Character Trait Vocabulary: A Schoolwide Approach

Abstract

Research has documented the large differences in young children's vocabulary knowledge. In light of the strong relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, this gap is particularly worrisome and points to the critical need for well‐articulated vocabulary instruction across the grades.The author describes character trait vocabulary, in which the teacher asks students to describe the traits of characters in their reading. The children share their thinking and the teacher lists the terms offered for each character and prompts the children to explain their responses. After the children have analyzed the characters, the teacher displays a grid with a set of new terms chosen specifically for the characters under discussion. In a schoolwide approach to the practice, the teacher consciously tries to incorporate terms from the provided grade‐level list. The teacher introduces a word at a time, providing a brief child‐friendly definition and example, and asks the students to consider whether the term would apply to each of the characters.