Running head: EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

Effective Vocabulary Strategies in Early Education

Maryjacqueline Fox
Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

Introduction
The knowledge and use of words is something so common, yet so complex. As fluent
users of vocabulary, we often forget the difficulty and importance of building background
knowledge of vocabulary. Furthermore, since vocabulary is a key pillar that provides for future
reading and literacy achievement, educators realize the importance of building a strong
foundation of vocabulary knowledge in their students. However, in order to give students this
foundation, teachers, especially those in early education, need to use effective strategies in their
classrooms to teach their students vocabulary.
Purpose
It is well known in the field of education that knowledge of vocabulary is an important
foundation for later achievement in reading. With this in mind, many educators have begun the
quest of trying to discover the most effective strategies to enhance the vocabulary of their
students. Through research, I plan to find the answer to the question: what are effective,
evidence-based strategies for improving the vocabulary of early elementary students?
I would like to achieve certain goals through my research of trying to discover beneficial
strategies for vocabulary instruction in the early elementary classroom. One goal that I would
like to attain is to see how effective elementary teachers use and carry out strategies for
vocabulary instruction in their classrooms. Through observation, I would like to see which
strategies improve student vocabulary growth the most in preschool through second grade
classrooms. Furthermore, I would like to see which of the strategies are the most successful,
compared to less successful strategies used. Lastly, I would like to determine and identify any

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

key, common characteristics that effective teachers use to implement vocabulary instruction in
their classrooms.
Through my research, I think that I will be able to understand what strategies are the most
beneficial for enhancing student vocabulary. I predict that strategies which are integrated with
other literacy instruction and focus on making connections with previous knowledge and
experiences will be the most effective for vocabulary growth in younger students.
Review of Literature
There are many forms of vocabulary instruction for young children; however, which
specific teaching practices for vocabulary are the most beneficial? Silverman and Crandell
(2010) propose certain practices that are the most effective for teaching vocabulary in
prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. The purpose of their study was to discover which
teaching practices of vocabulary during read-aloud and non-read-aloud instruction enhanced
preschool and kindergarten students vocabulary the most. The participants for the study were
teachers and children from sixteen prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms; the ages of the
children were between four-to six-years-old. The methodology was a year-long observational
study; the teachers were given thirty books to use in their instruction and three words to teach per
book. However, the teacher was in control of the type of teaching strategies used. The authors
of the study concluded that certain teaching practices for vocabulary are beneficial; however, the
success of these practices on students knowledge of vocabulary depends on their background
knowledge, and when the practices are taught.
This article was very thorough in explaining how the study was conducted, and what the
results were. The authors explain five main instructional strategies that educators can use to

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

teach vocabulary; furthermore, they show which students will benefit most from the practices
and when the teaching practices are most effective. One aspect that I did not like about the study
was how the students were assessed to determine whether the five main teaching practices were
effective or not. Both of the assessments were based on the students showing their knowledge
of vocabulary by choosing pictures that were related or not related to the words. However, this
is an inappropriate way to determine the effectiveness of the teaching practices on student
vocabulary knowledge, since not all of the practices have to do with relating knowledge of the
words to pictures. One suggestion to improve this study is to have the teachers use books from
multiple genres, instead of just using books that were fiction. Furthermore, this study is relevant
to my research, because it shows specific teaching practices that are beneficial for enhancing
student vocabulary knowledge.
Similarly, educators understand how crucial giving preschool children a foundation of
vocabulary is for later reading and literacy instruction. Pollard-Durodola et al. (2011) believes
that the most effective way to enhance preschool childrens vocabulary is through making
connections using networks of knowledge. The purpose of the article is to show the process of
developing students vocabulary through connecting and building upon networks of content by
shared-book reading instruction. The participants of this article were teachers and students in
Head Start and preschool classrooms. The methodology used was intervention, because the
teachers used the shared-book reading instruction style in their classroom to improve their
students vocabulary. Through this study on the effect that shared-book reading instruction has
in developing vocabulary, the authors concluded that building connections between vocabulary
and content benefited childrens vocabulary.

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

This article gave a detailed explanation of how to use shared-book reading instruction to
develop preschool childrens vocabulary. The authors were very clear in describing how
children build upon and connect networks of knowledge to improve vocabulary. They also
showed three research-based strategies to develop the vocabulary knowledge networks in
children. They backed up their strategies with examples of charts and conversations between
teachers and students, which showed how to implement and use the strategies. Honestly, I
cannot find anything that I did not like about the article. It was very detailed and explained fully
how to use these strategies of shared-book reading instruction to teach children vocabulary. One
way to possibly improve the article would be to provide more examples of related informational
and narrative books that are associated with specific content knowledge, which teachers could
use in their own shared-book reading instruction. Furthermore, this article is very relevant to my
project, because it shows and explains strategies for improving vocabulary in preschool students.
Since providing young children with a strong foundation of vocabulary knowledge is so
important, it is crucial that teachers use effective and engaging strategies to teach their students
vocabulary. Blamey and Beauchat (2011) advise using the Word Walk strategy for teaching
young children vocabulary. The purpose of the article is to explain how teachers can implement
the beneficial Word Walk approach in their classrooms; teachers can use this strategy to teach
vocabulary before, during, and after a read-aloud. The authors have used this strategy in their
classrooms of three-to five-year-olds. The methodology of this article is intervention, because
the authors describe how to use the process of the Word Walk in classrooms. Finally, the
authors explain how the Word Walk strategy has been beneficial for teaching vocabulary in an
engaging way to their young students.

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

The article explains how to implement the Word Walk method into classrooms in a
straight-forward and concise way. The authors begin the article by showing how the Word Walk
strategy is similar to the Text Talk strategy that is beneficial for teaching vocabulary to older
elementary school children. The article goes through the steps for using the Word Walk before,
after, and during a read-aloud. The authors also give examples of what a teacher would say
during different parts of the Word Walk. Furthermore, the article provides two diagrams of how
to use this strategy over two days of classroom instruction. One aspect of the article that I did
not like was that in the beginning of the article the authors repeated themselves a few times when
they were describing why the Word Walk is beneficial for younger students. One way that I
think the article could be improved is if the authors concluded by showing actual statistics of
how this strategy has enhanced their students vocabulary knowledge, instead of just saying that
it has. Even still, the article relates to my project, because it describes a specific strategy that
educators can use to improve young students vocabulary.
Another activity found in elementary schools for practicing comprehension and making
connections in literacy instruction is the readers workshop; however, can this method be used to
improve the vocabulary of students? Feezell (2012) suggests that educators can enhance
students vocabulary through using readers workshops. The purpose of the article was to show
how to tie in vocabulary instruction with readers workshops. The author used his third-grade
students as the participants of his study. The methodology used was intervention, because the
author used the vocabulary related strategies associated with the readers workshop in his
classroom to see the outcomes of his students learning. In conclusion, the author found that
these teaching strategies enhanced student learning from formal and informal assessments and
parental feedback.

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

This article was very helpful in explaining simple strategies to use to implement
vocabulary instruction in a readers workshop program. The author explained the strategies in a
straight-forward and practical way, so that others reading it could easily transfer these strategies
into their own classroom. Although the article was not very long, the author explained the
strategies in a concise way. Also, the author used real-life examples of what the vocabulary
activities looked like in his classroom; thus, it made the article more entertaining. Even though I
really enjoyed the article, I would have liked it more if the author went into more detail on how
he assessed his students after using the strategies. Furthermore, one possible suggestion that I
have to improve the quality of the article is to supplement the activities used with activities that
require technology. Finally, this article is beneficial to my project, because it gives a practical
summary of certain effective strategies for enhancing students vocabulary.
Methodology
Due to the limitations of this course, I am not able to perform actual research; thus, this is
a hypothetical research project. Therefore, if I were able to perform this, then I would do an
observational study in grades preschool to second grade to determine which instructional
strategies are best for enhancing student vocabulary knowledge.
During one school year, I would attend three language arts sessions of 20 classrooms to
observe the teaching strategies that the teachers use to teach vocabulary. Out of the classrooms
used five would be preschool, five would be kindergarten, five would be first grade, and five
would be second grade. While observing the classrooms, I would take field notes to mark down
specific strategies that the teachers use to increase the students vocabulary knowledge. After
the observation, I would divide the strategies into common teaching practices; for example, if

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

teachers used the common Word Study technique to teach vocabulary, then I would make that a
section.
Once all of the classroom observations are finished, then I would determine the
effectiveness of the strategies on student vocabulary knowledge through assessments. Since this
is an observational study, and not an intervention study, I would not be able to assess the
students specific word knowledge of words that I give to the teachers. Reutzel and Cooter, Jr.
(2012) describe two types of vocabulary assessments that I would use at the beginning and end
of the year. I would assess the students general vocabulary knowledge compared to other
students their age using the diagnostic Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition (PPVTIII). Through the PPVT-III, students would be presented with a vocabulary word and pictures.
Then the students would need to choose the picture that best defines what the vocabulary word
is. In addition, I would supplement the PPVT-III with the norm-referenced Expressive
Vocabulary Test (EVT). By using the EVT, the students would further show their vocabulary
knowledge through labeling words and using synonyms (Reutzel & Cooter, Jr., 2012, p. 223).
After administering both of these assessments, the data would show the students general
vocabulary knowledge compared to the vocabulary knowledge of students at their same grade
level. Once presented with this data, then I would compare the scores of the students in
classrooms where teachers used similar instructional strategies to teach vocabulary. Thus, I
would discover if certain instructional strategies for teaching word knowledge were more
effective than others.
Findings

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

Based on previous research that was done on vocabulary instruction, I believe that I
would discover through my hypothetical research that certain teaching practices are more
effective for enhancing student word knowledge than others. I believe that I would discover
similar strategies for teaching vocabulary that could be placed into groups. Furthermore, I
believe that the data received from the assessments would suggest that certain teaching strategies
are more beneficial for student vocabulary knowledge.
Silverman and Crandell (2010) found that teachers used similar vocabulary teaching
practices that could be placed into groups; thus, through my hypothetical research, I believe that
I would be able to categorize strategies for teaching vocabulary into certain groups as well.
Silverman and Crandell (2010) divided the teaching strategies into five groups: Act/Illustrate,
Analyze, Contextualize, Define, and Word Study (Silverman & Crandell, 2010, p. 325). When a
teacher taught vocabulary through using visuals, then this was considered the Act/Illustrate
teaching strategy. The Analyze strategy was used when teachers told students to compare and
contrast word meanings. Furthermore, the Contextualize strategy was when teachers taught
students vocabulary through using the word in multiple contexts. When a teacher explained
what a vocabulary word was in the context it was first found in, then a teacher was using the
Define strategy. Lastly, the Word Study strategy was when teachers focused on phonics,
phonemic awareness, or writing as they taught vocabulary (Silverman & Crandell, 2010, p. 325).
Therefore, based off these findings of vocabulary teaching practices I believe that I would have
found similar groups of vocabulary strategies through my hypothetical research.
Furthermore, due to the findings from previous research, I believe that I would discover
certain strategies that are more beneficial than others. After conducting their research, Silverman
and Crandell (2010) propose that certain teaching strategies are more effective than others. In

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES IN EARLY EDUCATION

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their study, they found that the Word Study and Define strategies enhanced all students
vocabulary knowledge more than the other strategies. They suggested that the Contextualize
strategy was more beneficial for students with a larger prior knowledge of vocabulary; the Act/
Illustrate practice was found to be more effective for students with less prior knowledge of
vocabulary. Furthermore, the Analyze strategy was found to be less beneficial for students
vocabulary growth (Silverman & Crandell, 2010, p. 334). Thus, I believe that through my
theoretical research I would have found similar results. I believe that my research would have
shown that using aspects of the Word Study strategy, like phonics and phonemic awareness, is an
extremely effective instructional practice for teaching vocabulary. In addition, since PollardDurodola et al. (2011) found that making connections of previous knowledge with the new
vocabulary words benefits students vocabulary knowledge, I believe that my hypothetical study
would show that strategies which built upon students prior schema are beneficial (Durodola et
al., 2011).
Recommendations
Continual professional development is crucial in the education field; thus, if I was able to
conduct my hypothetical research, then I would suggest recommendations for future studies on
effective vocabulary instruction practices. Since my hypothetical research suggests that the
Word Study strategy is effective for teaching vocabulary, then I would support further research
for the discovery of specific Word Study strategies that are more beneficial than others. This
could be done through an intervention study where teachers in grades preschool to second grade
implement different Word Study strategies. Furthermore, due to the fact that our society is
constantly changing through the use of technology, I think further research that focused on
effective teaching strategies for vocabulary through the use of technology would be beneficial.

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This could be done through an observation or intervention study where researchers examined the
impact that certain technology resources for teaching vocabulary had on student vocabulary
knowledge in grades preschool to second grade. Thus, if I was able to conduct my hypothetical
research, then I would suggest continual research on beneficial strategies for teaching
vocabulary.

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References
Blamey, K. L. & Beauchat, K. A. (2011). Word walk: Vocabulary instruction for young children.
The Reading Teacher, 65(1), 71-75.
Feezell, G. (2012). Robust vocabulary instruction in a readers workshop. The Reading Teacher,
66(3), 233-237.
Neuman, S., & Roskos, K. (2012). More than teachable moments: Enhancing oral vocabulary
instruction in your classroom. The Reading Teacher, 66(1), 63-67.
Pollard-Durodola, S. D., Gonzalez, J. E., Simmons, D. C., Davis, M. J., Simmons, L., & NavaWalichowski, M. (2011). Using knowledge networks to develop preschoolers content
vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 65(4), 265-274.
Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, Jr., R. B. (2012). Teaching children to read: The teacher makes the
difference. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Silverman, R. & Crandell, J. D. (2010). Vocabulary practices in prekindergarten and
kindergarten classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(3), 318-340.
Wright, T. S. (2012). What classroom observations reveal about oral vocabulary instruction in
kindergarten. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(4), 353-355.