Using Big Words in Context Helps To Close The Achievement Gap

When I was serving as a 2nd grade teacher in HEB ISD I had an Assistant Principal friend named Michael Granado who loved to use the word cognizant.  He used the word so often and so effectively (within proper context) that I became cognizant of the meaning of the word without even having to look it up.  This one example is a perfect example of how we need to be teaching vocabulary to students in our classrooms.  We need to be using what is known as tier II words (words like verify, superior, and negligent) in our daily classroom written and spoken language in context in varying situations so effectively that students will be able to infer the meaning of those words.  Another example that stands out in my mind comes from a walk through I did in a kindergarten classroom earlier this school year.  The teacher, Mr. Remis, was talking with the students about the attributes of different shapes and using content specific vocabulary like vertices and surfaces.  He was using the terms appropriately in context and these kindergarten students were clearly beginning to grasp the meanings of the terms.  Using specific words in context over and over again so that students intuit the meaning of those words is good pedagogy.  This is something that needs to be purposefully practiced by all educators and will help to close the achievement gap between those students who come to school with big vocabularies and those who come to school with limited vocabularies.