Closing The Vocabulary Gap

As teachers grapple with the challenge of a new, bigger and more challenging school curriculum, at every key stage and phase, success can feel beyond our reach. But what if there were 50,000 small solutions to help us bridge that gap? In Closing the Vocabulary Gap, Alex Quigley explores the increased demands of an academic curriculum and how closing the vocabulary gap between our ‘word poor’ and ‘word rich’ students could prove the vital difference between school failure and success. This must-read book presents the case for teacher-led efforts to develop students' vocabulary and provides practical solutions for teachers across the curriculum, incorporating easy-to-use tools, resources and classroom activities. Grounded in the very best available evidence into reading development and vocabulary acquisition, Closing the Vocabulary Gap sets out to: help teachers understand the vital role of vocabulary in all learning; share what every teacher needs to know about reading (but was afraid to ask); unveil the intriguing history of words and exactly how they work; reveal the elusive secrets to achieve spelling success; provide strategies for vocabulary development for all teachers of every subject and phase. With engaging anecdotes from the author’s extensive personal teaching experience woven throughout, as well as accessible summaries of relevant research, Alex Quigley has written an invaluable resource suitable for classroom teachers across all phases, literacy leaders and senior leadership teams who wish to close the vocabulary gap.

Our pupils’ success will be defined by their ability to read fluently and skilfully. But despite universal acceptance of reading’s vital importance, the reading gap in our classroom remains, and it is linked to an array of factors, such as parental wealth, education and book ownership, as well as classroom practice. To close this gap, we need to ensure that every teacher has the knowledge and skill to teach reading with confidence. In Closing the Reading Gap, Alex Quigley explores the intriguing history and science of reading, synthesising the debates and presenting a wealth of usable evidence about how children develop most efficiently as successful readers. Offering practical strategies for teachers at every phase of their teaching career, as well as tackling issues such as dyslexia and the role of technology, the book helps teachers to be an expert in how pupils ‘learn to read’ as well as how they ‘read to learn’ and explores how reading is vital for unlocking a challenging academic curriculum for every student. With a focus on nurturing pupils’ will and skill to read for pleasure and purpose, this essential volume provides practical solutions to help all teachers create a rich reading culture that will enable every student to thrive in school and far beyond the school gates.

The bulk of the book is essentially a partial English dictionary, with parts of speech, definitions, sample sentences, and ratings indicating both at what grade level a word may be expected to be known, and what priority should be put on it in teaching.

This book explains seven critical steps to improve children's writing. Though seemingly ‘natural’, writing proves devilishly difficult for far too many school pupils and closing this gap can have a lasting impact on their academic and life success. With the goal of giving every teacher the knowledge and skill to teach writing with confidence, it makes sense of the history and ‘science’ of writing, synthesising the debates and presenting a wealth of usable evidence about how children develop most efficiently as successful writers. It trains teachers to be an expert in how pupils learn to write, from the big picture of planning, editing and revising your writing, to the vital importance of grammar and spelling with accuracy. Highly practical strategies and easy-to use classroom activities are included to help teachers seize opportunities across the curriculum every school day to teach the critical writing process. Closing the Writing Gap will guide teachers at every stage of their career and when used with Alex Quigley’s much-loved books on Vocabulary and Reading gives school leaders evidence-based approaches to literacy that can be applied across a school or a group of schools.

The Confident Teacher offers a practical, step-by-step guide to developing the habits, characteristics and pedagogy that will enable you to do the best job possible. It unveils the tacit knowledge of great teachers and combines it with respected research and popular psychology. Covering topics such as organisation, using your body language effectively, combatting stress, managing student behaviour, questioning and feedback, and developing confident students, it shows how you can build the confidence and skill to flourish in the classroom. This book will be an essential resource for all qualified and trainee teachers wanting to reach their full potential in this challenging but rewarding profession.

Firmly rooted in research evidence of what works within the classroom for our most disadvantaged students, Disciplinary Literacy and Explicit Vocabulary Teaching offers teachers and school leaders practical ways in which those students who are behind in their literacy capabilities can make excellent progress. Building on the work of Geoff Barton in his influential book Don’t Call it Literacy, Kathrine Mortimore outlines the unique literacy challenges posed by specific subject areas for those with weaker literacy skills, and more importantly how these challenges can be addressed and overcome. A student’s GCSE results are vital in giving them the choices they deserve in order to go on to the next stage of their academic careers. This book draws on the success stories of schools and subjects that have made significant improvements in the outcomes of the children they teach, regardless of their starting points. From the inevitable success of Michaela Community school, to the gains made by the English department at Torquay Academy and the rapid reading improvements at Henley Bank, this book draws on both whole school initiatives and subject-specific strategies which have had proven success. This book places a wide and balanced knowledge-rich curriculum at the centre of any school improvement strategy designed to improve literacy, and illustrates the role that all subjects must combine to play in building the vital background knowledge and vocabulary that young people need in order to read independently. This curriculum must then be delivered using those teaching methods that have had the greatest impact on disadvantaged learners, and this book sets out how the methodology of direct and explicit instruction can be adopted within each subject area. Alongside this is a useful summary of staff development and inset which offers practical ways in which teachers’ adoption of these effective strategies can be facilitated. There are also useful sections on creating a whole school dictionary of essential vocabulary, creating a culture of reading and writing, and also those key literacy barriers experienced by those students with some of the most common special educational needs.

This highly regarded work brings together prominent authorities on vocabulary teaching and learning to provide a comprehensive yet concise guide to effective instruction. The book showcases practical ways to teach specific vocabulary words and word-learning strategies and create engaging, word-rich classrooms. Instructional activities and games for diverse learners are brought to life with detailed examples. Drawing on the most rigorous research available, the editors and contributors distill what PreK-8 teachers need to know and do to support all students' ongoing vocabulary growth and enjoyment of reading. New to This Edition*Reflects the latest research and instructional practices.*New section (five chapters) on pressing current issues in the field: assessment, authentic reading experiences, English language learners, uses of multimedia tools, and the vocabularies of narrative and informational texts.*Contributor panel expanded with additional leading researchers.

Hundreds of thousands of teachers have used this highly practical guide to help K–12 students enlarge their vocabulary and get involved in noticing, understanding, and using new words. Grounded in research, the book explains how to select words for instruction, introduce their meanings, and create engaging learning activities that promote both word knowledge and reading comprehension. The authors are trusted experts who draw on extensive experience in diverse classrooms and schools. Sample lessons and vignettes, children's literature suggestions, "Your Turn" learning activities, and a Study Guide for teachers enhance the book's utility as a classroom resource, professional development tool, or course text. The Study Guide can also be downloaded and printed for ease of use (www.guilford.com/beck-studyguide). New to This Edition *Reflects over a decade of advances in research-based vocabulary instruction. *Chapters on vocabulary and writing; assessment; and differentiating instruction for struggling readers and English language learners, including coverage of response to intervention (RTI). *Expanded discussions of content-area vocabulary and multiple-meaning words. *Many additional examples showing what robust instruction looks like in action. *Appendix with a useful menu of instructional activities. See also the authors' Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked Questions and Extended Examples, which includes specific instructional sequences for different grade ranges, as well as Making Sense of Phonics, Second Edition: The Hows and Whys, by Isabel L. Beck and Mark E. Beck, an invaluable resource for K–3.