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A Beginner’s Guide to Vocabulary Instruction: Using Latin Word Chunks

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    When I first started teaching, we used ditto machines and overhead projectors.

    Take these dinosaur “tech tools” and pair them with 1) a random list of high-frequency SAT words and 2) a cloudy understanding of the Frayer model and you get the haphazard vocabulary instruction I used for years. Show kids a complex word each day. Ask them to draw 100+ corresponding graphic organizers. Expect them to nail the SAT test.

    Just like all those dried up VisàVis markers, this method didn’t work.

    What Does Research Say?

    Instead of teaching a random “hard” word each day, shift your time to teaching students the most frequent Greek and Latin parts of words (i.e. prefixes, roots, and suffixes).

    The experts have been talking about teaching word-level comprehension this way for years:

    Kylene Beers notes in When Kids Can’t Read, what Teachers Can Do that students don’t “know how to use the…word parts such as root words and affixes to discern meaning.”

    (2003, p. 35).

    In fact, most kids don’t even realize that words share similar parts let alone a common meaning.

    Mike Schmoker, author of Focus, explains that the most effective classrooms “repeatedly practice and master…the 50 most common transferable word chunks…to build up students’ reading vocabulary.”

    (2011, p. 104).

    So we’re not talking about some massive endeavor like teaching our students to actually speak Greek or subscribing to some reading program software.

    In Deeper ReadingKelly Gallagher says that type of vocabulary instruction “takes away from reading time, which is where the most effective vocabulary acquisition occurs. But students can benefit from knowing —that is, memorizing—some of the ‘staples.'”

    (2004, p. 72)

    In other words, the highest performing teachers make time to introduce these word components to students and help them memorize these chunks so they stick.

    What Does It Look Like in Practice?

    To start, I highly recommend getting a copy of Gallagher’s Deeper Reading. He shares his “30-15-10 List” (i.e. the 55 most common chunks) and how he rolls them out with his students.  The reading comprehension growth my students have had is thanks in large part to his work.

    Here, I’ve taken his idea and given a possibly more detailed rundown of how it looks in my room, including the specific documents my students use:

    At the Start of the Year

    Students complete a Latin Word Chunks pre-test. This is very quick, informal, and low-stakes. They use the correct answers from this pre-test to create a personal set of Latin Word Chunk flashcards. If you’ve read about my passion for content retention, you know how my students and I nerd-out on flashcards. We use these nearly every week in class, and students are expected to practice self-quizzing with them at home during the week.

    Direct & Guided Instruction

    After that, my students work from a Latin Word Chunk Student Study Pack that I created, drawing on Robert Marzano’s research about best practice for acquiring vocabulary. In less than ten minutes, I can introduce five new terms. Together, we generate word examples that use the chunk and draw corresponding visual representations.

    Students are expected to study their flashcards at home; however, we often use them in class to play a version of Memory to help reinforce strategies of self-quizzing. Otherwise, students use hand-held devices to play the various games on Quizlet. [Here’s a link to my Latin Word Chunks folder on Quizlet. It also includes flashcards sets for all of the English 10 Literary, Poetic, and Rhetorical Devices.]

    Week-by-Week Quizzes

    As I mentioned, I introduce five terms at a time with a quiz at the end of each week. The timeline is always slightly different depending on the needs of my students, but it might look something like what I share below. But first, please note, we typically spend about 30 minutes in total each week on vocabulary instruction (including the quizzes). This process looks complex but is quite fast when you and your students get into a rhythm.

    • Week 1: On Monday, introduce terms #1-5. On Wednesday, do a mini-review of #1-5. On Friday, take a #1-5  quiz.
      • The first assessment exposure to terms #1-5 means they are set on “Level Easy.” Students know this means there will be a word bank and the terms are listed on the quiz in the same order as our Student Study Pack.
    • Week 2: On Monday, introduce terms #6-10. On Wednesday, do a mini-review of #1-10. On Friday, take a #1-10 quiz.
      • The second assessment exposure to terms #1-5 means they increase in difficult to “Level Medium.” This means there isn’t a word bank for those terms, yet they stay in list order.
      • Since this is the first assessment exposure for terms #6-10, those items are on “Level Easy.”
    • Week 3: On Monday, introduce terms #11-15. On Wednesday, do a mini-review of #1-15. On Friday, take a #1-15 quiz.
      • This is now the third exposure to terms #1-5, so they shift to “Level Hard” and are shuffled in order without a word bank.
      • Terms #6-10 move to “Level Medium” with their second assessment exposure.
      • And the new terms #11-15 start at “Level Easy.”
    • Week 4: On Monday, no new terms are introduced, and we might do a mini-review of #1-15. On Wednesday, do another mini-review. On Friday, take a #1-15 quiz.
      • Terms #1-10 are both on “Level Hard,” and #11-15 moves to “Level Medium.”
    • Week 5: Same Monday and Wednesday with quick review. On Friday, take a #1-15 quiz.
      • All terms move to “Level Hard” before introducing a new set of five terms the following week and folding those into our memorization mastery.

    I describe this strategic approach to knowledge-building for my students simply as “snowballing” [See image above]. We begin with a tiny cluster of snowflakes (i.e. amount of terms) and gradually pack on more snow over time adding more and more until we have a snow boulder. This process supports proper content retention rather than just crashing an avalanche of terms at them, like I did in the past. I use the same snowball process with my US History students’ memorization of the big events and presidents.

    Depending on the strength of the students’ memories, we’re often able to move more quickly through this process before adding another set of five terms. When we get to the first 30 prefixes, I do the same pause and increase the level of difficulty. I don’t always include every quiz in the grade book because the management of points can get ridiculous.

    Results

    Every year, I am amazed at how much impact this has on students reading comprehension. Upper-level teachers come back to me year after year saying how they can always recognize the kids that come from my class because of their ability to independently implement this vocabulary skill later on. So whether students are breaking down vocabulary on the SAT or applying their knowledge of these chunks to more authentic learning, I see the results of this method, and because of that impact I want to make my student resources available to you.

    Check out the link below for more detailed product information, and–of course–leave me a message with any questions about the resources or the process.

    10 thoughts on “A Beginner’s Guide to Vocabulary Instruction: Using Latin Word Chunks”

    1. Kambria

      I have a couple questions. First, what grades do you see this being useful for? I teach fifth grade currently–is this adaptable, or should I look for something simpler for my kids? Second, more hypothetically, what’s the “next step”?–that is, after you teach this program in, say, 9th grade, what do you do with 10th grade vocab?

      1. Erica Beaton

        Hi Kambria! Those are great questions!
        First, if a upper elementary teacher is as insightful as you and is looking for a strategic approach to vocabulary, i say “Go for it!” with your fifth graders. The upper elementary kids and teachers that I’ve worked with in the past would be well-suited for this. You may need to extend the quizzing timeline and build in more memory games, but I think it would absolutely work.
        Second, the next step could be to make a bigger “snowball” by adding new terms the next year. As I mentioned, Kylene Beers has a great list of Latin and Greek chunks, but there are certainly others out there as well. I would take the next step by advancing the next grade-level with more discipline-specific terms. Unfortunately, I’m the only one in my district following this practice at this time, so we’re not quite there yet.
        I’d love to hear where you take it. Please check back with me to share your progress and/or adaptations!

    2. Amy Siegert

      Hello Erica! I have followed Dave Stuart for a few years now, and his recent post on your vocabulary instruction came at the same time as I was thinking about it! I purchased your entire program and hope to find a way to get it to work for 6th graders….thank you! However, I do have one question at this point: do you have your students come up with example words for every single affix on your chart? For example, for a-, ad-, ac-, af-, ag-, an-, ar-, and as-….do your kids come up with words for each of those prefixes? I see the need to do that, but I can also see that taking way more than 15 minutes a day with my middle schoolers. What do you think? Thanks, Amy

      1. Erica Beaton

        Hi Amy,
        What perfect timing! I love how that works out sometimes. 🙂

        You are spot on with your question! No, I don’t ask the kids to come up with a word for each affix. Goodness! It may sound silly—but you teach 6th grade so I’m sure you’re with me on this—I have to limit their examples because they would gladly do this for the whole class in an effort to wow one another.

        Normally, after I introduce the term and explain my mentor example, I ask them to do a Think-Pair-Share and gather some examples. Then, I cold-call five kids to collect examples. This way everyone has a chance to share their awesome example, and I can pull everyone’s voice into the lesson. Then, I tell them to write whatever examples we didn’t share on their Student Study Pack.

        Best of luck! I’d love to hear how it goes and what adaptations your make or lessons you learn!

    3. Chris

      Erica,
      Love the post, and I went out and bought the Latin Word Chunks bundle, and so far, I’m really digging it. You said that you do a pre-test with your students before explicitly teaching the word chunks. Did you include that in the bundle? If not, would it be possible to get the pre-test from you?

      Thanks! And I look forward to reading your blog on a regular basis!

      Chris

      1. Erica Beaton

        Hi Chris,
        Thanks so much! I’m so glad to hear that the Latin Word Chunk resources will be a support for you and your students!

        To answer your question, the pre-test that I give my students is Quiz #22, the same assessment that I give them at the end. Using that matching quiz as the pre-test allows students to create their flashcards easily without flipping through the Student Study Pack.

        I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

    4. Susan S

      This sound great! Would it be appropriate for 4th grade? I would love to have it.

      1. Erica Beaton

        Hi Susan,
        Just like I said to Kambria up above—who teaches 5th grade— Absolutely! I believe that the Latin Word Chunks resources will work with fourth grade. Most upper elementary kids and teachers that I’ve worked with in the past have found this to be well-suited for them. Once you do the pre-test (Quiz #22) with your students, you’ll be able to assess how you’d like to lay out the timeline; however, I might just start by building in more opportunities for practice with flashcards or add more time to “marinate” with the known terms before you add on more terms. Sometimes, I’ll even do this if the class average on a particular quiz is lower than 78%. We don’t add more terms on to the “snowball” but just pack the existing “boulder” a little tighter. I might give an earlier quiz once again as practice or have the students do one of the Quizlet options.

    5. Laura

      This is a great resource! However, I was wondering if you tell the kids if these are Greek AND Latin roots or just Latin roots? Based on my limited knowledge, most of the words on your list are Latin, but there are a few Greek ones mixed in, (hyper, hypo, mono, graph, log, and a couple others are Greek in origin).

      My co-workers and I are thinking about altering our curriculum so that students do Latin roots in 7th grade and Greek roots in 8th grade. Do you do a separate set of Greek roots? If so, I’d be interested in it!

      1. Erica Beaton

        Thanks for the comment, Laura! I do share with my students that these are a mix of Greek and Latin, but—for simplicity sake—we just say Latin. I pull the list from Kelly Gallagher, so I stick with his “Word Attack” phrasing. I love that you and your team are considering digging in further with your 7th and 8th graders. I’d like to do a next set expanding on the first list. I’ll let you know when that happens. In the meantime, I’d love to hear how you and your group organize the chunks. Thanks again!

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