For too long, vocabulary instruction has suffered from inattention and quick fixes. Sometimes thought of as an instructional stepchild, many students are denied the power of a rich vocabulary. When teachers don't fully understand the various components of a robust program, instruction often boils down to copying definitions or memorizing static word meanings. Pouring over research and proven strategies from literacy experts, Aaron Daffern has identified five parts of a powerful vocabulary program: prepare, present, place, process, and play. By utilizing these five components, students will go beyond simple knowledge and will begin to wrestle with words as they integrate new vocabulary into their semantic knowledge systems.The first component, prepare, details how to select the highest impact words and avoid spending instructional time on words that are either obscure or common. Second, presenting new words is more than simply telling students what a word means. Teachers can utilize activating prior knowledge, bases/affixes, context clues, descriptive definitions, example/non-examples, friendly words/synonyms, and even grammar usage to define new terms.The third component, place, provides a variety of methods for students to take new words and tie them into what they already know. The fourth and largest component is process. Both basic and complex tasks should be employed to help students wrestle with new terms and analyze them in a variety of contexts. Finally, students can play with words to extend knowledge and explore shades of meaning.As a teacher, campus principal, and district instructional specialist and curriculum coordinator, Aaron Daffern has been educating students in Texas since 2000. He trains schools and districts around the country in student engagement and vocabulary instruction. Check him out online at AaronDaffern.com.
About the Author: Born and raised in California, Aaron has been living in Ft. Worth, TX and working as an educator, first as a classroom teacher, then a principal, and currently as a district administrator in Curriculum and Instruction, since 2000. Aaron attended California Baptist University in Riverside, CA from 1996 to 1999 and earned a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Religion and History. Planning on becoming a minister, Aaron began attending seminary classes in Ft. Worth, TX in 2000, the hometown of his new bride, Heather. A friend recommended he become alternatively certified to teach elementary grades and since it would at least pay the bills, he signed up and began teaching 4th grade in Ft. Worth, TX in 2000. It was at the end of the first year that one of his precious little students, Jessica, wrote him a note which simply read, "Dear Mr. Daffern, I'm so glad you became a teacher instead of a preacher. I'll never forget you." A student taught him what it meant to be a teacher and started him on the journey he's still enjoying today. After teaching 11 years in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th grades in Arlington and Ft. Worth, TX, Aaron became the assistant principal of an open-enrollment charter school in Arlington, TX. Six months into that assignment he became the acting principal and then was officially hired as the principal of Arlington Classics Academy Intermediate School in 2012. Two years later, Aaron moved up to work in the Curriculum and Instruction department for Arlington Classics Academy where he still worked until joining the Early Learning department of Dallas ISD in 2018. Aaron lives in Ft. Worth with his wife Heather, four lovely children, and two cats that allow his family to share the house with them. He published his first book, Solving Student Engagement: Designing Instruction to Motivate Every Student, in 2017 and his second book, Don't Quit Your Day Job: An Educator's Guide to Student Engagement, in 2018. His third book, Wrestling with Words: The Five Parts of a Powerful Vocabulary Program, also came out in 2018. Visit him online at AaronDaffern.com.