Stop Teaching Vocabulary Words in Science. Seriously.

Stop teaching vocabulary words in science.  It doesn't help students to achieve academic success or independent word attack skills.  It doesn't prepare them for testing either.

There are 3 "Tiers" of words in the English language. Most science vocabulary words are Tier Three words.

• Tier One words are high-frequency and usually don't have multiple meanings.  "Kitten" is a Tier One Word. We don't have to teach Tier One words to most of our students (the exception might be ELL or ESOL students who have had no exposure to English).

• Tier Two words are high-frequency and also have multiple meanings. Like the word "revolution".  When you read the word revolution, did you picture an armed uprising, or did you picture the path of Earth in orbit around the sun?  Revolution is a Tier Two word. They're very important in academic language settings. They're worth teaching, but not the way you might be teaching them.

• Tier Three words are low-frequency (low use) and have domain-specific meaning.  "Exothermic" is a Tier Three word.  And it's one of the words most science teachers would teach in the context of chemistry or zoology.  But in and of itself it has virtually no academic function across subject areas. Students won't use it in conversation.  They won't encounter it in their history class or their English class. Copying its definition from a textbook or dictionary is completely useless. Stop teaching those Tier Three vocabulary words.

Instead, teach the words that make our words. Around 90% of science vocabulary is based on Latin and Greek.  Teaching the root words prepares your students to understand new scientific vocabulary on their first exposure to it.  It will help them in your class, but also in history, English, math, art, music, and every other class. It will make them better readers and better writers.

Think about the word revolution again.  "Re" is a prefix meaning "again".  "Volv" is a Latin root word meaning roll, or turn around. Why is the word "revolution" meaningful in both history and science? Because it means to roll or turn. As in a complete turn in government, or a complete turn around the sun.

Similarly, if you teach the root word "vert" which means "turn" (as in direction), you've prepared students to make a good guess at the meaning of words like invert, revert, and divert on their first exposure to those words. They will know the unfamiliar word has something to do with turning or changing direction.  
You'll change the academic futures of all of your students by teaching them Latin and Greek root words in your science class.  




Don't wait until the end of the school year to have that OMG panic attack about how your students are going to do on the year-end testing that causes you to spend a couple of weeks cramming vocabulary review into your students.

Start as soon as the school year starts.  Do it regularly. Practice often. Keep going through the entire year. 

Here's one way to do that. The Frayer Model is a well-researched tool for teaching vocabulary. And it's pretty easy to implement.

Typically, Frayer Model cards are used by students to create personal dictionaries or word study cards. Often, students will add vocabulary words to the cards as they encounter new words in authentic contexts. 

(The card pictured is in a set of Latin and Greek Root Words Every Student Should Know.)

The new word is written either in the center (as pictured) or in one of the top boxes. In the remaining boxes, students write a simplified meaning, some examples from different classes, etc.

Students are usually asked to create a symbol or icon in one box to help them remember the meaning of the root word.  Research shows a powerful memory effect if words and images are linked during the process of learning. The drawing is usually done in the bottom left corner. (But it doesn’t really matter where you ask students to draw them.) Here's an example from a set of Root Words For Bulletin Boards:







I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the improvement in your students' retention of scientific vocabulary if you start the year (and keep going) with this method.  And you might even consider trying to recruit your colleagues in other subject areas to a joint effort with using the same cards in every class.  Best wishes to you as you start another school year.  I hope it's WONDERFUL!

 Qui docet discit  (Who teaches, learns.)