Abstract
Bowers, L. (2011). Word feast: Elementary. East Moline, IL: LinguiSystems.
Johnson, P. F. (2011). Word feast: Middle school. East Moline, IL: LinguiSystems.
Johnson, P. F., & Bowers, L. (2014). Word feast: Adolescent. East Moline, IL: LinguiSystems.
Numerous articles in Word of Mouth have reviewed research documenting the nature of academic language and strategies for developing students’ academic language. Beck, McKeown, and Kucan’s (2002) book, Bringing Words to Life (second edition, 2013) provided educators with a rationale for selecting vocabulary words to teach and a framework for teaching these words. Beck et al. suggest that vocabulary words can be placed in three tiers:
Tier 1: Words that do not need to be taught because the students already know them and use them on a daily basis.
Tier 2: Words that appear frequently in written and oral texts but are not part of students’ daily vocabulary. Students have a word for a concept in a category, but lack knowledge of more specific words. For example, they know the word walk, but not trudge, wander, traipse, ramble, trek, slog, or they know sad, but not forlorn, sorrowful, dejected, despondent.
Tier 3: Words that are low frequency or limited to specific domains, for example, isotope, photosynthesis, meridian, latitude, democracy.
Tier three words need to be taught, and they are typically taught within the context of specific math, science, or social study classes. Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2013) recommended focusing teaching on Tier 2 words that apply to a variety of subject areas. Tier 2 words are as follows:
have rich meaning and connections to other words and concepts
are used by mature language users
add specificity and flexibility to students’ expression
easily link to other words students already know
The three Word Feast books by Bowers use the principles described by Beck et al. (2013) to teach academic vocabulary. These books have 16 substantive, seven-page lessons. Each elementary lesson teaches 5 or 6 vocabulary words, and each middle school and high school lesson teaches 10 vocabulary words. The middle and high school vocabulary words are repeated in subsequent lessons. The lessons have a consistent pattern of reading, thinking, and writing activities. The activities progress from comprehension to expressive tasks and follow this sequence:
Introduction of new words and teaching tips
Questions to activate prior knowledge
One or more reading passages
Student-friendly word definitions that highlight proper usage tips and examples of correct/incorrect
Associations activity
Thinking activities such as Finish the Thought, Yes/No Questions, In Your Own Words, Antonyms and Synonyms, Grammar and Usage Flexibility, and Personal Experiences.
The age-appropriate lesson progresses in difficulty regarding general knowledge, readability, and word knowledge.
Before each lesson, students respond to questions to activate their knowledge. For example, for an elementary lesson on the black widow spider, students are asked whether they have ever heard of the black widow spider, where they think the spiders might live and what they might eat, and why they made be called black widows. For a middle school lesson on computers, students are asked to talk about their experiences with computers, in what ways computers are important to them, and how their lives would change if there were no computers.
Each lesson includes several reading passages that use the selected vocabulary words. One passage is always an informational/expository text passage. Other passages may be an advertisement or an information sheet, a listing of facts (e.g., historical timeline for computers, facts about presidents), an email or letter, or a document on how to do something related to the topic (e.g., tips related to driving or exploring caves).
Student-friendly definitions follow this format:
Scamper
Definition: To run quickly
Usage tip: When describing a playful or fearful light-foot dash
Correct: Tiny spiders scamper from the cocoon
Incorrect: Elephants scamper across the Serengeti Plain
After the definitions, students make associations between the target vocabulary words and other concepts, for example, villain, hero, courage, inspired, extraordinary.
How you feel when you’ve done something special
How you feel when you’ve seen an act of kindness or assistance
The evil person in a story
The feeling you have when you are ready to tackle something difficult or scary
The brave person in a story
A variety of other activities provides students with multiple opportunities to use the words. They may be asked to finish a thought:
I had the bright
I gain
Dad said, “The best way to handle a
When I said I studied for 3 hours, my dad said he was
Note that many of these sentences require not only knowledge of the word but also the ability to use complex syntax.
Students may be asked to explain their answers to yes–no questions:
Does a
Can a fallen tree be a
Do parents
Do you have
They may be asked to relate the words to their own experiences:
What is the most
Which of your friends in the most
What is something that
Tell me a time when you were
The research on vocabulary acquisition shows that if students are to develop more than superficial word knowledge, they must have multiple exposures to words in a variety of contexts. The Word Feast books activities follow the recommendations described in Bringing Words to Life (Beck et al., 2013) and use strategies similar to Word Generation (see review in Word of Mouth 25:2), which can be downloaded from http://wordgen.serpmedia.org/