Final Blog part 2:

Complexity with Vocabulary on page 71. I remember when I was in school how difficult it was for me to memorize my vocabulary words. I hated it. I try so hard to make it fun with my students and my own children at home. With 1st graders, it seems that the children do not get talked to as much as in the past. I don't feel that there are family discussions like their used to be. Therefore, students do not get the understanding of words like we did when we were growing up. When I say a vocabulary word and get a funny look then I know it is time to have a discussion. I say the word and then ask the students what they think the word means. Then I use it in a sentence and ask again. I keep giving clues until someone understands what it means. Then as a whole class we repeat the meaning. I then have different students use the word in another sentence until we all understand the meaning. Later we might go to our seats and write the words and draw pictures to help us remember what the word means to us. I try to have the students relate the word to their personal self. We also write sentences using the words. We will sometimes read our sentences out loud to help another student who is having trouble understanding. I do this weekly with all the new vocabulary words in reading as well as in science and social studies. When in reading groups, some of the words might be difficult to sound out. When the student finishes reading, I ask the group what they thought a certain word meant in the story. That is another way of helping with vocabulary. It is not just about vocabulary, there are others areas where you need to help students understand meanings.

I use graphic organizers with the 1st grade. Ours are much simpler than upper grades, but it helps the students to see that there can be many ways to understand things.