Expanding pupils' vocabulary
While pupils may have the decoding skills required to say a word out loud, they will only be able to fully understand what it means if it is already in their vocabulary. At Franche we have two approaches to vocabulary development:
1. Exposure to a rich language environment with opportunities to hear and confidently experiment with new words.
2. We teach vocabulary explicitly in every lesson using the 'Word Aware' approach.
From simple concepts in Early Years to more abstract and ambitious language at the end of Key Stage Two, the Speech and Language 'Word Aware' approach has been fully embedded both at a whole class and targeted support level.
Children begin learning with 'Concept Cat' in Nursery and Reception, using stories to begin developing understanding of concepts starting with words such as big, dry, noisy and fast. Throughout Key Stage One and Two, children have become familiar with the 'Word Aware' rap and use of oracy, images and sentence level work when learning new vocabulary, across the curriculum. Children also using the approach in targeted groups or as pre-teaching strategies are empowered to become the experts and have the opportunity to repeat learning to embed their understanding of the tricky vocabulary encountered.
The words we use in our curriculum can be organised into three types or 'tiers'.
Tier 1 words are used every day in the classroom.
Tier 2 words are high-frequency with multiple meanings that are the most important for direct instruction. Strategies for this will include opportunities for: adult pre-teaching; developing knowledge; practising and embedding; using and applying the vocabulary across the curriculum.
Tier 3 words are low-frequency, context-specific subject vocabulary and are mapped out across each curriculum subject.
Tiered model of vocabulary - adapted from Beck & McKeown (1985)