Virtual Vocabulary

What strategies or accommodations can be used to effectively teach lower level students academic vocabulary and catalyze reading comprehension?

Nationwide, students with higher vocabulary scores also tended to have higher reading comprehension levels. Furthermore, for 8th grade, the state of California had lower test scores in vocabulary and comprehension than the nation’s average. The majority of middle school students in NVUSD, roughly 80%, of each grade level is only at, near, or below standard for reading comprehension.

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Why Vocabulary?

A huge challenge that is seen in education across grade levels and across disciplines is finding a way to effectively teach academic vocabulary for student understanding and remembrance.

Although academic vocabulary can be taught and focused on in all disciplines, it is heavily prevalent in English Language Arts classes. Depending on the levels of the students, there may need to be more structure and priority on teaching academic vocabulary.

Lack of vocabulary affects reading fluency and the ability to answer comprehension questions, therefore, comprehension test scores are at a low. This issue with low vocabulary scores from lower level students needs to be addressed in order to find new ways to adjust teaching these students to maximize time, opportunities, and increase vocabulary comprehension.