10.+Word+Chains

//10. Word Chains - During Reading - Constructing Strategy//

· **Rationale: ** I use this strategy to provide students with a structure to explore relationships among words, understand how they can be use, and remember meanings. Seeing connections usually requires higher level thinking, so teachers should model this strategy the whole class before asking them to do it by themselves. · **Courses in which it could be implemented: ** Eighth grade Language Arts inclusion, regular Language Arts, and Accelerated Language Arts students use this. It is a great way to help all students develop their vocabulary. This strategy could be used in a variety of content courses, such as science, history, and math as well. · **Diverse learners: ** All learning styles benefit from this strategy. All students can use this strategy to broaden their vocabulary. **
 * ---In this strategy students interact with, and make associations, and organize five to seven new vocabulary words after they have been introduced by the teacher. In most content areas, new vocabulary words are related in some way to other words previously learned. We know that when students learn new vocabulary it broadens their knowledge base and gives them some pre-existing connections to their learning.

· **Procedure:  ** 1. The teacher selects five to seven new vocabulary words that are related to the same concept and models how to develop a word chain based on their relationships and connections. Frequently words can be associated in several ways; therefore, more than one word chain can be created using the same words. 2. The students, in pairs, are given a group of words. They explore how the words are related or connected to each other. Then they develop a word chain that demonstrates this relationship (see figure 6.9 in the Stephens and Brown book referenced below). 3. In pairs, students share their word chains with the rest of the class, explaining the connections. 4. Finally, each student writes a short paragraph using the new words in a way that demonstrates their connections. · **Potential Issues: **  This word strategy seems more doable for the middle school and above teachers who have many students. I could see this being a fun activity, but students would definitely need a dictionary and have used the words within the context of the lesson so they find the correct meanings so that they can find the relationships between the words.

Variations: <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; mso-list: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Teachers can provide students with a longer list of words from which each student or student pair selects a limited number to demonstrate their relationship. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; mso-list: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Some teachers have found that this strategy is a valuable informal assessment tool for determining if students are going beyond literal thinking and developing a deeper conceptual understanding of the content. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msolist: Ignore; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; mso-list: Ignore;">· **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">References (Bibliography Information & Cross reference the Resource Binder): ** <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Stephens, E. C. & Brown J. E. (2005). A handbook of content literacy strategies: 125 practical reading and writing ideas. //Strategies for constructing// (pp. 133-134). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.

(**Cross Referenced in E-portfolio Content Area Reading 465 Reading Strategy Binder.)