Improve Literacy Newsletter
24 July 2009 -- Issue 16
Hi there!
This month we are going to look at the importance of vocabulary,
and the role it plays in critical literacy. Let's get straight into it!
In this issue:
1. Vocabulary learning
2. Being aware of high-frequency
words
3. A few useful vocabulary websites
4. Visit the Improve Literacy
blog, and Twitter and Facebook pages
5. The Improve Literacy website
1. Vocabulary learning
Along with phonics and reading comprehension, vocabulary
learning is one of the cornerstones of literacy development. There are over
300,000 entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, but it's estimated that our
basic conversation is made up of about 5,000 of these, which we use on a regular
basis. Reading books is a great way for kids to extend their range of
vocabulary.
Children's books allow kids to encounter new words - rare words
they otherwise wouldn't come across in everyday life. You're unlikely to come
into contact with many of the animals that appear in the vast range of
children's storybooks, yet countless is the number of children who know
unicorns, hippopotamuses, elephants, possums and dinosaurs.
2. Being aware of high-frequency
words
a) High-frequency words are the ones that we speak most
regularly in our everyday conversation, and there are a number that early
speakers will use even more regularly than others.
Most of these are obvious, but it's worth being aware of the
list:
| I |
go |
come |
went |
up |
you |
day |
was |
look |
| are |
we |
of |
the |
this |
dog |
me |
like |
going |
| big |
she |
and |
they |
my |
see |
on |
away |
mum |
| it |
at |
play |
no |
yes |
for |
a |
dad |
can |
| he |
am |
all |
is |
cat |
get |
said |
to |
in |
b) Have a dictionary at hand when you read books together. Look
up any word your child doesn't know or understand rather than telling her what
it means, as this will teach her not to be reliant on you and will help her to
be independent. Illustrated dictionaries are great as they allow your child to
visualise the word.
c) Have a word race. Give your little one a list of between 5
and 10 words (depending on age and ability) to look up in a dictionary or
encyclopedia, and time him. You could even set up races between friends and
family.
d) Make a picture dictionary. Encourage your child to create a
scrapbook-style dictionary, with images cut out from magazines or newspapers to
accompany the words. She could even try doing her own illustrations for some of
them.
e) Join/visit the local library. Your local library is the
perfect place to visit for a wide range of free children's books that you and
your little one can borrow. Make it a regular outing, and one to look forward
to. Libraries these days are bright, colourful places with lots of activities
like story readings and kids' plays.
3. Visit the Improve Literacy blog, and Twitter and
Facebook pages!
A few months ago we launched our new Improve Literacy blog - the aim
of the blog is to help parents and carers by giving useful hints, tips and
information about improving child literacy, reading and reading comprehension
skills. It will also help keep you up to date with all the latest
literacy-related news. We’d love to hear what you think - leave a comment at any
time!
You can now also follow us on Twitter and Facebook!
4. The Improve Literacy website
Our website http://www.improveliteracy.com
provides information and advice to parents about child literacy and ways to
motivate children to read. You can also make your child the star in our
personalised storybook, which is designed to stimulate a child's excitement
about reading. Feel free to spread the word to other parents or people you think
might be interested in our articles, newsletter and storybook!