I have a friend who’s seven year-old son has the most incredible vocabulary. In his case, he loves words. But, all kids need to be encouraged to own a great vocabulary through our use of strong and/or specific words, regardless of their age. Since words reflect concepts and content, it’s important to the rounded development of all learners. Check out these facts:
1. By kindergarten, kids should own’ 500-1,100, By fourth grade a student should ‘own’ 7,875 words.
2. There are tiers of words: (1) basic, everyday words, (2)general academic words, and (3) difficult words. Kids should learn and understand an average of 5-9 new words a day. Now the catch:
To learn a new word, it must be heard and used appropriately 28 times.
Yikes! That’s a lot of repetition!
Bottom line…we need to share important words with kids; the ones we use in daily speaking as well as the ones we read in print. So, where can we start?
Color words, the ways people and animals move, days and months of the year, times of the day, sports and entertainment lingo, etc, as your and their interests dictate.
These websites may offer help, or will at least get you started:
www.readingrocket.org/article/vocabulary-development-during-read-alouds-primary-practice
www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/vocabularydevelopment
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