Vocabulary

What is the significance of vocabulary in reading comprehension and written expression?

Vocabulary is crucial for understanding texts and expressing ideas clearly.

What are the five essential pillars of reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel (NRP)?

Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Text Comprehension.

How can vocabulary skills be assessed?

Through language samples, word length, complexity, lexical variety, and frequency of use.

What is Direct Instruction in vocabulary development?

Providing definitions directly or through resources such as dictionaries, peers, or adults.

What are the five types of context clues used in Contextual Abstraction?

Definition clues, example clues, inference clues, synonym clues, and antonym clues.

What does Morphological Analysis involve?

Understanding affixes such as prefixes and suffixes to derive meanings of words.

What is an example of a common prefix?

Re- (as in rewrite) or Un- (as in uncover).

What is an example of a common suffix?

-able (as in readable), -er (as in teacher), or -ful (as in joyful).

How many words do high school graduates learn on average?

Approximately 40,000 words, averaging 5-8 new words per day.

What teaching approach emphasizes contextual abstraction and morphological analysis?

A realistic teaching approach to vocabulary growth.