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CONTENT AREA
VOCABULARY
LEARNING
Douglas Fisher ■ Nancy Frey

V
ocabulary is a significant predic- Language Standard 5: Demonstrate understand-
tor of overall reading comprehension ing of figurative language, word relationships,
(Baumann, Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003) and and nuances in word meanings.
student performance (Stahl & Fairbanks, ■ Language Standard 6: Acquire and use accurately
1986). When readers know a lot of words, they can a range of general academic and domain-spe-
read more complex texts. When writers know a lot cific words and phrases sufficient for reading,
of words, they can compose more sophisticated writing, speaking, and listening at the college
documents. For decades, the value of vocabulary was and career readiness level; demonstrate inde-
evident in content standards, and most states or prov- pendence in gathering vocabulary knowledge
inces typically had a standard related to vocabulary. when considering a word or phrase important to
This has changed with the Common Core State comprehension or expression.
Standards for English Language Arts. Keep in mind
that in elementary school, these standards speak to Vocabulary appears implicitly in other standards.
expectations in all content areas, not only the read- For instance, the reading foundational skills con-
ing and language arts block. There are a total of 32 tain expectations about acquisition of skills related to
English language arts standards, and four of the prefixes and morphology, both of which are driven
standards (12.5%) focus explicitly on vocabulary. by meaning. Even the fluency standard’s empha-
These include: sis in grades 3–5 on prosody, expression, and the
use of context to confirm or self-correct serves as a
■ Reading Standard 4: Interpret words and phrases reminder of the role of vocabulary in comprehension.
as they are used in a text, including determining And it comes as no surprise that the writing stan-
technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, dards call for students to use transitional phrases,
and analyze how specific word choices shape linking words, and definitions of terms in their
meaning or tone. compositions.
■ Language Standard 4: Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases by using context clues, ana- The department editors welcome reader comments. Douglas Fisher is a
lyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting professor at San Diego State University, California, USA; e-mail dfisher@
mail.sdsu.edu. Nancy Frey is a professor at San Diego State University,
general and specialized reference materials, as California, USA; e-mail nfrey@mail.sdsu.edu.
appropriate.

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The value of vocabulary is not limited words and phrases to understand and they can then compose solitary sen-
to the English language arts standards. convey coherent messages in what tences. This limited exposure to words
Content area standards also emphasize Thorndike termed “a cooperation of and phrases in decontextualized situ-
the importance of learning words. For many forces” (1917, p. 232). Vocabulary ations has not proven to be effective,
example, the math standards require the researchers have long advocated for nor is it of a sufficient intensity. In
following: instructional approaches that capital- an observational study of Canadian
ize on these “many forces,” especially upper elementary classrooms, Scott,
■ Kindergarten students must “iden- through teaching structural, contex- Jamieson-Noel, and Asselin (2003)
tify and describe shapes (squares, tual, and morphemic analysis skills found that 39% of vocabulary instruc-
circles, triangles, rectangles, hexa- (Baumann, Edwards, & Boland, 2003; tional time was dedicated to definitions,
gons, cubes, cones, cylinders, and Brusnighan & Folk, 2012), using oral mostly through dictionary and work-
spheres),” and they must “correctly language channels (Beck & McKeown, sheet use. Vocabulary instruction in
name shapes regardless of their 2007), leveraging texts to facilitate dis- elementary content area classes was
orientations or overall size.” cussion and interaction (Lennox, 2013), even more limited. The same research-
■ Sixth grade students must “identify and teaching for word appreciation and ers found that an average of only 1.4%
parts of an expression using math- word consciousness (Graves & Watts- of social studies, mathematics, science,
ematical terms (sum, term, product, Taffe, 2008). and arts instructional time was devoted
factor, quotient, coefficient).” The demand on vocabulary knowl- to vocabulary development. Whether
edge intensifies throughout the your goal is to meet the demands of the
To accomplish these standards and elementary and middle school years, Common Core State Standards, or for
a host of others, students will need especially in regard to print. Nagy and locations not impacted directly by these
significant practice with words. In Anderson (1984) estimated that stu- standards but where vocabulary is a sig-
fact, academic language, of which aca- dents entering ninth grade needed to nificant concern, we recommend that
demic vocabulary is a part, has been know and understand 88,500 word teachers attend to four significant com-
identified as one of the major shifts families, stating that “even the most ponents of word learning: wide reading,
with the Common Core State Standards ruthlessly systematic direct vocabulary selecting words to teach, modeling
(see http://www.achievethecore instruction could neither account for a word solving, and providing students
.org/content/upload/Shifts%202%20 significant proportion of all the words opportunities through collabora-
pager_091313.pdf ). Clearly, the archi- children actually learn, nor cover more tive conversations to actually use their
tects of the standards wanted to ensure than a modest proportion of the words growing vocabularies.
that students learn a lot of words and they will encounter in school reading
phrases and know how to mobilize this materials” (p. 304). Wide Reading
knowledge as they read and write. There Yet in too many cases, vocabu- One of the ways that students build their
is good reason for this—vocabulary is lary instruction is isolated from other vocabularies is through reading. If stu-
an essential gateway for achieving the aspects of the instructional day, partic- dents read 60 minutes per day, five days a
ELA standards. ularly in content area learning. It is far week, they will read more than 2,250,000
too common to assign students a list words per year. Mason, Stahl, Au, and
Vocabulary is at the Core of of words (usually technical terms) that Herman (2003) estimate that this level of
Literacy will be used in a social studies or sci- reading will result in students learning
Reading, writing, speaking, and listen- ence unit and then ask them to look 2,250 words per year, far more than could
ing are grounded in the formulation and up words and write definitions so that ever be taught through direct instruction
understanding of written and verbal
messages. Without meaning, words
and phrases are nothing more than
a nonsensical string of sounds or let-
“Content area standards also
ters. Vocabulary is not an isolated skill; emphasize the importance of
readers, writers, speakers, and listen-
ers marshal what they know about learning words.”
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photosynthesis, personification, and odd

“Unfortunately, there is less attention to wide number are domain-specific because
reading as teachers focus their attention on their meaning is fairly well set and
consistent.
instructional routines such as close reading.” There are also basic words that
students must learn, often referred to as
Tier 1 words. These are not included in
the English language arts standards but
alone. Unfortunately, there is less atten- In terms of priorities, the standards instead are featured in the foundational
tion to wide reading as teachers focus suggest that students should learn skills. More specifically, foundational
their attention on instructional routines general academic and domain-specific skill standard 3 focuses on word analysis
such as close reading. But expert teach- words and phrases. General academic (“Know and apply grade-level phonics
ers, as noted by Sanden (2012), continue words, commonly referred to as Tier and word analysis skills in decoding
to provide students opportunities to read 2 words, are those that mean different words”), which requires that students
independently and combine this with things in different content areas or con- develop their knowledge of high-
“assistance in areas such as monitoring texts. For example, the word set could be frequency words and use affixes and
student choices, teaching independent used in everyday conversation (“set your morphology.
reading behaviors, and maintaining a pencil down to show me you are ready”) But understanding these types of
focus on student growth” (p. 224). In the or in mathematics (the set of numbers words really doesn’t help with selecting
rush to raise the rigor of students’ read- in a range from 4 to 13). General aca- words and phrases worthy of instruc-
ing, teachers should remember that demic words have sometimes been tion. In Figure, we provide questions for
practice does not make perfect, but rather neglected because they are seen as less consideration when selecting words. We
permanent. Students need practice with demanding. drew on the work of several research-
a lot of texts so that they build their back- In addition to general academic ers, including Graves (2006), Hiebert
ground knowledge and vocabulary. words and phrases, students must and Kamil (2005), and Nagy (1988) to
They also need instruction with specific be taught domain-specific, or Tier 3, identify questions that lead to deci-
words that will unlock increasingly com- words and phrases. Terms such as sions about which words to teach. If the
plex texts. And that starts with selecting
the right words for instruction; words
that students are not likely to learn while Figure Considerations for Selecting Vocabulary Words
reading. Topic Questions to Ask
Representative • Is the word representative of a family of words that students should know?
Selecting Words and • Is the concept represented by the word critical to understanding the text?
Phrases to Teach • Is the word a label for an idea that students need to know?
As we have noted, students need to • Does the word represent an idea that is essential for understanding another
concept?
learn thousands of words per year,
depending on their grade level. Teachers Repeatability • Will the word be used again in this text? If so, does the word occur often
simply cannot directly teach all of the enough to be redundant?
• Will the word be used again during the school year?
words students need to learn. As we
Transportable • Will the word be used in group discussions?
will discuss later in this article, thank- • Will the word be used in writing tasks?
fully students learn a lot of words • Will the word be used in other content or subject areas?
while reading. Those words reserved Contextual Analysis • Can students use context clues to determine the correct or intended
for instruction should be worthy of meaning of the word without instruction?
the attention. That is to say, for stu- Structural Analysis • Can students use structural analysis to determine the correct or intended
dents to develop a depth of knowledge meaning of the word without instruction?
about words and phrases, teachers need Cognitive Load • Have I identified too many words for students to successfully integrate?
to carefully select the words they will Source: Frey, N., & Fisher, D. (2009). Learning words inside and out: Vocabulary instruction that boosts achievement in all subject areas .
teach. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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word is representative of words students anything inside the word that can
should know at that grade level or if it is help the reader figure out the word.
“It is important
key to understanding the text, it ’s prob- Like context clues, word parts don’t that students figure
ably worth teaching. If the word is going always work, and teachers should
to be used repeatedly, then it might include non-examples in their out the meanings
be worth teaching. If the word will be modeling.
needed for post-reading tasks, such as ■ Resources are things outside of the of unknown
discussions or writing, then it is prob- text that help a reader determine
ably be worth teaching. If the word’s meaning, such as dictionaries, the- words.”
meaning can be determined from con- sauri, and even asking other people.
text or structural clues, then it might not Teachers can also model these word-
be worth teaching. solving strategies using technology are important aspects of instruction
such as smartphones or computers. necessary to meet the increased expec-
Modeling Word Solving tations in the Common Core State
As noted in the standards, it is impor- By way of example, consider the Standards, but they are insufficient
tant that students figure out the modeling David Samson provided for in and of themselves. Students need
meanings of unknown words. Students his students. The class was learning to have time to use the words they
need to “interpret words and phrases as about the night sky, and Mr. Samson are learning with their teacher and
they are used in text” and they have to was modeling with the text Moon Power with their peers (Wasik & Iannone-
determine the “meaning of unknown (Evans, 2011), projecting the text on his Campbell, 2012). Importantly, there
and multiple-meaning words and document camera. Early in the text, they is another standard that focuses
phrases.” The best way we know how to encounter the word orbit. Mr. Samson on student-to-student interac-
do that is to model for students so that reads the text: “The moon does not stay tions. In the area of Speaking and
they experience expert thinking while still. It travels around, or orbits, Earth” Listening, standard 1 indicates that
reading. Modeling word solving should (n.p.). In response, he says, “I’m not students must “prepare for and par-
occur across content areas. This requires really sure what the word orbit means. ticipate effectively in a range of
that teachers select pieces of text that The author says that the moon does conversations and collaborations
include complex vocabulary terms and not stay still and that it travels. So I with diverse partners, building on
that they read the texts aloud, pausing to think that orbit has to do with the moon others’ ideas and expressing their own
demonstrate how word solving works. moving, but I don’t really know if I can clearly and persuasively” (National
As noted in the standards, word solv- explain it any further. But look, I see that Governors Association Center for
ing occurs through the use of context the word is bolded and highlighted. I Best Practices & Council of Chief
clues, word parts or morphology, and know, when that happens, the word is State School Officers, 2010, p. 22). At
resources. probably in the glossary. I’m going to first glance, this does not appear to
check. [pause] Yep, there it is. It ’s a path be a vocabulary-focused standard.
■ Context clues are those that are that the moon takes as it travels around. When the details of this standard are
included around the unknown I think I will look at the figure again to explored, however, the role of words
word, whether in the same sentence see if that works. [returning to original becomes more obvious.
or not, that help the reader under- page] Much better. There’s an illus- At the kindergarten level, students
stand the target word. These clues tration that shows me the orbit of the are expected to “continue the conver-
do not always work and sometimes moon around the Earth. That ’s the path sation through multiple exchanges”
are actually distracting. Part of the it takes as it travels around. I think I can (p. 23), whereas fourth grade students
teacher modeling of word solving explain that a lot better now, so I think are expected to “pose and respond to
should include examples of non- I’ll continue reading.” specific questions to clarify or follow up
directive or mis-directive clues. on information, and make comments
■ Word parts or morphology focuses Using Words in Discussion that contribute to the discussion and
on prefixes, suffixes, roots, bases, Selecting the right words to teach and link to the remarks of others” (p. 24).
word families, cognates—basically modeling word solving approaches In all cases, students are expected to

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four signs (Strongly Agree, Agree,

“Vocabulary lies at the heart of content Disagree, or Strongly Disagree)
learning, as it serves as a proxy for students’ and post a thought-provoking
statement related to your content
understanding of concepts.” teaching, such as “The gorillas
were the most fun animal to watch
on our field trip to the zoo yester-
day” or “The best artist we studied
engage in discussions focused on grade- gained through interactive read- was Vincent van Gogh.” Students
level texts and topics. To do so, to have alouds and shared readings. choose the corner that best reflects
these types of conversations, students The reciprocal teaching protocol their opinion, and they discuss
need to know a lot of words. There are (Palincsar & Brown, 1984) provides it with like-minded classmates.
a number of ways to facilitate students’ students with a frame for discuss- Importantly, groups then intermin-
use of vocabulary in the classroom. ing informational text in small gle with those who do not agree
We’ll just provide a few examples here groups. The discussion focuses on with them, which provides them
that allow students to engage with summarizing a passage, question- with a reason to use academic
words that they are learning. ing the text, asking other group language while supporting their
members for clarification, and opinions with evidence.
■ Interactive read-alouds and shared making predictions about what the
readings provide the teacher with author will discuss next, given the
Conclusion
an opportunity to foster discussion information students have read so
Vocabulary lies at the heart of con-
about content area texts (Fisher, far.
tent learning, as it serves as a proxy
Flood, Lapp, & Frey, 2004; Fisher, ■ Games allow academic vocabulary for students’ understanding of con-
Frey, & Lapp, 2008). Using ques- to bubble up naturally in conver- cepts. In other words, it is part of a
tions that bring students back to sation. Place a number of paper complex network of knowledge that
the text, the teacher poses ques- plates marked with a number on draws on students’ understanding of
tions about the main ideas and key the floor of a kindergarten class- the alphabetics, syntax, and semantics
details, text structure and vocab- room and ask students to place of language. But teaching vocabu-
ulary, as well as questions that a foot on the correct announced lary as an isolated skill undermines
focus on the author’s purpose and number. These small groups (no the ways students use language as a
inferential and interpretive levels more than three) can then answer tool for learning about the world. All
of meaning. Importantly, these a discussion question you pose to learning is social; vocabulary instruc-
discussions should not be con- them, such as “What number do tion should leverage interactions
stricted by a question-and-answer you get when you add 3 more? Tell between teacher, student, and text such
approach, but instead should incor- your partners the math sentence.” that students are continually growing
porate conversational moves that Older students can construct game in their ability to describe, explain, and
keep the discussion going, such questions and answers to be used query.
as “Why do you think that?” and with the entire class, such as those
“Did everyone hear that important modeled on Jeopardy!, Who Wants R E F E R E NC E S
point? Could you say that again, to Be a Millionaire? and The $25,000 Baumann, J.F., Edwards, E., & Boland, E.M.
(2003). Vocabulary Tricks: Effects of
please?” (Michaels, O’Connor, Pyramid. Instruction in Morphology and Context on
Hall, & Resnick, 2010). ■ Opinion stations ready students Fifth-Grade Students’ Ability to Derive and
Infer Word Meanings. American Educational
■ Collaborative text-based discussions for the instruction and discus- Research Journal, 40(2), 447– 494.
encourage students to apply aca- sion that will follow and are ideal Baumann, J.F., Kame’enui, E.J., & Ash, G.E.
(2003). Research on vocabulary instruc-
demic vocabulary within the for topics in social studies, sci- tion: Voltaire redux. In J. Flood, D. Lapp,
context of co-constructed knowl- ence, and the arts that do not have J.R. Squire, & J.M. Jensen (Eds.), Handbook
of Research on Teaching the English Language
edge while using many of the a clear answer. Label each corner Arts (2nd ed., pp. 752–785). Mahwah, NJ:
discussion techniques they have of your classroom with one of Erlbaum.

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Beck, I.L., & McKeown, M.G. (2007 ). Increasing Hiebert, E. H., & Kamil, M. L. (Eds.). (2005). School Officers. (2010). Common Core State
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