Welcome to TCAH's Academic Vocabulary Initiative!
This website is to be used for teacher planning and should not be shared directly with students.
Mission: Teachers in grades 3-12 will develop a list of core academic vocabulary to be taught across disciplines in
order to increase student understanding and retention of concepts.
Rationale:Directly teaching vocabulary, especially key academic terms, greatly affects student understanding
and performance. Research shows students in the 50th percentile in terms of ability to comprehend the subject matter taught in school, with no direct vocabulary instruction, score in the 50th percentile. The same student, after specific content-area terms have been taught in a systemic way, raises his/her comprehension ability to the 83rd percentile (Marzano).
In order to raise our students’ comprehension and performance across the board, we need to systematically teach key vocabulary words.
Please use this website as a resource to help you facilitate effective vocabulary instruction with your students.
Marzano's Six Steps for Teaching Vocabulary
Dr. Marzano describes a six-step process in the instruction of vocabulary.The first three steps are to assist the teacher in direct instruction. The last three steps are to provide the learner practice and reinforcement.
Step 1: The teacher will give a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
Step 2: The teacher will ask the learner to give a description, explanation, or example of the new term in his/her own
words.
Step 3: The teacher will ask the learner to draw a picture, symbol, or locate a graphic to represent the new
term.
Step 4: The learner will participate in activities that provide more knowledge of the words in their vocabulary
notebooks.
Step 5: The learner will discuss the term with other learners.
Step 6: The learner will participate in games that provide more reinforcement of the new term.
Marzano, R. J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: Research on what works in schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Mission: Teachers in grades 3-12 will develop a list of core academic vocabulary to be taught across disciplines in
order to increase student understanding and retention of concepts.
Rationale:Directly teaching vocabulary, especially key academic terms, greatly affects student understanding
and performance. Research shows students in the 50th percentile in terms of ability to comprehend the subject matter taught in school, with no direct vocabulary instruction, score in the 50th percentile. The same student, after specific content-area terms have been taught in a systemic way, raises his/her comprehension ability to the 83rd percentile (Marzano).
In order to raise our students’ comprehension and performance across the board, we need to systematically teach key vocabulary words.
Please use this website as a resource to help you facilitate effective vocabulary instruction with your students.
Marzano's Six Steps for Teaching Vocabulary
Dr. Marzano describes a six-step process in the instruction of vocabulary.The first three steps are to assist the teacher in direct instruction. The last three steps are to provide the learner practice and reinforcement.
Step 1: The teacher will give a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
Step 2: The teacher will ask the learner to give a description, explanation, or example of the new term in his/her own
words.
Step 3: The teacher will ask the learner to draw a picture, symbol, or locate a graphic to represent the new
term.
Step 4: The learner will participate in activities that provide more knowledge of the words in their vocabulary
notebooks.
Step 5: The learner will discuss the term with other learners.
Step 6: The learner will participate in games that provide more reinforcement of the new term.
Marzano, R. J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: Research on what works in schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.