Re: assessment for vocab acquisition purposes [cross posted]

[Kruchma@aol.com]

Pam,
 
I think you can safely put the lexile scales away, as these do not take  into 
account student experiences, interests, the genre of the texts, how they  
were feeling physically and emotionally that day--and are little more than  
syllable counts and high/low usage lists in selected literatures.  
 
One of the best ways to get an estimate of vocabulary knowledge is by using  
the CLOZE method, which you may or may not know about.  Essentially, select  a 
passage from either a nonfiction text that your students use of about 100  
words, and for every ten leave a blank _________ space for students to predict  
(by filling in the blanks) what words might feasibly fit.  Usually this  
method is suggested for use with fiction, which often has more context and less  
content-specific vocabulary, so for this select a passage again of about 100  
word but leave blanks _______ after every five words.  This works best if  
students do not perceive this as an assessment and if they have the excerpted  text 
in front of them rather than a sheet with blanks with an accompanying  answer 
sheet.  Students will want to know how they fared, so you could have  
students share their first few with a partner before you collect these or  conduct a 
whole-class discussion.  You will get the best scores from  students who have 
experience and/or knowledge of the topic/s  of passages  used.  Take this into 
account when planning. 
 
 Early on in my career (starting with about the third year)  when  I was 
expected to use a spelling list,  I collected vocabulary from peers  in science, 
math, and ss (in these early years I also was assigned to teach  science, 
social studies) and chose some of these to include with challenging  and/or 
significant vocabulary from the resources we were using in our  English-Language 
blocks.  I basically wrote my own spelling book, including  the weekly 
exercises--these began as traditional vocabulary study and then  blossomed into 
student-made posters on the wall illustrating the terms in  pictures, sentences, etc.  
Kind of a pre-cursor to word walls, I  guess.  And I usually would throw in a 
favorite word or two of  my own  with high use such as posh!  Learning words 
for a week out of  context just does not translate into long-term retention or 
even  short-term  use--and there is a ton of research to support this.  That  
goes for various assessment lists---these only tell you what a student could  
either guess and/or knew at the moment you administered the assessment---and  
does not always reflect experience of the word because it is out of context 
and  is can be  related to a topic that is unknown.  None of these  variables, 
as you know, are taken into account with such assessments.   There are a 
variety of reasons why typical, prescriptive materials do not and  should not be 
used in teaching and learning.  The biggest flaw in my  opinion is that these 
tend to reinforce your opinions of bright vs.  dull students-- unfair and likely 
racist.
 
What you are doing with pulling vocabulary from texts used in class is  one 
of the best ways to approach vocabulary study, so I encourage you to use  that 
approach often in lessons as pre-reading and also building use of the  
language into lessons---you will be able to evaluate and assess students'  knowledge 
this way---and if you provide for the use of the chosen vocabulary in  
meaningful, highly contextural responses including writing, drama, and group  work, 
these tasks  will give students an opportunity to study these  more deeply.  
Never present vocabulary in isolation, especially upon first  presentation.  Use 
excepts of text from student work as well as mentor  texts---and even your 
own!  In thirty-five years of teaching and education,  I have not found a list 
or a prescriptive approach that highly benefits  students.  I have used some 
structure in creating my own formative,  evaluative measures with selected 
students who may benefit from this for a short  amount of time but would monitor 
and reflect on its benefits--, and would not  impose a structured, prescriptive 
approach wholesale, to an entire group.
 
In general, take a look at a more learner-centered, contextual, inquiry  
approach to students' language learning.  It not only increases their  vocabulary 
and spelling, but presents the opportunity to question the text, more  
opportunities for multiple use, and this contributes to students feeling of  
self-efficacy and thus motivation.   It is more your own tweaking  strategies you 
learn about to fit your own classroom/s that will yield the best  information for 
you about students and contribute to their highest  understandings.  The 
energy you place into this type of planning for your  students is worth it and 
highly preferable to the energy and time you would have  to exert to FIT a child 
into a program or approach that is highly likely to  cause unnecessary 
stereo-typing and emotional damage.
 
Here are a few resources you might check out for some ideas:
 
* Nonfiction Matters:  Reading, Writing, & Research  in Grades 3-8 (Stephanie 
Harvey)--particularly ch. 7
* They Still Can't Specll?  Understanding and Supporting  Challenged Spellers 
in Middle & High School (Rebecca Bowers  Sipe)-especially the Appendices, 
which are concrete examples of how to reinforce  meaningful language, its 
spelling, and vocabulary understanding
* Wondrous Words  (Katie Wood Ray)
* Words Their Way:  Word Sorts for Syllables and Affixes Spellers (Francine 
Johnson & colleagues)-the concept presented makes for fun  practice of 
vocabulary.
 
Hope some of this helps.
Mary Anna
 
Mary Anna Kruch, Ph.D.
President-Elect,  Michigan Council of Teachers of English
K-12 Writing & Literacy  Consultant
Literacy Support Services

kruchma@aol.com

P.O. Box 561
Williamston, MI  48895
517-655-1633
517-256-4045

"If education is to be  done expertly, it must be done by the teachers 
themselves who as experts use  their own knowledge and understandings to define in 
particular pedagogic  situations the problems that are worth solving and 
soluble....education cannot  be exercised mechanistically or according to prescribed 
programs and  algorithms." (p. 33)

Donna H. Kerr in The Ecology of School Renewal, John I. Goodlad, Ed. (1987)



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