Instructional Strategy

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

Word Categories

Grade:

K-2, 3-5

Type:

Acquire Vocabulary

30-40

Minutes

When:

During and after reading

Materials:

Preselected text, whiteboard or display, Word Categories graphic organizer, writing utensil

Description

The Word Categories strategy helps students sort new vocabulary based on thematic concepts. This approach supports vocabulary building by encouraging students to organize new information and words into different categories. This method aids students in internalizing new vocabulary more effectively and developing a deeper understanding of the content presented in the lesson. Through this strategy, students can improve retention of new words and enhance their reading comprehension.

Procedure

Share with students that words can be categorized based on similarities and that finding these similarities builds vocabulary, improves comprehension, and fosters text-to-text connections.

Create a visual example of different word categories on the board and ask students to share their thoughts.

For example, draw a simple chart or table, or use the Word Categories graphic organizer to show that lemons and bananas are yellow fruits, while strawberries and apples are red fruits. Encourage students to share their ideas and add to this example. yellow: lemons, bananas, red: apples, strawberries.

Introduce students to a preselected text and briefly discuss the topic.

Begin a guided read-aloud of the text, placing special emphasis on how to sort new vocabulary words. Ask guiding questions such as:

What do these words have in common?

What would be the best way to group them?

While reading together, pause at predetermined points to list and define key words from the text on the board. Invite students to make connections based on shared characteristics and sort the new words into different categories. For example, consider the word animal.

Pause and model a think-aloud: “Let’s look at the word animal. What animals can you name?”

Elicit student responses. Students might say: cat, dog, dolphin, shark,butterfly, or bee.

Reflect: Ask students to think about how animals can be grouped into different categories, such as mammals, marine animals, and insects.

Different categories: Brainstorm with students the different ways animals can be categorized, such as by color, size, and habitat.

Following the text reading, distribute the Word Categories graphic organizer. Demonstrate how to use the organizer, using an example from the text. Then instruct students to work independently, in pairs, or in small groups to complete it.

Facilitate a class discussion to review the completed graphic organizers and to reflect on the different categories that students developed.

Lead a reflective conversation about how word sorting can help students remember and understand new vocabulary. Encourage students to share specific examples of how categorizing helped them learn new words from the text.

Differentiation

Guided Practice: Provide students with pre-selected categories and a word bank with words or images to offer more guidance and support for early readers. This offers students the opportunity to practice sorting without having to generate the categories themselves.

Sorting Cards: Use cards with key words covered in the text and/or unit of study, and prompt students to sort the cards according to the different categories they create. Encourage students to support their ideas and explain how they sorted their words. This enrichment activity can be completed independently, in pairs, or in small groups. This challenge gives students the opportunity to think critically and practice categorizing words in different ways. Consider making this into a competition and providing students with an allotted time to complete the exercise.

Variations

Categorization Game: This game offers students the opportunity to think categorically and build vocabulary. The objective is for students to create categories and then list words fitting each category that begin with the same letter, which is chosen randomly. Encourage students to write as many words as they can think of within an allotted time period. Consider creating categories related to the lesson topic.

Instructional Strategy

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

Word Categories

Description

Procedure

Differentiation

Variations

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