The three levels of Word Knowledge are the unknown, acquainted, and established. The unknown level of word knowledge occurs when the student has no idea of a word’s meaning. For example, gauge, wrench, meager are not a words students may see very often. Acquainted is the next level and it’s when a child understands the basic meaning of a word after some thought. I have observed this level during small reading group activities. The student generally will pause and sound out the word or repeat the word several times before nodding their heads to signal comprehension. At the established level, student meaning of words become easy, more faster, and actually very supportive.
( Beck). Nagy, Herman and Anderson I 1985 further suggest that students must have an established level ok knowledge if they are going to attain full reading comprehension.
In addition, children need direct instruction in word meaning strategies to enhance their ability to learn words during reading or listing activities.
Teachers can select a word to teach after they determine the desired level of word knowledge. There is a three-step process that will help teachers select a word to teach a student.
First you would identify the words in the selection that are likely to be unknown or more difficult for students. Make a list of these words. Next the teacher would print the list of vocabulary words onto an overhead transparency. Point to the words, and have students analyze their level of word knowledge for each word. Research ( White, Slater, and Graves ( 1989) indicates that students can be quite accurate in identifying words they do and do not know. Finally in step three the teacher will analyze word knowledge data provided by students. Based on the analysis, make a revised list of potential vocabulary words. Now identify the most important words to teach.
The following questions are recommended to be used with personal judgment to inform instruction ( core);
Ÿ Is understanding the word necessary for understanding the selection in which it appears?
Ÿ Are students likely to be able to identify the words meaning using the context of structural and context analysis skills?
Ÿ Will knowing the meaning of this particular word be useful in the future reading
We should select acquainted or unknown words that are vital to the understanding of the story. The meaning of these words cannot be determined by looking at a picture or context clues. These words are liable to run into other words in other stories or context area texts.
We should incorporate word specific word instruction in your classroom because student’s who were given direct instruction in word meaning are better able to discern meaning of untaught words( Beck). Specific word meaning provides students with a more complete in-dept knowledge of word meaning. Students who only understand partial words in to text fail to comprehend what they are reading. Nagy, Anderson (1987) have found that a reader has about a 5 percent chance of learning a new word fully from encountering it only once in print. Ultimately we use words to think and reading comprehension is foundational. The more words we know the better our understanding our environment. In addition, our vocabulary level will determine the ability to communicate needs and wants effectively.
