Word Feast Adolescent

Focus on high-frequency words that apply to a variety of subject areas and your vocabulary therapy will be exceptionally beneficial to your older students.  These Tier 2 words (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002):

• 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

Two decades of research have shown this instruction method is most effective in advancing students' vocabulary growth (Moore, 2011).

The book has 16 substantive lessons.  Each lesson teaches ten carefully-chosen, Tier 2 vocabulary words.  The 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:

• Teaching tips
• Activating prior knowledge questions
• Reading level-controlled, context-rich reading passages
• Student-friendly definitions that highlight proper usage tips and examples of correct/incorrect application in context
• Hands-on vocabulary activities that include Making Associations, Antonyms/Synonyms, Complete the Thought, Grammar and Usage Flexibility, Personal Experience

The age-appropriate lesson topics tackle curricular vocabulary and concepts and high interest, non-curricular topics such as Professional Athletes' Salaries, How to be a Real Hero, Vegetarians, Peer Pressure, and Giving and Getting Advice.  The chapters progress in difficulty regarding general knowledge, readability, and word knowledge.

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