When you get into Louisiana, it really is like a different country in a lot of ways. The plants you see are a little different, like the weeping willows and the cypress trees that come up out of the bayou. And it’s steamy hot.
―Sam Trammell
What New Words Are You Learning?
My son Jordan—the one who graduated last year, went to commercial dive school in Seattle, then moved to the bayou in Louisiana for his first job as a dive tender—is currently in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, surrounded by water. He was on the job for less than two weeks when they assigned him to the boat.
“You’re either on the boat or the beach,” he informed me. “Beach is what they call it when you are just working regular shifts at the company. Boat, well, it’s obvious…It means you’re offshore.”
In the handful of days he’s been on the job, our conversations are peppered with new vocabulary. Learning the lingo is the nature of the job…It’s also a natural part of moving to an entirely different part of the country. They’re in heads season right now. Did you know that? It’s a reference to the traps that are filling up with mudbugs, and you can get a crawdad boil because it’s the season for them. Heads season wraps up in early summer, leading into tails season. Live crawdads are slim, so you’ll find crawdad tail meat in almost any Cajun dish you can think of.
What new words are surrounding you? It’s a delight to expand our vocabulary, and it should be an exciting part of learning in schools. That’s why this week we focus on building vocabulary—plus more, as always.
Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
Gretchen Schroeder finds that any vocabulary routine eventually gets stale in her high school classroom. She shares a couple of favorite options for reinvigorating word learning.
Gigi McAllister writes about a quick activity for modeling word learning and fostering discussion of new vocabulary.
Tim Shanahan shares ways to teach students to use context in vocabulary learning.
Read Write Think offers a robust resource for National Poetry Month. It’s not too late to partake in the celebration!
Do you wish you had more time to share new books with your students? We know you don’t need fluff or pretty activities. Instead we get to the heart of what you need to thoughtfully share new books in your classroom.
NEW! Our book guides are created and vetted by in-the-field educators. They hold true to the tenets of giving students choice and voice in their reading lives, while empowering a teacher to expand the representation of books shared with students. Click here to see all of our new book guides.
Beneath by Cori Doerrfeld is a story about a girl navigating loss by learning from her grandpa how to notice what is beneath the surface during a walk through nature.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Heather Fisher revisits a whole-school vocabulary routine that she set in motion. In this update, she shares the ways she adjusted to work together as team rather than fly solo. This might be just the school-wide vocabulary routine you’ve been craving.
Leigh Anne Eck shares one way to uplift middle school writers’ word choice. Through a simple and responsive system, her students are growing their vocabulary, learning parts of speech, and taking risks with more sophisticated word choice. All you need is a purple highlighter and a willingness to honor the voice of students.
In this video, Dana Murphy meets with a group of fifth graders to work on strategies for understanding unknown words.
In this encore video, Stella Villalba leads a guided reading group for first-grade English language learners, beginning by building vocabulary.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Suzy Kaback guides us in learning to use ChatGPT as a thought partner. She offers a compelling rationale, clear step-by-step directions, and resources to build a deeper understand of using AI to prepare for instruction. This is the second installment in a series about using AI with teacher candidates.
PD2GO: Stella Villalba scaffolds the language development of her first- and second-grade English language learners during read-aloud by highlighting vocabulary and providing a tool to assist with a partner retelling activity.
Literacy coaches Tara Barnett and Kate Mills create a “labsite” for exploring vocabulary development—a classroom-based inquiry plan for a group of teachers to observe instruction with young learners.
Quote It:
One forgets words as one forgets names. One’s vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.
—Evelyn Waugh
That’s all for this week!
