Response to Chapter Seven "Mastering the Art of Effective Vocabulary Instruction"

In chapter seven of Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice Janet Allen discusses what it means to know a word and how students learn words before outlining ways in which to teach vocabulary. In her explanation of word knowledge Allen four levels of vocabulary comprehension: never exposed to word, hearing the word without understanding meaning, having general knowledge of word but can only use it in one context, and knowing the word and being able to use it in many different ways (2007). When teachers understand these four levels and apply it to their students they can adjust their teaching strategies to the best method of instruction. Students learn vocabulary in many different ways, but one of the best ways that was outlined in the chapter, was a "Word of the Day" activity in which the students use a chart to break down a word so they might understand it better (2007). I found this method of vocabulary instruction very intriguing as it was something short and simple students could do as they settle down at the beginning of class. Allen then went on to suggest the audio aided reading of "rich" texts as well as the inclusion of a well organized word wall in the classroom. I found both of these suggestions to be highly applicable to the classroom as they would take little work to integrate yet help the students immensely.
The chapter then moved on to discuss strategies to help students learn vocabulary on their own, discussing the Mathew's Effect. The discussion of this problem where students with higher vocabulary rapidly advance through tougher material learning more that enables them to progress to even harder material while those who have less extensive vocabularies lag behind really inspired me as a future teacher to make sure I include vocabulary instruction, in my daily teaching techniques as it can have a profound impact on how much the students learn.
The final portion of the chapter focused on making sure students understood the concepts behind the vocabulary they were learning through the use of concept circles. These circles each have four words in them and the student has to discuss how these words relate to one another. I thought this would be an excellent alternative to a traditional multiple choice vocabulary test as it would force the students not only to recognize the words definition but to also put the word in context, ensuring that they are able to use the word effectively.
Overall this chapter provided great insight into different vocabulary instructional methods, that would be easy to apply to any classroom setting.