Paparazzi-
that is what my five-year old niece told me I should be for Halloween when I
asked her last week when I was trying to plan a last minute costume. She told
me she heard that word earlier that day at school when all the parents were
taking pictures of the students in their Halloween costumes. At that point, my
niece had no idea what the meaning the word paparazzi was, but that just proves
that a child can pick up a new word after hearing it once, and even add it to
their vocabulary. I explained what the paparazzi is to my niece, and within the
past week she has used her new word every time she has seen a camera.
The
article I read this week, “Vocabulary Lessons”, made me think of the example of
my niece and the new word she learned.
Children can hear a word once and automatically add it to their vocabulary.
The article explained the importance of a good vocabulary and provided some
ideas and tools to teach students new words while enhancing their vocabulary. The authors stated that…
“Playing with words enables students to
develop a metacognitve understanding of how words work. When learning is fun,
students become interested in words and see them as objects that they can use
and examine”.
I think that is the most important part to the
article, because children need a fun way to associate things when they are
learning anything new. Great examples are using word walls to introduce new
words or letting the students act out a new word. Another important thing to
teaching vocabulary is providing strategies for independence, so when the student
is stuck on a word they have the means to discover the definition. A great way to do that is teach students the
importance of a dictionary and how to use one, and then provide them with one
so that they are able to independently look up a new word.
I like that you mentioned instruction on how to use a dictionary. Children are so used to "googling" their questions that explicit instruction on how to use a dictionary reference would be a really valuable lesson for them. Adults are not always going to be around to answer vocabulary questions. As educators, we should explain how to use dictionaries as well as how to use online dictionaries appropriately to determine definitions.
ReplyDeleteI agree that playing with words is very important when it comes to developing a child's vocabulary. Children have to practice the new words they learn in order to understand the true meanings of them. I think it's amazing how children, like your niece, can pick up new vocabulary so quickly. This incidental learning is always a great supplement to what they are purposefully taught in school.
ReplyDeletehaha paparazzi that is too funny. You are so right though, children soak up words like sponges, even when they don't quite know what they mean. I call my kids "crazy nuts" when they do something funny or silly, and several parents have been like "uh Hannah my kids called me a crazy nut". I think this is a terrific ability that kids have to be able to pick up on words like that, but we should monitor what we say!
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