Word Learning Strategies

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The Word Learning Strategies is supported by the SBIR program of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through contract #ED-IES-09-C-0013 to Seward Inc. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Education.

Word Learning Strategies is a supplementary program for teaching upper-elementary students (grades 4-5) essential strategies for vocabulary development, such as using context clues, using word parts such as prefixes and suffixes, and using the dictionary and thesaurus.

Click the play button to view an 4-minute presentation on the Word Learning Strategies project, or use the links below to learn about specific features of the project.

Phase 1

Seward Incorporated completed Phase 1 of the Word Learning Strategies program in November 2009. During Phase 1, Seward produced and field tested two components of the Word Learning Strategies program:

Online Teacher Training
Before teaching the unit, teachers completed a 30-minute interactive online training, which included an overview of the strategy, its importance, the instructional resources, and the instructional approach to be used in the classroom, along with videos of model specific teaching behaviors. See screen examples.
Unit on Prefixes and the Prefix Strategy
Teachers presented four 30-minute lessons to their classes on Prefixes and the Prefix Strategy. Instructional materials included a teacher's guide, 3 full-color posters, camera documents, student activity sheets, and group discussion cards. To determine the effectiveness of the materials, pre- and post-tests were used to gauge students' understanding, as well as teachers' knowledge about strategy instruction. Read more.

Phase 2

The complete product will consist of online instruction that delivers strategy-specific training, including videos modeling how to teach word-learning strategies; classroom materials that focus students' learning on each strategy as it is being studied; highly structured strategy learning materials for students; online instruction on Spanish cognates for Spanish-speaking ELL students; online idiom instruction for all ELL students; and individualized online remediation for students requiring more time to learn specific strategies.