We tried a total of six vocabulary strategies for two weeks:
Tree diagram February 8-20
Graphic organizer February 8-20
Charades February 22-March 5
Drawing pictures February 22-March 5
Reading the words in contexts March 8-19
Synonyms and antonyms March 8-19
For each of these strategies, we had a constant for each day. Monday, we introduced the strategy with seven new vocabulary words and the students made predictions of what the new words meant. Tuesday, we introduced the actual meaning of the words. Wednesday, the students practiced using the words in sentences. Thursday, the students studied the words on their own and then studied with a partner. On Friday, the students took a quiz and wrote a reflection about the strategy used that week.
Forty students were involved in this study. Twenty random students from an honors class and a regular class were in Group A for three strategies. Twenty random students from an honors class and a regular class were in group B for three different strategies. Every two weeks, each group worked on a new strategy We used the strategy for two weeks straight because we did not think a week would be enough time to try the strategy out and have the students become comfortable with it. After the first week of a strategy, the students became comfortable with the strategy to understand what we were asking of them. Group A and Group B used the same words even though they were using different strategies.
The week prior to the first strategy, all forty students took the same pre-assessment to show reading comprehension before strategies were used. After the strategies were used, the forty students took the same post-assessment to show current reading comprehension.
