Do your students struggle with academic vocabulary? Does vocabulary instruction often get set aside for more “important” literacy-related instruction? This online course for teachers is designed to increase the effectiveness of vocabulary instruction in grades 4-12. This course teaches about the importance of explicitly teaching vocabulary and what teachers can specifically do to enhance their literacy programs so that vocabulary development is constantly nurtured. The course begins by discussing academic language and how to choose, and then introduce, new words. Teachers will learn specific strategies such as Greek and Latin roots, structural analysis, word parts, semantic feature analysis, analogies, mnemonics, and morphology in order to increase student vocabulary. Strategies for using context clues to gain vocabulary understanding are shared. Teachers will learn how to incorporate graphic organizers such as concept maps and word webs into their daily instruction in order to boost students’ vocabulary knowledge, both in reading and across all content areas. The idea of using vocabulary games will also be explored. Differentiation for teaching content area vocabulary at a variety of skill levels is shared. Ideas for vocabulary assessment are also discussed, resulting in an in-depth understanding of just what it takes to foster a quality vocabulary program. By the end of this continuing education course, teachers will have gained many effective strategies for teaching vocabulary.

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