Teaching Vocabulary and Morphology in Intermediate Grades

Abstract

Direct vocabulary instruction of Tier 2 and Tier 3 words in intermediate-grade curricula is an important tool of literacy instruction because English is a language grafted from many roots and has not developed a one-to-one phoneme–grapheme correspondence. In addition to knowing graphemes and phonemes, students must formally learn words that cross domain knowledge and introduce subject-matter concepts. Intermediate-grade teachers can deal with these curricula demands and help their students advance their reading ability and their subject learning by combining vocabulary instruction with word recognition skills and by incorporating the meaning of vocabulary words with subject knowledge. Teaching vocabulary and morphology improves students’ comprehension of text because knowledge of meaningful word components, syllabication, and academic vocabulary improves both word recognition skills and subject specific understanding. In addition, teaching content terminology and Latin and Greek stems improves students’ word recognition skills, increases students’ academic vocabulary knowledge, and helps students meet Common Core State Standards. Cloze exercises and learning opportunities that engage students in using their newly acquired vocabulary are helpful teaching techniques and support all students’ annual reading growth.