Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction

by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, Linda Kucan

Exciting and engaging vocabulary instruction can set students on the path to a lifelong fascination with words. This book provides a research-based framework and practical strategies for vocabulary development with children from the earliest grades through high school. The authors emphasize instruction that offers rich information about words and their uses and enhances students' language comprehension and production. Teachers are guided in selecting words for instruction; developing student-friendly explanations of new words; creating meaningful learning activities; and getting students involved in thinking about, using, and noticing new words both within and outside the classroom. Many concrete examples, sample classroom dialogues, and exercises for teachers bring the material to life. Helpful appendices include suggestions for trade books that help children enlarge their vocabulary and/or have fun with different aspects of words.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Professional Development, School, Language, Reference

148 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Deborah Linn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not given a five star review in a long time. A book must really blow me away in order to earn 5 stars from me. Bringing Words to life really blew me away.

Admittedly, I'm a word nerd. This book is only for other word nerds. More specifically, it is probably only for other word nerds who are also teachers.

Here's why it blew me away.

The authors of Bringing Words to life found that sweet spot balance between presenting the research behind the pedagogy and offering simple, effective strategies for the classroom. To be completely transparent, I'll admit that I hate reading about research. It bores me beyond belief, which is probably why I haven't pursued a doctorate in education yet. However, I know it's important. Also, as a professional educator, I value strategies that are backed by research. This book offers an engaging balance of the two. I'm confident that the strategies offered in the text have been vetted and found successful. Additionally, the authors truly understand classroom situations and struggles. The examples are realistic. Not all of the strategies were earth-shatteringly new, but they were broken down in a useful way. The strategies forced the reader to consider the effectiveness of her own classroom practices.

Another justification for the fifth star is simply this--the book was fun to read. Honestly. The organization of the material provides an ease of use that guarantees I will grab this from my teacher bookshelf for refreshers. At the end of the book, the reader is rewarded with a menu of instructional activities and a study guide. Those are in additional to the summaries and the "Your Turn" activities at the end of each chapter. Plus, the language is a wonderful flow of technical jargon, real world words, and rare gem words. (I think of words that sound fun but you don't hear often as rare gem words.)

If you are a teacher looking for easily applied strategies that will help your students expand their vocabularies and improve their reading skills, invest in Bringing Words to Life. Implementing their ideas won't require you to change everything you do in the classroom, but it will definitely change the effectiveness of everything you do in the classroom.

[Donalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical, research-proven strategies for teaching vocabulary and increasing students’ engagement with words.

[Jonathan Peto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this book too long ago, skim-read most of it, then let it sit. One of the best things inside is the classification of words into three categories and the subsequent ease that affords for then deciding which words to emphasize with children. Basically, choose words that aren’t domain specific. It’s also best if the words give them nuanced ways of expressing familiar things, like “despair” is a variation on “sad”. There are enough details I want to be able to browse again, especially activities and games, that I will purchase a copy despite having already read it. The only problem the book leaves out is finding the time, but time makes a monkey of us all, not just the author.

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it’s because I read ‘Word Nerds’ right before this one, but I had a hard time focusing on this. Much of it was common sense, a good reminder, but nothing too earth shattering. The layout wasn’t as easy to read as ‘Word Nerds’, and since that book refers to this one (summarizing the highlights), I found ‘Word Nerds’ to be more helpful to me at this point. It’s still a good book! Don’t get me wrong! I just like other vocabulary books better.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het was een interessant boek, maar ik weet niet of en hoe ik deze methodes in een thuissituatie kan gebruiken. Nog maar even over nadenken.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

IF you are teaching vocabulary, this is a book you need to read. Easy to digest and full of easy to follow strategies. The first and second editions are both good but quite different.

[Stephen Lockyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really easy to read and has totally upturned my perspective on how children expand their vocabulary. It is a must-read for teachers!

[Michael Lineback · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's oddly rare in the "teacher books" I've read to find a lot of references to research and studies. This book on the focused and critical topic of vocabulary instruction presents interesting strategies supported by extensive research. All teacher should read this book.

[Leteia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very good tool for teachers who are working on different ways to teach vocabulary to their students!

[Al Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre vocab idea for the high school level

[Ashley Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an example of a great professional resource for teaching vocabulary to students. This book was easy to read and follow for great vocabulary instruction. It explained value in vocabulary instruction and the difference between the tiers of words. It also gives a set of procedures to follow when teaching vocabulary to students. I liked having clear steps to implement because it helped me structure my lessons to use with leveled text and children's literature. I loved the ideas of strategies to use in the classroom to have students interact with vocabulary words and how they could be applied with any story. I used these activities with my action research project and my students really enjoyed them. Their favorite strategies from this book were, "Questions, Reasons, Examples" and "Making Choices." This professional resource really helped me understand how to apply vocabulary instruction effectively in my classroom. In the back it gives examples of books and tier 2 words that educators can identify in the story which helped me understand what tier 2 words were. If you are looking for a book to help with your vocabulary instruction in the classroom this is a great resource to use!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a LOT in this book about teaching vocabulary to kids. It is definitely written to an audience of teachers but I have already used things I learned as a parent. And I want to give this book to every teacher I know.

Bottom line: don't make kids look up unfamiliar words in dictionaries. And don't assume they can figure words out from context - context is often unclear or even misleading. Instead they suggest developing friendly word definitions, having conversations where kids explore the meaning of words based on what they do know, and lots of teacher-led activities that help students incorporate new words into their vocabulary. Out with worksheets, in with open ended questions and asking kids why - just because they don't give the expected answer doesn't mean they don't have a good reason.

This book makes me want to go teach a middle school English class just to use the fabulous tips, exercises, and ideas. I also added 1/2 dozen books they recommended to my library hold list.

[Sukhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing... I struggled with understanding how to make vocabulary instruction really stick. I didn't want kids leaving my class anymore without taking away some powerful and sophisticated vocabulary. Now I know what I was doing wrong, and how to do it right in the future. This book is great with explaining the research and background information relates to vocabulary instruction. I love the way that Beck, McKeown, & Kucan provide detailed examples from a wide variety of classrooms and levels. I love all the activities and variations they provide. I will be returning to this book over and over again in the coming months and years.

[Molly]

solid for a PD book! it was a bit repetitive at times, but i appreciated how organized this was + i like the focus on learning the ways that we actually use words instead of memorizing definitions and moving on. very much a "NOT one size fits all" which makes sense for teaching, with good ideas for activities to incorporate this style of learning. my biggest reservation was that this kind of instruction takes time and repetition which can be hard to fit in depending on your schedule and other goals as an english teacher. the book did have a bigger focus on elementary vocabulary education, specifically the program the authors piloted in an elementary class. overall gave some good ideas!

[Lisa Gemert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's got the solid research, but as with so many books for teachers, the classroom scenarios don't resonate as true.

It's a solid, solid foundation for teachers wanting to know what doesn't work. There's only one thing I don't agree with: the Word Wizard competition. I think there's a better way to do that.

If you have an interest in vocab instruction, this is a great place to start.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I flagged several pages to refer to again, which is always a good sign with a book. Carol Jago raves about this book, calling it the best vocabulary book that English teachers can read. I thought it was fine but not all that.

[Georgina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots more in this so made it worth reading after I had already read the first edition.

Certainly a book that should be read - and it's ideas used - by teachers from all subject specialisms. I will be utilising many of it's ideas and activities in my teaching.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy overview of explicit vocabulary teaching. Try to use robust language and introduce it to students in speaking and reading. Encourage them to use it in their speech and writing. Here's how to do it.

[Nicole Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative for sure. Not life changing but a solid quick read. I do like concise, to-the-point books. There were a few grammatical errors I caught which bothered me. But overall, a good read! I’ll definitely make changes to how I teach vocabulary.

[Lisa Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, precise analysis of which words we should teach - and why we must overtly help students expand their vocabularies. Those students who need the most assistance are the least likely to absorb meaning through context or experience.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book that I will certainly apply to my teaching and will share with other teachers. I appreciate all of the instructional activity ideas and examples.However, it was not an easy read for me. It is dense and repetitive.

[Cassie Swanson]

I read the 2nd Edition, this is a great book for ELA teachers looking to work on improving their explicit vocabulary instruction. Great for all levels and the last chapter is a great resource to look back on over and over again for instructional ideas.

[Margaret Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, direct, includes lots of best practices and classroom examples of effective vocabulary instruction.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good info on improving vocabulary instruction. I can see why she is often quoted. I have met her and heard her speak several times. This book is a good explanation of her techniques.

[Mayokid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and easy/straight to the point. Definitely robust!

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book! I’ve been studying it for a while but finally finished.

A wonderful balance between research and classroom practice.

[Angie Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it isn't written in an engaging way, it's a must-read for literacy teachers. The best part is the appendix with TONS of classroom applications!

[Angela Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think all teachers of Reading/English language arts ought to be required to read this book as it gives a fantastic way to teach and incorporate vocabulary instruction into your curriculum!

[Joy Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and useful vocab tool. I was told to choose a book in an area I feel I struggle as an educator, and vocab is my struggle. But this has good science and practical ways to teach vocab.

[Anna Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

First 6-7 chapters were great. They could have cut it short after that.