Vocabulary is a huge part of any language; whether written or spoken. These two articles, along with the Allington reading, suggest that developing vocabulary is very important in order for children to become skilled readers. I heartily agree. I also like some of the suggestions offered in the articles in order to promote vocabulary development. I have done observations in UT's Speech and Hearing Science speech pathology labs. In these sessions, vocabulary is introduced to hard of hearing children via worksheets and whiteboards. I was so bored when I would go to my observations of these lessons because 1) little to no understanding was taking place from week to week 2) the activities were based off of rote memorization 3) we had to sit down for the full hour session. In order to introduce vocabulary, I believe that it is important to provide ample opportunities for students to discover vocabulary through play! When children play, they naturally include language. If you provide activities, such as those suggested in the articles, that infuse play/action and interaction with language, you will see an huge improvement not only in the student's vocabulary, but also in the student's ability to use language as a tool of communication.
Can you think of a situation where play would NOT be an appropriate method for introducing new vocabulary? (Play includes modeling, acting it out, role play, natural play, experiments, etc...basically hands-on activities).
I think that there is some vocabulary that would not be very 'open' to teaching through play, but for the most part I think that learning through play is very helpful and more engaging for the students. They will internalize more of the vocabulary when they enjoy the activity and use the vocabulary in a relevant manner.
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