TITLE: Using the Newspaper to Teach Vocabulary
File: B:JHS1921
Source: Journal of Reading (29:7, April 1986), p. 650
Date: 8/25/94
I. Using the Business section to teach economics
Subject of the article: The cost of illiteracy to society.
A series of lessons was developed from the article before the class used the newspaper.
Economic concepts: (1) Efficiency (more individual effort prevents illiteracy). (2) Human resources (volunteers tutor illiterates). (3) Investments in human beings (Bashaw reports on $100 per individual). (4) Savings (invest now to save later). (5) Productive resources (literate citizens are productive).
Lesson objectives: The student will (1) Define illiteracy. (2) Describe how illiteracy prevents individuals from earning a living. (3) Relate illiteracy to prison populations and the costs in terms of human resources and human frustration. (4) Relate to the necessity for personal responsibility to become a literate and productive citizen. (5) Describe how better schooling and more individual effort could be used to prevent illiteracy.
Vocabulary Lesson Sequence: Vocabulary teaching strategies included:
1 Strategies that related students' experiences to the new economic concepts; these analogous experiences provided conceptual frameworks for economics information.
2 Strategies that built economic concepts or examined conflicting economic values before students were expected to understand them in print.
3 Strategies that provided experiences with technical or uncommon economics vocabulary before the students were expected to recognize terms in their text.
4 Strategies that stressed predicting and anticipating meanings of economic concepts on the basis of prior experience.
5 Strategies that built constructively on students' reading of economic materials at literal, inferential, and applied levels of comprehension.
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TITLE: Using the Newspaper to Teach Vocabulary
File: B:JHS1921
Source: Journal of Reading (29:7, April 1986), p. 650
Date: 8/25/94
6 Strategies that provided for interaction among students for sharing and pooling economic experiences, discussion and clarification of economic concepts, and multiple review and reinforcement of economic vocabulary, facts, concepts, and values.
7 Strategies that took advantage of the benefits of peer influence and peer interactions.
8 Strategies that promoted, guided, and supported creative thinking and reasoning in, through, and beyond the materials in print.
These strategies are adaptations of some of the work reported by Herber and Nelson (1984):
Herber, Harold H. and Joan Nelson. "Organization and Management of Programs." In Secondary School Reading: What Research Reveals for Classroom Practice, edited by Alan Berger and H. Alan Robinson. New York, N.Y.: National Conference on Research in English, 1982.
Specific procedures used to teach vocabulary:
1. Words to be taught were selected by the teacher from the newspaper before the papers were given to students.
2. Words were listed on the blackboard.
3. Each word was pronounced by the teacher, then students pronounced the word, then the teacher defined each word.
4. The words were discussed by the class in the context of the newspaper article after the students read the article privately but quietly aloud. During discussion the students were asked to relate the new terms to their background of experiences and to share their experiences with the class.
5. The words were then presented to the students a second time, in the form of a structured overview [graphic organizer] on the blackboard or overhead projector
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TITLE: Using the Newspaper to Teach Vocabulary
File: B:JHS1921
Source: Journal of Reading (29:7, April 1986), p. 650
Date: 8/25/94
Economics:
Human resources, Efficiency, Productive resources, Investments.
Illiterate, Society, Costs300 million, Incarceration.
1. The words were reviewed again in a discussion but with some emphasis on relationships between the terms.
2. Students completed a matching exercise as a review and reinforcement.
3. The students interacted with the text, other students, and the teacher with a reading and reasoning guide which stressed the use and knowledge of the new vocabulary in context.
READING AND REASONING GUIDE
Literal. Read the article carefully to determine whether or not the following statements are facts stated in the article. Place an "F" in front of the statement if the fact is stated in the article. Place an "NF" in front if it is not stated in the article. Be prepared to identify the sentence or paragraph in the article in which the fact is stated.
1. About 20% of Virginia's adults are functionally illiterate.
2. The cost to society represented by the illiterate is $300 million.
3. Illiteracy is not expensive.
4. Many prisoners who are now in jail can't read.
5. Illiteracy, in a sense, is inherited, because many parents who can't read will not encourage their children to read.
Interpretive. Read the article and determine if the following statements are reasonable in terms of what the author meant. Put an "M" in front of a statement if you think that's what the author meant and "NM" if you think it is not what the author meant. Be prepared to state the reasons why you think the author meant what was stated.
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TITLE: Using the Newspaper to Teach Vocabulary
File: B:JHS1921
Source: Journal of Reading (29:7, April 1986), p. 650
Date: 8/25/94
1. Illiteracy in Virginia is very expensive both for the society and for the individual.
2. Many prisoners are in jail because they can't read.
3. An illiterate always talks about his problems to anyone who will listen.
4. Many students become illiterate because their parents are illiterate.
Application. Read these statements and discuss why you think it is related to the article. You need to be prepared to state reasons why you think it is important to be literate.
1. A person who is literate will usually get a better job than a person who is illiterate.
2. I want to be a literate person because I will make more money to raise my children.
3. I believe a person who is able to read and write will not only be able to make more money but will also be happier than an illiterate person.
4. I believe if more money were spent for our schools in Virginia, teachers could prevent many students from becoming illiterate adults.
II. Using Cartoons and Comics to Teach Vocabulary
Source: Journal of Reading (29:7, April 1986), p. 657.
1. Establish a class project for credit to collect cartoons and comic strips which demonstrate unusual vocabulary. Many comics and cartoons use difficult words.
2. Instruct students to watch for the following categories:
Difficult words: Smith Family. (1) "My dad's not at all good with words." (2) "Loquacious he ain't." (3) "I do wish he was more glib."
Multiple meaning: Emmy Lou. Picture of two girls on bed having a discussion. "No, no, Taffy! Just because a boy gets a bachelor's degree doesn't mean he can't get married!"
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TITLE: Using the Newspaper to Teach Vocabulary
File: B:JHS1921
Source: Journal of Reading (29:7, April 1986), p. 650
Date: 8/25/94
Inventing new words: Funky Winkerbean. (1) hmm... (2) "Say, what's a word for a nut with hair on it?" (3) "Mustachio!"
Figurative language: Tiger. (1) [catcher missed ball]. (2) "That ball had double play written all over it!" (3) [looking at ball] "Where?"
Students may keep notebooks, journals, or vocabulary cards on an ongoing basis. Divide notebooks and cards into categories: figurative language, colloquial expressions, puns.
Hold a contest to see which student could collect the most difficult words in the comics.
Teachers may use the activity once or twice a week, but participants are always on the lookout for appropriate items.
Provides good materials for bulletin boards.
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