergarten through circumspect, precede, auspicious, fervent,
has repeatedly shown that effective grade 6 students. Marzano (2004) and retrospect” (Beck et al., 2013, p. 9). In
vocabulary instruction should include prepared a list of more than 7,000 con- contrast, Tier One words consist of “the
both a definition of a word and the tent-area words and phrases taken most basic words: warm, dog, tired, run,
word in context, provide multiple expo- from national standards documents talk, party, swim, look, and so on” (p. 9).
sures to the word, involve students and representing 11 subject areas Tier Three consists of words whose “fre-
in discussion and active process- (math, science, language art, etc.) quency of use is quite low and often
ing of the word’s meaning, and help and 4 grade-level ranges (K–2, 3–5, limited to specific domains,” with exam-
them review the words in various con- 6–8, and 9–12). Coxhead (2000) cre- ples including “filibuster, pantheon, and
texts over time (see research reviews ated The Academic Word List, which is epidermis” (p. 9).
by Baumann, Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003; a list of 570 word families that repre- Having briefly described some
Beck & McKeown, 1991; Blachowicz sent the general academic vocabulary existing approaches to selecting vocab-
& Fisher, 2000; Graves & Silverman, from college textbooks, professional ulary, we turn now to our description of
2010). Unfortunately, although there journals, and other academic writ- SWIT. Although informed by the afore-
is a great deal of information available ing, and Gardner and Davies (2013) mentioned approaches, we believe that
about how to teach vocabulary, there is have recently created another aca- SWIT is more comprehensive and pro-
much less information available about demic word list titled A New Academic vides a process that teachers can follow
how to select the relatively few words Vocabulary List. in selecting words for instruction from a
that we do teach from the thousands specific text.
of words that we might teach (Nagy & Genre Approach
Hiebert, 2010). Taking a different tack, Hiebert and
Cervetti (2012) suggested that because
Current Approaches the vocabulary in narrative and infor- “Over the last 30
to Selecting Vocabulary mational texts differs in important
to Teach ways, we need different approaches
years, educators
Experts in vocabulary instruction have
provided several useful approaches for
for teaching vocabulary for each genre.
Specifically, they argued that learn-
have learned a huge
selecting vocabulary. Here, we briefly ing words from informational texts amount about teaching
describe three approaches that have requires “extensive discussions, dem-
informed our own thinking. onstrations, and experiments” (p. 341), vocabulary.”
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Selecting and Teaching students’ comprehension and learning Accessible Words. These are more
Words From Texts Students from text will be impaired significantly common or higher frequency words that
Are Reading (Baumann, 2009). are not likely to be understood by stu-
dents who have limited vocabulary knowl-
Types of Words to Teach Valuable Words. These words have edge. Accessible words must be taught
The SWIT approach deals with four broad, general utility for students’ read- to students whose vocabularies lag sig-
types of words: Essential words, Valuable ing and writing and thus have enduring nificantly behind their age- or grade-
words, Accessible words, and Imported importance. Valuable words are deter- level peers because of limited exposure
words. We refer to all four types as mined not only in relation to the text to sophisticated language, fewer world
Unfamiliar (see the first two columns of itself but also in relation to the vocabu- experiences, limited prior knowledge, or
Figure 1), but as we explain next, they are lary sophistication of the students. For the fact that they are learning English
unfamiliar to students in different ways. example, Valuable words from a text as a second language (Graves, August,
for sixth-grade students would likely & Mancilla-Martinez, 2012). These stu-
Essential Words. These words are include some fairly complex words used dents need to acquire Accessible words
crucial for comprehending the text stu- by advanced language users, words like so that they can accelerate their vocabu-
dents are reading. In narrative texts, discord and inevitable. Valuable words lary growth. We view Accessible words
these words often relate to understand- from a text for second-grade students as bridging the gap between what
ing the central story elements and the would include words not likely to be Beck et al. (2013) defined as Tier One
characters and their actions. Essential known by many second graders, but and Tier Two—words that are not the
words in narratives often appear just they would be of higher frequency than most common in our language but that
once or a few times in a given text the Valuable words identified for sixth developing language learners need to
(Hiebert & Cervetti, 2012). Essential graders, words like accommodate and rec- learn to understand most written texts.
words in informational texts are nec- oncile. This category is somewhat like Examples for fourth graders with lim-
essary for understanding the con- Beck et al.’s (2002, 2013) category of Tier ited vocabularies might include consider
tent of the text and key concepts in Two words, but unlike Tier Two words, and recent.
the content area the text represents. what counts as a Valuable word differs
These words are likely to be concep- depending on students’ age, grade, and Imported Words. These are words
tually complex and are often repeated vocabulary knowledge. One might con- that enhance a reader’s understand-
several times in the text (Hiebert & sider Valuable words as those at a stu- ing, appreciation, or learning from a text
Cervetti, 2012). Without understand- dent ’s zone of proximal vocabulary but are not included in it. For narrative
ing the meanings of Essential words, development (Vygotsky, 1978). texts, imported words may capture key
thematic elements (e.g., prejudice) or
address important character traits (e.g.,
gullible); for informational texts, they
Figure 1 Key Processes of the SWIT Approach
may connect to or enhance key concepts
presented in the text (e.g., democracy,
environmentalism). Carefully selected
Imported words will help students ana-
lyze and extend what they learn from
the text.

How Many Words to Teach

One of the criticisms of teaching indi-
vidual words has been that teachers
are limited in the numbers of words
they can teach students directly (Nagy
& Herman, 1987). Although this is
true, there is ample research evidence

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indicating that students can be taught experiences (e.g., independent reading isolated island off the coast of California
word meanings in reasonable num- and teacher read-alouds), and becoming for 18 years. Over that period, Karana
bers. Beimiller and Boote (2006, Study word conscious (Graves & Watts-Taffe, survived, showed great courage and
2) reported that children learned 8–12 2008; Scott, Skobel, & Wells, 2008). self-reliance, and found a measure of
new root words per week. Beck and col- happiness in her solitary life. In the
leagues (Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, Types of Vocabulary excerpt that the class will read, Karana
1982; McKeown, Beck, Omanson, Instruction attempts to paddle to the mainland
& Perfetti, 1983; McKeown, Beck, We recommend that vocabulary but has to turn back when her canoe
Omanson, & Pople, 1985) demonstrated instruction be the least intensive, most begins to leak. Jacquelyn uses the four-
that upper-elementary students can efficient form necessary to provide stu- step SWIT process to identify and teach
learn approximately 2–3 words daily, dents with the knowledge they need to words from this Island excerpt.
or 10–15 words per week. Our MCVIP understand word meanings and com-
research (Baumann et al., 2009–2012) prehend the texts containing the words. 1. Identify Potentially
with fourth- and fifth-grade students SWIT includes three different types Unfamiliar Words
demonstrated that students could learn of vocabulary instruction: (1) provid- Jacquelyn reads the selection carefully,
about 8–12 root words each week. ing Powerful Instruction on specific underlining in pencil those words she
But is explicitly teaching 8–15 words words whose meanings are complex believes are likely to be Unfamiliar to a
weekly enough? This may be an appro- and essential to text comprehension number of her students. She identifies 22
priate number if all words taught were (Beck et al., 2002, 2008, 2013); (2) pro- words as potentially Unfamiliar: advice,
sophisticated Essential or Imported viding Brief Explanations of words that ancestors, befall, calm, crawfish, faint, fiber,
words. We recommend, however, have clear-cut definitions (Baumann fortune, headland, kelp, leagues, lessened,
that teachers instruct students also in et al., 2009–2012); and (3) having stu- omen, pause, pitch (sticky tar), planks, pur-
Valuable and Accessible words, in which dents Infer Meanings from context and sued, sandspit, seeping, serpent, skirted
case the total number of words per week from morphological cues (Baumann, (meaning “go around”), and spouting.
could grow to 20 or more. This is espe- Edwards, Boland, & Font, 2012). She then creates a chart (see Figure 2)
cially true when considering vocabulary In summary, the process of select- that lists these words in column 1.
instruction across the curriculum, which ing the types and numbers of words to
includes teaching words from social teach, as well the nature of instruction, 2. Identify the Four Types
studies, mathematics, science, and other involves considerable judgment and of Words to Teach
content areas, as well as from literature. decision making on the part of teach- Jacquelyn returns to the chapter and
The total number of words to teach ers. We illustrate this decision-making determines which of the 22 words
students weekly will, of course, vary process and further describe the SWIT are Essential, Valuable, or Accessible,
depending on teachers’ judgments of the approach in the following two sections. and decides whether she should add
breadth and depth of students’ existing Imported words. In doing so, she tries
vocabularies, students’ general lan- Using SWIT With a to think like the fourth graders in her
guage skills, the types of texts involved, Narrative Text classroom—who have varying levels of
and the teachers’ instructional goals Jacquelyn, a fourth-grade teacher, has vocabulary, reading ability, linguistic
(Baumann, Edwards, Boland, Olejnik, & all her students read a selection each facility, and prior knowledge—to identify
Kame’enui, 2003). We recommend, how- week from their literature anthology and the words that will best facilitate their
ever, that teachers explicitly teach the participate in small literature discussion
four types of words we describe in suf- groups in which they read related texts
ficient quantities to provide students at their instructional levels. This week,
with the opportunity to learn upward the common selection is an excerpt
“The total number
of 500–600 words per school year. This
number would be complemented by sig-
from the classic Newbery Medal–win-
ning Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell,
of words to
nificant numbers of words students learn 1960). Island of the Blue Dolphins tells teach students weekly
through using word-learning strategies, the story of Karana, a young Indian girl
participating in rich and varied language who was left alone on a beautiful but will, of course, vary.”
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Figure 2 Types of Unfamiliar Words and Types of Instruction for Words From Island of and she places checks in the “Valuable
the Blue Dolphins Words” column of the chart.
Type of Word Type of Instruction
Unfamiliar Words Essential Valuable Accessible Powerful Brief Infer Accessible Words. Jacquelyn next
Words Words Words Instruction Explanation Meaning
determines which of the remaining
words are Accessible, that is, higher fre-
quency words that are not likely to be
understood by her students who have
limited vocabularies, particularly the
seven English learners she has in her
class. Jacquelyn determines that four
words are Accessible ( fiber, lessened,
pause, spouting) and places checks in the
“Accessible Words” column of the chart.

Imported Words. Jacquelyn recognizes

that the theme of the Island excerpt
revolves around Karana’s determina-
tion to overcome the obstacles she faced
while attempting to paddle from the
Island to the mainland. Therefore, she
Imported Word(s) decides to teach determination, which she
writes in the “Imported Word(s)” row at
the bottom of her SWIT chart.
comprehension of the reading selection uses simply to name a constellation Note that Jacquelyn decides not to
and general vocabulary development. Karana saw. From going through the teach 7 of the 22 Unfamiliar words she
whole of the excerpt, Jacquelyn decides initially identified: crawfish, headland,
Essential Words. Jacquelyn focuses first that the following seven words are kelp, leagues, pitch, sandspit, and ser-
on words whose meanings are Essential Essential: advice, ancestors, fortune, omen, pent. She does so because the words
to understand the selection. She consid- planks, pursued, and seeping. Jacquelyn are neither Essential for understand-
ers central narrative elements and the places checks (✓) in the “Essential ing the selection nor Valuable for general
portrayal of Karana. For example, she Words” column of her chart. It is impor- language use, and they are not high-pri-
determines that the words advice and tant to recognize that not all Essential ority words that her English learners
ancestors, which occur in the following words will be abstract or complex in and students with small vocabular-
passage, are necessary for students to meaning. For example, planks and seep- ies need to have Accessible to them.
understand Karana’s cultural heritage ing are concrete words, but it is essential Instead, they are lower frequency words
and motivation to leave the island that students understand Karana’s that are related to specific aspects of
I remembered how Kimki, before she had predicament when the canoe planks
gone, had asked the advice of her ances- separate, seawater seeps in, and the
tors who had lived many ages in the past,
who had come to the island from that canoe begins to sink.
country, and likewise the advice of Zuma,
Valuable Words. Jacquelyn reviews “Jacquelyn focuses
the medicine man who held power over
the chart looking for Unfamiliar words
the wind and the seas [italics added].
(O’Dell, 1960, pp. 57–58) that, although not Essential for com-
first on words whose
In contrast, Jacquelyn decides that
prehending the selection, are Valuable
for students to know for general, long-
meanings are Essential
students’ comprehension of the chap- term reading and writing develop- to understand the
ter would not be impaired if they did not ment. Jacquelyn decides that four words
know the word serpent, which O’Dell are Valuable (befall, calm, faint, skirted), selection.”
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the story. These words are interest- 2002, 2013) involves four steps. We use ✓ Michael showed determination
ing, add detail, or invoke imagery, so the Imported word determination in our when he broke three tackles and
Jacquelyn may take the opportunity to example of Powerful Instruction. scored the winning touchdown
discuss them briefly as they come up ■ Provide a clear defini- in the football game.
while reading the selection. Alternately, tion—Jacquelyn provides a ✓ Samantha was so determined to
she may designate these as optional student-friendly definition that the do her job well that she stayed
“Challenge” words, which students can students can readily understand: late whenever that was necessary
explore independently. to get the day ’s work done.
determination is how people act when
they try really hard to complete a task ■ Ask questions that require deep
3. Determine the Optimal Type or achieve a goal; a determined person
thinking—To promote depth of
of Instruction does not give up.
knowledge, Jacquelyn next has stu-
Next, Jacquelyn determines which of She displays the word and defini-
dents respond to various kinds of
the three forms of SWIT instruction tion on a chart, chalk, or dry-erase
questions about the word.
is best suited for each word. She does board, or other media (e.g., inter-
✓ Have you ever been determined to
this by considering (a) how concrete or active whiteboard). She has also
abstract the words are (she knows that do or achieve something? Think
prepared word cards that include
abstract words require stronger instruc- about when and then share your
the word, a short definition, and a
tion; Sadoski, Goetz, & Fritz, 1993; ideas with a partner.
picture or illustration. She uses the
✓ Which of the following show
Schwanenflugel, Stahl, & McFalls, 1997); cards to provide students with a
(b) which of the three types of words it definition and a visual mnemonic determination and which do not.
is, making sure that Essential words are for each word. Figure 3 shows a Give me a “thumbs up” when
taught in a way that ensures that stu- word card for determination. they do and a “thumbs down”
dents learn them well; and (c) whether when they don’t.
■ Provide and discuss context sen-
the words’ meanings can be determined ❑ A person continuing to build
tences—Next, she provides several
using context or word parts. Applying a tower made out of wooden
examples of the word in context
these criteria, Jacquelyn determines blocks after it fell down twice.
and has the students read and dis-
that five words will require Powerful ❑ A person eating ice cream for
cuss the meaning in each sentence.
Instruction, four from the selection and dessert.
✓ Alexandra showed determi-
the one imported word; nine words need ❑ A person studying hard for a
nation when she studied for
only Brief Explanations; and students can math test after receiving a “D”
three months to prepare for the
Infer Meanings for two words. Jacquelyn on the first test.
Spelling Bee.
places an X. in the appropriate “Type of
Instruction” column in the table. In all,
she will provide some form of instruction
for a total of 16 words.
Figure 3 Word Card for Determination
4. Implement Vocabulary
Instruction
At this point, Jacqueline plans and determination
implements lessons and activities to
provide Powerful Instruction and Brief to try really hard; to not give up
Explanations and to guide students to
Infer Meanings. She also plans review
for all the words.

Powerful Instruction. Jacquelyn’s

structure for Powerful Instruction
(Baumann et al., 2009–2013; Beck et al.,

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use, and review all new words (Baumann

“For words with useful context or easily et al., 2003; Blachowicz & Fisher, 2010;
identifiable word parts, Jacquelyn guides Graves, 2006, 2009). Students will see
the words on the word wall and on their
students to apply what they have learned.” pages in their vocabulary notebooks.
Jacquelyn encourages students to use the
words in their writing and speaking. She
❑ A dog chewing on a bone in happen or take place. For exam- also has students look for the words in
your backyard. ple, we might say, ‘Peng didn’t know their own reading, inviting them to write
✓ what would befall him when he each word on a sticky note along with the
Do you think that Karana was
entered the dark cave.’ Or we could sentence in which it was used, the book
determined? Explain your answer
say ‘Peng didn’t know what would title, and page number.
by giving evidence from the story.
happen to him when he entered the Jacquelyn makes it a point to use a
■ Provide students with a vocabu-
dark cave.’ O’Dell could have used variety of review activities. For exam-
lary reference sheet—Jacquelyn has ple, in Pick Two (Richek, 2005), students
happen rather than befall, but that
prepared a handout for the Island see if they can use two words in a sen-
would not be as interesting a word.
excerpt that includes all Essential, tence, such as, “She lost her fortune
Also, befall kind of tells you that
Valuable, and Accessible words. when the banker gave her bad advice.”
something surprising or maybe even
This includes definitions and sen- As another example, in Word Bubble, a
bad might be going to happen.”
tences with the words in context. student sits with her or his back to the
Students keep these handouts and Infer Meaning. For words with useful board and Jacquelyn writes a new word
put them in three-ring vocabulary context or easily identifiable word parts, in a think bubble. Then, students provide
notebooks for continued reference Jacquelyn guides students to apply what clues to the word. For fortune, student
throughout the year. they have learned. For example, for faint, might provide clues such as “future,”
It is important to point out that Powerful she would invite a student to first read “will happen,” and “feel something will
Instruction was not required for all O’Dell’s sentence, “The waves made happen.”
Essential words. For example, Jacquelyn no sound among themselves, only faint
has decided that she can teach befall noises as they went under the canoe or Using SWIT With an
through a Brief Explanation and have struck against it.” Then she would ask, Informational Text
students infer the meaning of faint by “Does anyone see a context clue that Alex is a third-grade teacher who gives
directing them to context clues in the might help you figure out the mean- particular attention to teaching academic
story. ing of faint?” A student might respond, vocabulary (Baumann & Graves, 2010)
“I think faint means quiet because waves within content domains. His school uses
Brief Explanation. Jacquelyn has
would make quiet, little sounds when it the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading pro-
decided to provide short explanations
says, ‘they went under the canoe as they gram (www.scienceandliteracy.org). Alex
for words in the “Brief Explanation”
struck against it.’” Jacqueline would is teaching the “Soil Habitats” unit, and
column in Figure 2 when she and her
respond, “Yes, faint here means quiet or students will be reading Earthworms
students reread the Island selection for
weak sounds. For example, did you ever Underground (Beals, 2007). The book
pleasure, comprehension, and fluency.
hear faint thunder from a storm way off begins with an introduction that is fol-
When she encounters these words, she
in the distance? That ’s different from lowed by six colorfully illustrated short
stops briefly and provides a synonym or
the very loud thunder you hear when chapters that address how earthworms
short definition and a context sentence.
the storm is nearby, isn’t it. Can anyone breathe, move, eat, protect themselves,
For example, she taught befall as follows:
use faint in a sentence?” A student might reproduce, and adapt to their environ-
■ A student reads the following text ment. Although Earthworms is a short
offer, “I could hear the faint sound of a
from Island: “I must say that what- dog barking off in the distance.” book with a limited amount of text on
ever might befall me on the endless each page, like many informational
waters did not trouble me.” Then See, Use, and Review All Words. It is books, it contains a number of conceptu-
Jacquelyn says, “Befall means to essential that students repeatedly see, ally challenging words.

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are used in the text to determine the

“Like many informational books, Earth- type of instruction most appropri-
worms Underground contains a number of ate for each. As a result of this analysis,
Alex determines that adaptation, habi-
conceptually challenging words.” tat, locomotion, organization, and survive
will require Powerful Instruction; that
absorb, breathe, burrows, moisture, and
This example of SWIT deals with as Essential words. He determines that segments can be taught through Brief
the first three chapters of Earthworms: moisture, burrows, and segments are Explanations; and that the meaning of
“Introduction,” “How Earthworms Valuable for students to know and that earthworm can be inferred through the
Breathe,” and “How Earthworms breathe, survive, and absorb need to be use of word parts and context.
Move.” The sections in this example are Accessible to students who are English
parallel to those presented for the nar- learners or generally struggle with 4. Implement Vocabulary
rative excerpt from Island but emphasize vocabulary. Also, there is a particularly Instruction
how SWIT is used with informational interesting section of text that explains Here are some examples of how Alex
text. To avoid redundancy with the how earthworms use hairs and seg- plans to implement the three types of
narrative example, the four SWIT steps ments to move through the ground, so instruction in teaching the 11 words he
are somewhat abbreviated here. Alex decides to teach the Imported word has targeted.
locomotion.
1. Identify Potentially Alex notes that protect and reproduce Powerful Instruction. Alex recog-
Unfamiliar Words appear only once in these chapters and nizes that organism and habitat are key
Alex reminds himself that for informa- that there is an entire chapter devoted to concepts in this text and biological sci-
tional texts he should teach the word each of these words/concepts later in the ence generally and that the words are
meanings students need to understand book, so he decides to wait and teach associated. Therefore, he teaches them
the content and learn from the text, them then. Alex also knows that soil has together. He begins by displaying and
which in this case are important science been discussed many times in preced- discussing the definitions for each word
concepts related to soil and earthworms. ing books in the unit, so he eliminates it. from the glossary of Earthworms on an
Applying this mindset, he identifies Additionally, after rereading the chap- interactive whiteboard as shown at the
14 potentially unfamiliar words in the ters, Alex decides that bellies does not top of Figure 4. (Alex hides the rest of
three chapters: absorb, adaptation, bel- merit instruction. Thus Alex decides to the chart with the whiteboard slider.)
lies, breathe, burrows, earthworm, habitat, teach 10 of the 14 words he identified as He then asks students to provide exam-
moisture, organism, protect, reproduce, soil, potentially Unfamiliar along with the ples and nonexamples for organism (e.g.,
segments, and survive. He lists these on Imported word locomotion. mouse and tree versus rock and house) and
a chart like the one for Island shown in to describe the habitats of mice and trees.
Figure 2. 3. Determine the Optimal Types Next, he moves the slider on the
of Instruction whiteboard down to reveal rows 1 and
2. Identify the Four Types As Jacquelyn did with Island, Alex 2, which list the organisms earthworms
of Words to Teach considers the type and nature of the and penguins and possible habitats.
Alex returns to the three chapters and words he will teach and how they He asks students if the habitats for the
analyzes the potentially unfamiliar
words to determine which are Essential,
Valuable, and Accessible; whether any
words should be Imported; and whether
“Alex recognizes that organism and
any of the unfamiliar words do not
require instruction. He determines
habitat are key concepts in this text and
that adaptation, habitat, organism, and in biological science generally and that the
earthworm are key to students’ learn-
ing from the text, so he designates them words are associated.”
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Figure 4 Whiteboard Presentation on Organisms and Habitats Infer Meaning. Even though Alex
knows that students are familiar with
the word earthworm, he wants to ensure
that they are certain about its meaning.
To do this, he has students read to them-
selves the second paragraph on page 4 of
Earthworms, which is, “This book is about
an animal that lives in an underground
habitat. This animal is an earthworm.”
Alex says, “We have learned about
context clues, and there is a definition
context clue for earthworm in this sen-
tence. What is it?” A student responds,
“an animal that lives in an under-
ground habitat.” He continues, “That ’s
correct; an earthworm lives under-
ground.” Then, he says, “We also have
learned about word parts. Are there any
word parts in earthworms?” A student
replies, “Yes, earthworms is a compound
Note. Definitions from Beals, K., illus. Bandelin, B., & Dacey, B. (2007). Earthworms underground. Nashua, NH: Delta Education, pp.
23–24. word,” to which Alex asks, “What are
the two root words in this compound?”
Students respond earth and worms,” to
organisms are correct (as they are for Alex then states: “Let ’s look at the which Alex says, “Yes, earthworms is a
earthworms) or incorrect (as they are for three words I have underlined and dis- compound word that means worms that
penguins) and to make changes if they cuss what they mean. What does it live in the earth.”
are not correct (penguins live only in the mean to breathe,” to which a student Having gone through the SWIT pro-
southern hemisphere). Next, he reveals responds, “to take air into your lungs.” cess to identify words to teach and then
rows 3 and 4 and asks students to work Then he says, “That ’s correct, but some having taught the words he selected
in groups of three to come up with animals breathe without lungs, like from the Earthworms chapters, Alex has
examples they can add for these rows. earthworms do. They take in air through equipped students with the words they
Volunteers then write the names of their their skin, which we call absorbs. Can need to understand and learn from this
organisms and their habitats on the you think of anything that absorbs informational text.
whiteboard. Alex reveals the remainder something?” to which students respond
of the chart on the whiteboard and has that paper towels or sponges absorb Conclusion
the groups construct answers by fill- liquids. Vocabulary knowledge is critical to the
ing in the missing organisms or habitats. Alex continues, “Those are good long-term literacy development of all
The lesson concludes with a class dis- examples. Earthworms also absorb students, and high-quality vocabu-
cussion of the groups’ responses. something, but it is air, not a liquid. lary instruction should be a priority for
Reread the last sentence and tell me teachers across all grades. Fortunately,
Brief Explanation. Alex notices that what earthworms need to have to absorb there are numerous articles and books
absorb, breathe, and moisture are con- air?” Students say in unison, moisture, that provide strategies and activities
tained in several sentences from page 6 to which Alex responds, “Yes, and the for teaching individual words. Among
of Earthworms, which he displays on the word moisture means ‘a little wet.’ So, the books we have found particularly
interactive whiteboard and reads aloud: we have learned that to breathe is to take useful are those by Beck, McKeown, and
in air, to absorb is to take air in through Kucan (2013); Blachowicz and Fisher
“To breathe, an earthworm absorbs air
through its skin! An animal that breathes the skin, and moisture means a little wet. (2010); Graves (2006); and Stahl and
through its skin needs moisture.” Good job!” Nagy (2006).

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Vocabulary Instruction Program, teach- meaning. American Educational Research

“The more you use ers frequently noted the pressures of
Journal, 40(2), 447– 494.
Baumann, J.F., Kame’enui, E.J., & Ash, G.E.
SWIT, the easier and time; however, during the second and
third years of the project, they rarely
(2003). Research on vocabulary instruct-
ing: Voltaire redux. In J. Flood, D. Lapp, J.R.
Squire, & J.M. Jensen (Eds.), Handbook on
less time-consuming mentioned time as an issue. The more research on teaching the English language arts
(2nd ed., pp. 752–785). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
you use SWIT, the easier and less time-
Baumann, J.F., Manyak, P., Blachowicz, C.L.Z.,
it will become.” consuming it will become. Third, time Graves, M.F., Arner, J., Bates, A., Cieply, C.,
constraints will sometimes force you Davis, J., Peterson, H., & Olejnik, J. (2012,
October). MCVIP – A multi-faceted, compre-
to use only parts of the SWIT process. hensive vocabulary instruction program. On
Even following only some of the SWIT Vocabulogic: Bridging the Verbal Divide
blog.Retrieved from vocablog-plc
Unfortunately, although the CCSS approach should assist you in select- .blogspot.com/2012/10/mcvip-multi-
repeatedly stress the importance of ing more appropriate words to teach faceted-comprehensive.html
teaching vocabulary, there exists little Beck, I.L., & McKeown, M.G. (1991). Conditions
and assist your students in understand- of vocabulary acquisition. In R. Barr, M.L.
information to guide teachers in the ing and learning from the texts they Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, & P.D. Pearson (Eds.),
complex task of selecting words to read and in acquiring more powerful The handbook of reading research, (Vol. 2,
pp. 789 – 814). New York, NY: Longman.
teach from the texts that their students vocabularies. Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002).
read. To address this need, we have Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary
instruction. New York, NY: Guilford.
drawn on our research with teach- R E F E R E NC E S Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2008).
ers to develop SWIT. We believe that Anderson, R.C., & Nagy, W.E. (1992). The Creating robust vocabulary: Frequently asked
vocabulary conundrum. American Educator, questions and extended examples. New York,
the SWIT process will help teach- Winter, 14–18, 44 – 47. NY: Guilford.
ers be thoughtful in selecting words Baumann, J.F., & Graves, M.F. (2010). What is Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L.
academic vocabulary? Journal of Adolescent (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocab-
for instruction, more strategic in the
and Adult Literacy, 54(1), 4 –12. ulary instruction (2nd ed.). New York, NY:
way that they teach word meanings, Baumann, J.F. (2009). Vocabulary and reading Guilford.
and more conscious of the needs of comprehension: The nexus of meaning. In Beck, I.L., Perfetti, C.A., & McKeown, M.G.
S.E. Israel, & G.G. Duffy (Eds.), Handbook of (1982). The effects of long-term vocabulary
English learners and other students research on reading comprehension instruction on lexical access and reading
with a great needs for vocabulary (pp. 323 – 346). New York, NY: Routledge. comprehension. Journal of Educational
Baumann, J.F., Blachowicz, C.L.Z., Manyak, Psychology, 74(4), 506 – 521.
development. P.C., Graves, M.F., & Olejnik, S. (2009–2012). Biemiller, A. (2009). Words worth teaching:
In closing, we want to emphasize Development of a multi-faceted, comprehen- Closing the vocabulary gap. Columbus, OH:
sive, vocabulary instructional program for SRA/McGraw-Hill.
that using SWIT—identifying the opti- the upper-elementary grades [R305A090163]. Biemiller, A., & Boote, C. (2006). An effective
mal Essential, Valuable, Accessible, and U.S. Department of Education, Institute method for building meaning vocabulary
of Education Sciences, National Center for in primary grades. Journal of Educational
Imported words to teach—is a challeng-
Education Research (Reading and Writing Psychology, 98(1), 44 – 62.
ing task. SWIT will require considerable Program). Blachowicz, C., & Fisher, P. (2000). Vocabulary.
teacher judgment to implement well, Baumann, J.F., Blachowicz, C.L.Z., Bates, A., In M.L. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson
Cieply, C., Manyak, P, Peterson, H., Davis, & R. Barr. (Eds.), The handbook of reading
but it provides a principled, compre- J., Arner, J., & Graves, M. (in press). The research (Vol. 3, pp. 503 – 523). New York, NY:
hensive, and planful approach that development of a comprehensive vocab- Longman.
ulary Instruction program for nine- to Blachowicz, C.L.Z., & Fisher, P. (2010).
will help Ruby Meadows, Jacquelyn, eleven-year-old children using a design Teaching vocabulary in all classrooms (4th
Alex, and thousands of teachers like experiment approach. In T. Plomp & N. ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill/Prentice
Nieveen (Eds), Educational design research: Hall.
them who seek a logical and thoughtful Introduction and illustrative cases (2nd Bradley, B.A., Reinking , D., Colwell, J., Hall,
approach to identify words for vocabu- ed.). Enschede, the Netherlands: SLO, L.A., Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Baumann, J.F.
Netherlands Institute for Curriculum (2012). Clarifying formative experiments
lary instruction.
Development. in literacy research. In P.J. Dunston, S.K.
We also want to acknowledge that Baumann, J.F., Edwards, E.C., Boland, E., & Fullerton, C.C. Bates, K. Headley, & P.M.
using the SWIT approach is time-con- Font, G. (2012). Teaching word-learning Stecker (Eds.), Sixty-first yearbook of the Literacy
strategies (pp. 139 –166). In E.J. Kame’enui & Research Association (pp. 410 – 420). Oak Creek,
suming, an issue to which we have J.F. Baumann E (Eds.), Vocabulary instruc- WI: National Reading Conference.
three responses. First, we believe that tion: Research to practice (2nd ed.). New York, Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the
NY: Guilford. behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ:
choosing words to teach is necessar- Baumann, J.F., Edwards, E.C., Boland, E., Erlbaum.
ily at least a somewhat time-consuming Olejnik, S., & Kame’enui, E.J. (2003). Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list.
Vocabulary tricks: Effects of instruction TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213 –238.
process. Second, during the first year in morphology and context on fifth-grade Cunningham, A.E., & O’Donnell, C.R. (2012).
of our Multi-Faceted, Comprehensive students’ ability to derive and infer word Reading and vocabulary growth in E.J.

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Kame’enui & J.F. Baumann (Eds.), Vocabulary College Press, International Reading McKeown, M.G., Beck, I.L., Omanson, R.C., &
instruction: Research to practice (2nd ed., Association, Center for Applied Linguistics, Perfetti, C.A. (1983). The effects of long-term
pp. 256 –279). New York, NY: Guilford. and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other vocabulary instruction on reading compre-
Davis, J.R., Baumann, J.F., Arner, J.N., Quintero, Languages. hension: A replication. Journal of Reading
E., Wade, B., Walters, J., & Watson, H. (2012). Graves, M.F., & Sales, G.C. (2012). The first 4,000 Behavior, 15(1), 3 –18.
Collaboration in formative and design exper- words. Retrieved from www.sewardreading Nagy, W.E. (2005). Why vocabulary instruc-
iments: Where the emic meets the etic. In resources.com/fourkw.html tion needs to be long-term and comprehen-
P.J. Dunstun, et al. (Eds.), 61st Yearbook of the Graves, M.F., & Silverman, R. (2010). sive. In E.H. Hiebert, & M.L. Kamil (Eds.),
Literacy research association. Oak Creek, WI: Interventions to enhance vocabulary devel- Teaching and learning vocabulary: Bringing
Literacy Research Association. opment. In R.L. Allington, & A. McGill- research to practice (pp. 27– 44). Mahwah, NJ:
Gardner, D., & Davies, M. (2013). A new aca- Franzen (Eds.), Handbook of reading Erlbaum.
demic vocabulary list. Applied Linguistics. disabilities research (pp. 315 – 328). New York, Nagy, W.E., & Anderson, R.C. (1984). How
Advance online publication. doi:10.1093/ NY: Routledge. many words are there in printed school
applin/amt015 Graves, M.F., & Watts-Taffe, S. (2002). The place English? Reading Research Quarterly, 19(3),
Graves, M.F. (2006). The vocabulary book: of word consciousness in a research-based 304 – 330.
Learning and instruction. New York, NY: vocabulary program. In A. Farstrup, & S.J. Nagy, W.E., & Herman, P.A. (1987 ). Breadth
Teachers College Press, International Samuels (Eds.), What research has to say about and depth of vocabulary knowledge:
Reading Association, National Council of reading instruction (pp. 140 –165). Newark, Implications for acquisition and instruction.
Teachers of English. DE: International Reading Association. In M.C. McKeown, & M.E. Curtis (Eds.), The
Graves, M.F. (2009). Teaching individual words: Graves, M.F., & Watts-Taffe, S.W. (2008). For the nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 19 – 35).
One size does not fit all. New York, NY: love of words: Fostering word conscious- Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Teachers College Press and International ness in young readers. The Reading Teacher, Nagy, W.E., & Hiebert, E.H. (2010). Toward a
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Graves, M.F., August, D., & Mancilla-Martinez, Hiebert, E.H. (2005). In pursuit of an effec- Pearson, E.B. Moje, & P.P. Afflerbach (Eds.),
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Hiebert, E.H., & Cervetti, G.N. (2012). What Development. (2000). Report of the National
1. Select a short informational text that differences in narrative and informational Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: an
texts mean for the learning and instruc- evidence-based assessment of the scientific
you plan on having your class read and that tion of vocabulary. In E.B. Kame’enui & J.F. research literature on reading and its implica-
contains some challenging vocabulary. Baumann (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: tions for reading instruction: Reports of the
Research to practice (2nd ed., pp. 322– 344). subgroups (NIH Publication No. 00-4754).
2. Identify the potentially unfa- New York, NY: Guilford. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Hiebert, E.H, & Reutzel, D.R. (Eds). (2010). Office.
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3. Identify the subset of these words that for teachers and researchers. Newark, DE: Landmark vocabulary instructional research
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students need to understand the text or Kamil, M.L., & Hiebert, E.H. (2005). Teaching that makes sense. In R.K. Wager, A.E. Muse,
and learning vocabulary: Perspectives and & K.R. Tannenbaum (Eds.), Vocabulary acqui-
that represent important concepts in the persistent issues. In E.H. Hiebert, & M.L. sition: Implications for reading comprehension
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lary: Bringing research to practice (pp. 1–23). Reinking , D., & Bradley, B.A. (2008). Formative
4. Identify those words that students can Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. and design experiments: Approaches to lan-
Kucan, L. (2012). What is most important guage and literacy research. New York, NY:
infer the meanings of using their contex- to know about vocabulary? The Reading Teachers College Press.
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MacGinitie, W.H., MacGinitie, R.K., Maria, K., & Interactive, time-efficient strategies to teach
5. Decide which of the words require Dreyer, L.G. (2000). Gates-MacGinitie reading meaning vocabulary. The Reading Teacher,
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in-depth instruction and which can be Manyak, P. (2007 ). Character trait vocabu- Sadoski, M., Goetz, E.T., & Fritz, J.B. (1993).
taught with brief explanations. lary: A schoolwide Approach. The Reading Impact of concreteness on comprehen-
Teacher, 60(6), 574 – 577. sibility, interest, and memory for text:
6. Cull your lists of each type of word so that Manyak, P.C. (2012). Powerful vocabu- Implications for dual coding theory and text
lary instruction for English learners. In design. Journal of Educational Psychology,
you have a manageable number to teach, no E.J. Kame’enui & J.F. Baumann E (Eds.), 85(2), 291– 304.
more than 12 and preferably somewhat fewer. Vocabulary instruction: Research to prac- Schwanenflugel, P.J., Stahl, S.A., & McFalls, E.L.
tice (2nd ed., pp. 280 – 302). New York, NY: (1997 ). Partial word knowledge and vocabu-
7. Create your instruction, teach the words, Guilford. lary growth during reading comprehension.
Marzano, R.J. (2004). Building background knowl- Journal of Literacy Research, 29(4), 531– 553.
and write an evaluation of the process as a edge for academic achievement. Alexandria, Scott, J.A., Skobel, B.J., & Wells, J. (2008). The
whole and how you will use it in the future. VA: Association for Supervision and word-conscious classroom. New York, NY:
Curriculum Development. Scholastic.

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Stahl, S.A., & Nagy, W. (2006). Teaching word We think it is time to move beyond the annual replication studies of MCVIP
meanings. Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum. study of individual mechanisms [in
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The devel- that enabled us to build on our grow-
vocabulary instruction] and ask whether
opment of higher psychological processes.
evidence-based vocabulary instruc-
ing knowledge and experience about
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Zeno, S.M., Ivens, S.H., Millard, R.T., & tion and curriculum packages can be how to enhance its effectiveness, which
Duvvuri, R. (1995). The Educator’s word fre- developed that will make a difference we accomplished by using an iterative
quency guide. Brewster, NY: Touchstone in real classrooms. Such instruction will cycle of professional development, pro-
Applied Science Associates. be multicomponential and longer term
gram implementation and modification,
than any of the vocabulary instruc-
tion addressed in experiments to date. and analysis and program revision both
L I T E R AT U R E C I T E D
Beals, K. (2007 ). Earthworms underground. (p. 226) within and across each year. Strong,
Nashua, NH: Delta Education. trusting, synergetic professional devel-
O’Dell, S. (1960). Island of the blue dolphins. In keeping with Pressley et al.’s recom-
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
opment and research collaborations
mendation, the purpose of our multiyear grew among the university and school
study was to explore MCVIP when personnel at each site (Davis, Baumann,
taught by upper-elementary teachers in Arner, Quintero, Wade, Walters, &
Appendix—Summary of the their classrooms. Watson, 2012).
Research Project in Which MCVIP included several strategies
SWIT Was Embedded Method representing each of Graves’s (2006)
We conducted a formative experi- four components. For example, the
Background ment (Reinking & Bradley, 2008), Providing Rich and Varied Language
In our three-year research study which involves incorporating a prom- Experiences component included read-
(Baumann et al., 2009–2012), we sought ising “instructional intervention into alouds and independent reading and
to determine the feasibility of imple- authentic instructional settings [that] is writing (Hiebert & Reutzel, 2010), char-
menting in fourth- and fifth-grade modified formatively based on qualita- acter trait analysis (Manyak, 2007),
classrooms an approach we refer to tive, and occasionally quantitative, data and a variety of vocabulary graphics
as the Multifaceted, Comprehensive indicating what is or is not working and (Blachowicz & Fisher, 2010). We provide
Vocabulary Instructional Program, why” (Bradley, Reinking, Colwell, Hall, detailed descriptions of all compo-
or MCVIP. The program is based on Fisher, Frey, & Baumann, 2011, p. 411). nents and many instructional examples
Graves’s (2006) multifaceted approach The “experiment” aspect of formative on the Vocabulogic edublog (Baumann
to vocabulary instruction, which has experiments comes not from comparing et al., 2012, vocablog-plc.blogspot
a strong research base for each of its students’ performance in experimental .com/2012/10/mcvip-multi-faceted-
four components: (1) providing rich (new intervention) and control (reg- comprehensive.html).
and varied language experiences ular curriculum) groups but rather We gathered qualitative data through
(Cunningham & O’Donnell, 2012), (2) from an ongoing experimentation with field notes and video and audio record-
teaching individual words (Baumann the intervention by making changes, ings of vocabulary lessons, research
et al., 2003, (3) teaching word-learning improvements, and modifications that team meetings, and children focus
strategies (Graves & Silvermann, 2011), are prompted by data that are continu- groups. These data were supplemented
and (4) fostering word consciousness ously collected on student performance by informal and formal interviews,
(Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2002). and from teacher and student feedback written reflections, and instructional
Although the vocabulary instruction on the program. artifacts. We gathered quantitative data
research literature is large, there have Our formative experiment involved using four measures we constructed:
been few studies that explored complete a total of 606 students in 15 class- (1) learning of words explicitly taught
programs involving multiple facets of rooms in 3 schools, each of which was (Words), (2) use of context clues to infer
vocabulary, were of significant duration, located in a socioculturally different word meanings (Context), (3) use of
and were conducted in natural school community in one of three U.S. states. morphological clues to infer meaning
contexts (Kamil & Hiebert, 2005; Nagy, Each research site was led by a univer- (Morph), and (4) word conscious (WC).
2005; NICHD, 2000). Pressley, Disney, sity researcher and research assistants, We also used one standardized test as a
and Anderson (2007) summarized the who worked intensely with four or transfer measure: the vocabulary subtest
situation this way: five teachers. We conducted three of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests

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WOR D S, WOR D S E V E R Y W H E R E , BU T W H IC H ON E S D O W E T E AC H?

(Gates) (MacGinitie, MacGinitie, Maria, to integrate vocabulary across the also demonstrated statistically signifi-
& Dreyer, 2002). curriculum. cant gains from pretest to posttest and
Analyses of the researcher-con- showed that students made greater
Findings structed quantitative measures, which gains across each of the three succes-
Qualitative data revealed that stu- had strong reliability (median reliability sive years. Effect sizes for the Gates
dents grew in knowledge of, = .89), demonstrated statistically signifi- extended scale scores grew from .32,
awareness of, and interest in vocabu- cant gains from pretest to posttest on all to .41, and .49 for years 1, 2, and 3,
lary as they learned more words and Words, Context, and Morph tests for each respectively (see Baumann et al., in
grew in ability to use text-based clues year. Using Cohen’s (1988) d statistic to press).
to infer the meanings of previously estimate the magnitude of student gains, In summary, the three-year for-
unknown words. Students developed most effect sizes were in the medium (.5) mative experiment revealed that
nuanced approaches to identify- to large (.8) range, whereas some were our Multifaceted, Comprehensive
ing and dealing with vocabulary in much larger (e.g., the Words test effect Vocabulary Instructional Program
texts they read, and the words we sizes were in the .9 to 1.6 range). could be implemented successfully by
taught explicitly and incidentally in There also was a clear indication teachers in upper-elementary class-
MCVIP found their way increasingly that, as the researchers and teach- rooms. The Selecting Words for
into the students’ speech and written ers developed MCVIP across the three Instruction from Texts (SWIT) pro-
compositions. Qualitative data also years of the study, the students dem- cedure described in this article was
demonstrated that teachers grew in onstrated greater gains (e.g., Morph developed within the MCVIP research
knowledge of the multiple dimensions went from d = .56 in year 1 of the program and enabled the teachers and
of vocabulary instruction, confidence study to d = .83 in year 3). Analysis of researchers to identify the Essential,
in teaching vocabulary, motivation to the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Valuable, Accessible, and Imported
devise and implement new vocabulary a general measure of vocabulary that words they deemed to be important for
strategies and activities, and ability tested words not included in MCVIP, students to learn.

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