Vocabulary, Real Talk, and Deep Learning

In a time where language and words matter (always been this way, by the way) meaning-making culturally relevant vocabulary instruction is crucial. Especially, one is that culturally relevant, that supports our multilingual speaking students. Literacy instruction has been taking so many hits (as usual) because of the presence of AI, all of the EdTech gadgets, phones, and more... but it is clear that strong literacy instruction with explicit vocabulary strategies is necessary for reading comprehension and general social participation. You can't have good civics learning without basic literacy skills. You can't engage in respectful and meaningful dialogue across difference without word knowledge. Did you know that one of the alarming details shared about ICE agents is their lack of literacy skills? I could go on. 

I just came across a  teacher's interesting write up on Edutopia about how he teaches explicit vocabulary through "semantic gradients." If that sounds fancy to you or new, no worries: it's something many of us do, but described in detail and with a twist on the focus. The article, "How to Turn Vocabulary Lessons into Nuanced Conversations About Meaning" inspired me to think about how powerful those exercises could be for multilingual speakers. Culturally relevant instruction is good for all students, not just "those" students. It's good teaching, period.

In this case, his approach isn't focused on culturally relevant instruction, but I think it's a great opportunity to embrace important conversations focused on social issues and issues close to students' heart by introducing language, key words, and concepts. Using stigmatized words and language development as an entry point into powerful conversations was a game changer for me and was also a neutralizer, if you will, because we were all learning together. We were all meaning-making and digging into nuanced understandings of ideas and words that we either assume every knows or don't touch because it's too uncomfortable. Nah. We can tackle them head on and use structure and protocols to engage in intellectually stimulating and heart stirring learning. 

I also explore this language & vocabulary development approach in Chapter 3 of Textured Teaching when I talk about interdisciplinary teaching & learning. I offer a procedure for this very exercise, charts and all. I include examples from my own classrooms and text-based work I did with students. The main challenge is taking the risk; trying something new. Can we open ourselves up to get uncomfortable with students, learn some new words, and engage in REAL talk? The ball is in our court as educators, because kids are already playing. 

In My Classroom we engage in these professional learning conversations and share tips & ideas with each other as we move toward growth & progress. Come check it out.

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