Capacity Building of Key Stage 1 Teachers on

Learning Recovery in Literacy and Numeracy

Module 1

Session 4
Words Worth Teaching
 Module 2
Session 4

MODULE No. 1 (Session 4)

SESSION TITLE: WORDS WORTH TEACHING

OBJECTIVES:
Terminal Objective
At the end of the session, they shall be able to:

Proficient Teachers
develop activity sheets incorporating various strategies in identifying meanings
of content area words.

Highly Proficient Teachers

evaluate the developed activity sheets in identifying meanings of content area
words.

Enabling Objectives
Specifically, they shall be able to:

1. identify a range of strategies in teaching vocabulary;

2. apply various strategies in teaching vocabulary through crafting activity

sheets; and,

3. share reflections on one's practice in teaching vocabulary and for

professional development.

CONTENT: Identifying meanings of content area words (Denotation)

ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED: 240 minutes

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INTRODUCTION

Committed to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education, The

Department of Education (DepEd) is proactively reinforcing initiatives to
equip learners with fundamental literacy and numeracy skills.
The Department of Education (DepEd) Early Language, Literacy and
Numeracy Program (ELLN) focuses on capacitating the Kindergarten to
Grade 3 teachers and instructional leaders on the basic knowledge and
pedagogical skills in literacy and numeracy and in establishing and
managing a school-based mentoring/learning partnership program as a
mechanism for the continuous professional development of
teachers/mentors, teachers/mentees, school managers and instructional
leaders and an avenue for teachers continuous improve their practice
through the School-Based Learning Action Cell, per DepEd Order No. 12,
s. 2015.
In our journey as teachers, it is very normal to encounter challenges in
teaching especially in employing varied and appropriate strategies. We
have to continuously improve ourselves to embody the skills and
attitudes so we can able to practice the needed pedagogical content
knowledge to provide experiential learning and to ensure the mastery of
all learning competencies.
This module will help you to become more resourceful in teaching
vocabulary particularly in identifying meanings of content area words
through denotations. Likewise, it will guide you to have an effective and
interactive teaching - learning process.

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TARGET INDICATOR/S & COMPETENCY/IES

This module intends to help you in developing your professional

competencies and assist you to develop more interactive teaching and
learning activities in teaching vocabulary development.
In this module, we will focus on:

PPST Indicators
Proficient Teachers
1. PPST 1.4.2 - Use a range of teaching strategies that enhance
learner achievement in literacy and numeracy skills.

2. PPST 1.5.2 - Apply a range of teaching strategies to develop critical and

creative thinking, as well as other higher-order thinking skills

3. PPST 7.4.2 - Develop a personal improvement plan based on reflection

of one's practice and ongoing professional learning goals

Highly Proficient Teachers

1. PPST 1.4.4 - Model a comprehensive selection of effective teaching
strategies that promote learner achievement in literacy and numeracy.

2. PPST 1.5.4 - Lead colleagues in reviewing, modifying and expanding

their range of teaching strategies that promote critical and creative
thinking, as well as other higher-order thinking skills.

3. PPST 7.4.4 - Demonstrate leadership within and across school

contexts in critically evaluating practice and setting clearly.

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OVERVIEW

Our everyday teachings are filled with different forms of conversations and
a variety of readings which entails encountering difficult words. These words
may be embedded in texts of all kinds: from leveled readers to trade books
to informational articles. These words are unavoidable and confusing, yet it
provides for richer instructional opportunities.

Vocabulary is at the heart of content learning. It is the peak of students’

understanding of concepts. In other words, it is part of a learners’ web of
knowledge that draws their understanding of the alphabetics, syntax, and
semantics of language. However, teaching vocabulary as an isolated skill
weakens the learners’ skill to use language as a tool for learning. Vocabulary
instruction must increase interactions between teacher, learner, and text in
which learners continually grow in their ability to describe, explain, and ask
critical questions.

Learners' successful comprehension relies on a deep knowledge of words’

multiple meanings and successful comprehension monitoring depends on
their ability to provide meaning of words through a variety of strategies or
techniques. Indeed, mastering this competency is a strong platform for our
learners to comprehend well and understand better the meaning of the text in
front of them.

In this module it will explore you on how you can deepen your knowledge and
understanding in applying various strategies in teaching vocabulary
particularly in identifying meanings of content area words in which it is the
core of literacy making learners start to put thoughts into words and into a
lifelong skill.

This module will serve as a guide on how to effectively teach the subject
matter through various strategies. It contains an array of contextualized
activities that cater diverse learners’ needs.

Likewise, this features different assessment tools that teachers can utilize to
determine or gauge the learners’ level of mastery. It leads in developing the
learner’s meta-cognitive skills.

After using the module, it is expected that the teacher shall have developed
his/her competencies in applying a range of teaching strategies to develop
critical and creative thinking, as well as other higher-order thinking skills; in
using strategies in providing timely, accurate and constructive feedback to
improve learner performance; and, developing a personal improvement plan
based on reflection of one's practice and ongoing professional learning goals.

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SELF-REFLECTION
Complete the following statements.

I know various strategies in teaching vocabulary particularly

in identifying meanings of content area words
.

I do use the following strategies in teaching vocabulary

particularly in identifying meanings of content area words
.

I feel I can enrich my competencies in teaching vocabulary

by applying a range of teaching strategies to develop critical and
creative thinking, as well as other higher-order thinking skills
through
.

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LEADING EXERCISES

Teacher Daisy is teaching English 3 with 40 learners. One day, she

taught identifying meanings of content area words utilizing a word
association circle strategy. After giving the formative assessment, she
found out that only advanced learners have mastered the competency.

The illustration below were the activities provided by Teacher Daisy

in her class. Let us help her in identifying the probable causes why not all
of her learners met the expected level of mastery.

Priming Activity:

Define the underlined words in the text.

Lines for Safety

There are lines that we can see on the road. Some of them give
information. Some lines give warnings. Pedestrian lines are parallel lines
for people who cross the street. Some intersecting lines are in the
middle of crossroads. Some perpendicular lines give directions.

Learning Task 1: Word Association Circle

1. Let the learners form a big circle.

2. Asking the learners to pick a word and give a word

related to it. Ex. Water – Drink

Coffee – Black

Night – Stars

3. Each learner will be given 5 seconds to answer but if he/she

fails, other learners can steal.

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Learning Task 2: Provide meaning of words using a dictionary.

1. beach
2. classroom
3. stairs
4. market
5. building

Assessment Strategy: Give the synonyms and antonyms of the

following words:

Word Synonym Antonym

1. pretty

2. big

3. fat

4. happy

5. smart

Questions:
1. What could be the probable causes why not all of her learners
met the expected level of mastery?

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2. How about her assessment strategy?

3. What are the considerations that Teacher Daisy should

consider in designing her lesson?

4. What could be the appropriate strategies/ activities that

Teacher Daisy should utilize?

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Key Concepts

The following significant concepts will help you to gain a deeper

understanding of the indicator and will guide you in delivering the
lesson effectively. Likewise, it will allow you to develop a more
responsive, creative, critical, as well as higher-order thinking skills
activities for your learners.

Let us now acquaint ourselves with the following key concepts.

ANTONYM. This is a word that means the opposite of another word.

CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS. These are thinking skills that

involve exploring ideas, generating possibilities and looking for many
right answers rather than just one.

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. These are high level thinking skills

such as analysis, evaluation, interpretation, or synthesis of information
and application of creative thought to form an argument, solve a
problem, or reach a conclusion.

DENOTATION (Surbhi,2021) - It implies the true dictionary

meaning of a word which is the central meaning of the expression. It is
the precise and straightforward definition of that term with no emotions
or feelings attached to it.

HIGHER-ORDER THINKING SKILLS. These are complex thinking

processes which include analysis, evaluation, synthesis, reflection and
creativity.

HOMONYM - It is a word that sounds the same or is spelled the

same as another word but has a different meaning

LEARNER ACHIEVEMENT. This refers to the realization by a

learner of academic material or content knowledge within a given period.
Within a given period, teachers have a certain amount of academic
material they need to teach, and learners need to learn. Learner
achievement increases when teachers provide quality teaching aligned

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with set standards.

LITERACY. This refers to the capability one acquires in order to read,

understand, and construct textual material. This ability is useful in regular
academic and non-academic situations and contexts within the school
community and in different occupational areas. Literacy is not confined to
merely learning to read and write; it also encompasses a range of more
complex skills including the ability to apprehend ideas and concepts.

SYNONYM. It is a word or phrase that has the same or nearly the same
meaning as another word or phrase in the same language

TEACHING STRATEGIES. These refer to techniques, practices, approaches,

and systems teachers employ in their classroom practice to advance student
learning.

VOCABULARY. It is at the heart of content learning. It is the peak of students’

understanding of concepts. In other words, it is part of a learners’ web of
knowledge that draws their understanding of the alphabetics, syntax, and
semantics of language.

VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT. This is a process of acquiring meaning of

words through content or context.

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SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

The following are the various strategies or ideas in teaching vocabulary
(Van Gemert) particularly in identifying meanings of content area words.
Here, a teacher can gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of
teaching strategies leading to the development of his/her critical and
creative thinking, as well as other higher- order thinking skills.

1. Semantic Mapping
These are maps or webs of words that can help visually display the
meaning- based connections between a word or phrase and a set of
related words or concepts.

How to do it!
● Let the learner pick a word that she/he intends to explain. Draw
a map or web on the board and put the word in the center of the
map.
● Ask learners to add related words or phrases similar or
opposite in meaning, similar in sound and one which is
translated in the local language. (see the example below)

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2. Using word parts/ Matching Activity (Affixes)

Breaking words into meaningful parts facilitate decoding. So, studying

words’ parts can help students guess the meaning of new words from context.

How to do it!
1. Let the teacher show lists of words and ask the learners the
meaning of the words.
2. Show list of prefixes.
3. Ask the learners to form new words out of the given lists of root
words and prefixes.
4. Ask the learners to give the new meaning of words out of the new
words formed.
Example illustration:

3. Word Pairs / Paper Plate Vocab

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This strategy is helpful in building critical thinking skills along

with vocabulary.

How to do it!
● Write each word on one half of a paper plate and the
synonym, antonym or other word on the other half. Make
those "half-plates" well-shuffled and then pass them out
face-down.
● Let the learners pick two (2) of those “half-plates” and
evaluate if the words given are the same, opposite, go
together, or are unrelated.

4. Sorting Hat /Category Relay

This is an activity that will enhance learners’ vocabulary and
skill classification
s.

How to do it!
● Use the “parts of the house” as a theme to have learners sort
words into categories. They can pull words out of a hat. If
categories are given, it’s called a “closed sort.” If the learners
will come up with their own categories, it’s called “open
sort.”

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Closed Sort - “Living room”

5. Heads Up Vocabulary Game

This is a game similar to “Pinoy Henyo” which can be done in pairs
and it comes with a variety of pre-loaded vocabulary sets.

How to do it!
● Write a word on a card and put it on his learner’s
forehead. The said learner will ask his partner a series of
questions or will name more related words to guess the
one written on the card on his forehead.

6. Word Wheel
This is a game that will enhance learners’ vocabulary skill for
they will name more words or related words.

How to do it!
● Allow a learner to turn the wheel and target a word.
Others will define the word or give its synonyms,
antonyms, homonyms, homographs and hyponyms and
hypernyms being explained in class.

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7. Call a Friend
This is similar to Think-Pair-Share strategy.

How to do it!
● Allow learners to roam around the room and look or call for
someone from the class or the other group for them to
determine the meaning of a word in a given time. The more
friends the better for it will name more word meanings.

8. Brain Power Words

This is a strong academic vocabulary activity that takes a
little bit of time, but would really help get the words past the
superficial level of understanding.

How to do it!
● Ask small groups of learners to preview sections of a text and
identify difficult words.
❖ For long stories or articles, assign different
sections to different groups.
❖ Learners place a Post-it next to the words in the
text they identify as potentially difficult.
❖ After identifying the words, the group goes back and
uses context clues to hypothesize what the words
might mean.
○ Clues of substitution: A known word would make
sense in the context and is probably a good
definition.
○ Clues of definition: The word is defined in the text
(many textbooks do this).
○ Clues of opposition: Words “not, unlike” etc. are
excellent clues to what a word is not and thus help
define the words.
❖ After the Brain Power Words list is identified and
definitions sought, the students check their work with
the teacher.

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9. The Concept Cube

A concept cube is a pattern that is printed on paper or
cardstock, cut out, folded, and taped into a three-dimensional
cube.

How to do it!
● Ask learners to write, type, or draw on the pattern prior to
assembling the cube, and then they “play” with the cube to
explore concepts.

1. Teachers can print out a blank cube and have

learners print the responses below, or complete it
online and then print it out.
2. Before folding, learners write clearly in each square
following the directions below.
3. Each learner is given one challenging vocabulary word
from a recent reading and asked to:
● Write the assigned vocabulary word in one square.
● Write a synonym (word or phrase) in another square.
● Write an antonym (word or phrase) in another square.
● Write a category or categories it could belong to.
● Write the essential characteristics of the concept of this word.
● Give one example.
4. Cut, fold, and tape the cube.
5. Roll the cube and read what comes up on the “top”;
the learner must tell the relationship of that word or
phrase to the original word.
6. After learners know their own cube without any
errors, they exchange with a peer.

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SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

1. Word Cards (Dictionary Meaning)

Word cards can help students review frequently learned words and
so improve retention.
On one side of the card, students write the target word and its part of
speech (whether it’s a verb, noun, adjective, etc.).
At the back of the card, they write the word’s definition (in English and/
or a translation). They also write an example and a description of its
pronunciation. The bottom half of the card can be used for additional
notes once they start using the word.
2. Vocabulary Photo Album
This strategy is similar to a Word Portfolio and it will lead to a
concrete understanding of words and their meanings when the learners
have the said experience of collecting and sorting words in a creative way.
This activity will make learners enhance their vocabulary skills as well as
their appreciation skills and their being critical and creative.
Here, the teacher will allow learners to use a simple, inexpensive or
improvised photo album and create a visual glossary of key or content
words in a given time.
This word album will also require a teacher-made rubric when
being assessed.

3. Scavenger Hunt
In a vocabulary scavenger hunt, learners “hunt” for target words or
the way those words are represented in books, magazines, articles, in
school, or at home. Teacher will provide the template where learners can
use in completing the task.

a. Learners will be asked to do four things in the Vocabulary

Scavengers Hunt Photo Album.
● Learners will cut or draw a picture of an example of
their chosen word. Example, the word is ball. Learners
will have a picture of a ball.
● Learner will paste the picture in the box where it says
“paste the picture here.”
● Learner will write the definition of the word following

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the directions in the box.
● Learner will describe why he/she chose the image.

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Word:

Definition Draw or paste a picture here

Reason of choosing the image

4. Vocabulary Relay (Collaborative Assessment)

● Print out words on one set of cards (copy this set a few
times) and definitions, context, or sentences in which they
could be used (fill- in-the-blank) on another set (just one
set).
● Jumble up the words in a pile in the middle of the floor, and
jumble up the definitions, context, and sentences to keep
with you. Break students into teams of five.
● Call out the definition/sentence and give students some
time to think (8 – 10 seconds) to talk about what word it
might be.
● After the discussion time, call out “Word!” One member
from each team runs to the center and tries to find the
word in the pile.

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5. Linear Array

● Students use a graphic organizer that is a rectangle, three

ovals, and then another rectangle, all in a line.
● The word in question goes in the rectangle on the far left.
● The rectangle on the far right is filled in with a word
that is the opposite.
● The center three ovals are filled in with words that go from
the far left to the far right, gradually becoming less similar
until they reach the opposite.
● For example, microscopic, tiny, small, bigger, large.

OTHER SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

The following are other suggested activities that you can utilize to
enhance the vocabulary development of your learners in identifying
meanings of content area words.

1. Word Wall (Djoub 2021)

Word Wall is a collection of words that are displayed in large visible letters
on a wall, bulletin board, or other display surfaces in a classroom. Teachers can
set a definite space wherein learners are encouraged to post their favorite words,
new or unknown words while other learners can provide the meaning, synonyms,
antonyms or homonyms of the words in the wall.

Teachers can use the Word Wall one or more times a week. This will help
your learners make connections between new and known words or even be
familiar with the words they will or have encountered in other subjects.

Since this is an ongoing activity during the whole year, the teacher can keep
observational notes of learners who are posting, responding to their words and
those who are not adding words to the wall.

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2. Word Box (Djoub 2021)

Word Box is one of the strategies for teaching vocabulary. This is a
weekly strategy that can help students retain and use words more
effectively.

Learners select words to submit to the word box on Friday. These

are words they find interesting or ones they want to understand better.
They either use the word in their own sentence or take the same sentence
where this word was found.

Then, select five words to teach the following week.

Monday: Introduce the five words in context, explain them,
then tack them to the Word Wall.
Tuesday: Ask students to create a non-linguistic
representation of the words.
Wednesday: Discuss the meaning of the words allowing
think-pair- shares.
Thursday: Ask students to write sentences using those
words. Friday: This is the day to assess students’ learning of
the five words using this activity.

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Ask one student to answer fill-ins for five words. Give students
three cards that can hold up: green cards show they agree with the
student’s answer, yellow they are unsure and red ones they disagree.

For assessing, use a checklist with the vocabulary running

horizontally across the top margin and the class list running vertically
down the side. (Adapted from Grant et al., 2015, p.195)

3. Vocabulary Notebooks (Djoub 2021)

Ask your students to maintain vocabulary notebooks throughout
the year where they write the meaning of the new words.

You can introduce a new word each week and work together with
students to explore its meaning. Then, ask them to sketch a picture to
illustrate the word and present their drawings to the class at the end of
the week.
Another way to use vocabulary notebooks:

Students create a chart. The first column indicates the word,

where it was found, and the sample sentence in which it appeared.

The other columns depend on your students’ needs.

The teacher can include a column for meaning (where students

define the word or add a synonym), for word parts and related word forms
(where they identify the parts and list any other words related to it), a
picture, other occurrences (if they have seen or heard this word before,
they describe where) and for practice or how they used this word.
(Lubliner, 2005)

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4. Brain Power Words

This is a strong academic vocabulary activity that takes a little bit of
time, but would really help get the words past the superficial level of
understanding.
● Ask small groups of students to preview sections of a
text and identify difficult words.
● For long chapters, assign different sections to different groups.
● Students place a Post-it next to the words in the text they
identify as potentially difficult.
● After identifying the words, the group goes back and uses
context clues to hypothesize what the words might mean.
○ Clues of substitution: A known word would make sense in
the context and is probably a good definition.
○ Clues of definition: The word is defined in the text (many
textbooks do this).
○ Clues of opposition: Words “not, unlike” etc. are excellent
clues to what a word is not and thus help define the
words.
● After the Brain Power Words list is identified and definitions
sought, the students check their work with the teacher.

(This strategy is from Becky McTague and Margaret Richek (it’s in

the book Reading Success for Struggling Adolescent Learners by
Susan Lenski and Jill Lewis).

5. Word Detective
This activity enables students to find new words as they encounter
them in their daily reading. Here’s how word detective works:
● The teacher gives learners a list of keywords to search for.
● Learners are to write each target word and its sentence on a sticky
note, then place it on their desk each time they encounter a
keyword.
● At the end of each school day, devote a few minutes to reading each
sticky note.
● Teacher can even make a game out of it by assigning each word a point.

Note to Teacher:
To ensure the mastery of the competency, the teacher may ask the
following questions:
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1. How do we get the direct meaning of words?
2. What does a context clue look like?

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Teacher may refer to the following information.

a. Synonym (or repeat context clue): An author will use

more than one word that means the same thing. For
example, there may be a complex word followed by a
restatement using a simpler word in the same or
following sentence: Felipe is a miser. He’s always been
a cheapskate.
b. Antonym (or contrast context clue): The text may
include a word or words that have the opposite
meaning, which can reveal the meaning of an
unknown term: Stella has always dressed
flamboyantly. I’ve never seen her wear a dull color.

Suggested Rubrics

Traits 5 4 3 2 1

Accuracy All content More than At least half Quite a few No

area words half of the of the of the content
are content area content area content area word
accurately words are words are area words that is
given accurately accurately are accuratel
given given accurately y given
given
Development A step-by- Skip a single Skip 2 to 3 Skip 4 or Absence
of Ideas step process to processes more of a
process is follow to follow processes process to
followed to follow follow

Speed Accomplish Accomplish Accomplish Accomplish Accomplis

the task the task with the task with the task h the task
within a an excess of an excess of with an with no
given time. 3 minutes. 5 minutes. excess of time.
more than
5 minutes.

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DEVELOPING LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS

Proficient Teachers
Instructions: Develop a learning activity sheet incorporating any strategies or
activities in identifying meanings of content area words.

Parts of the Activity Sheets

1.Introductory Concept
2. Activities
3. Rubric/Answer Key
4. References

Highly Proficient Teachers

Instructions: Collaborate with proficient teachers in developing activity sheets in

identifying meanings of content area words. Evaluate the developed activity sheets to
help them to refine these.

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Resource Library

Issuances

DepEd Order No. 12, s. 2015 (10 April 2015). Guidelines on the Early
Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Program. Department of
Education(deped.gov.ph)

DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2017 (11 August 2017). National Adoption and
Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers.
Department of Education (deped.gov.ph)

Others

Djoub, Zineb (2021).6 Effective Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary.

EduLearn2Change blog. https://tinyurl.com/3kut9h3c

Hamm, Emily (2018). Effective strategies for teaching vocabulary. Class craft Blog.
https://tinyurl.com/32wc2rtf

Surbhi S. (2021). Difference Between Denotation and Connotation. Key Differences.

https://tinyurl.com/mtzbxyba

Van, Gemert, Lisa.21 Ideas for Teaching Vocabulary. Gifted Guru. Website by
KristenDoyle.co. https://tinyurl.com/thy3kcsp

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