WHY VOCABULARY!!!!

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to communicate effectively while listening, speaking, reading and writing. Readers use their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print. Beginning readers have a difficult time reading words that are not already part of their oral vocabulary. As children learn to read more advanced texts, they may encounter words that are not part of their oral vocabulary. Before print can be understood, readers must know, or be able to figure out, the meaning of most words.

Types of Vocabulary include:

· Listening vocabulary-all the words a person hears and understands.

· Speaking vocabulary-all the words a person uses in ordinary speech.

· Reading vocabulary- the words in print that a person recognizes or is able to figure out.

· Writ
ing vocabulary-the words a person can use appropriately in his or her own writing. [i]

Engaging in oral language activities, listening to adults read to them, and reading extensively on their own are avenues for expanding student’s vocabulary. Student’s vocabulary can also be enhanced with explicit instruction in word recognition and developing strategies for learning words. Vocabulary can, and should, be developed both indirectly and directly.