Vocabulary

What is vocabulary, and what are vocabulary building skills? Learn all you need to know
about vocabulary and how you can help your pupils grow theirs.
What is vocabulary?
A vocabulary is a set of familiar words that a person knows. Usually developed with
age, vocabulary is a useful and essential tool that helps children (and adults!) to
communicate and expand their knowledge.

Tiers of Vocabulary
There are three 'tiers' that vocabulary can be placed into.

1. Basic Vocabulary
Basic and simple words are the first things that build up a child's vocabulary. These
are tricky words, early reading words, adjectives, verbs or nouns. They typically only
have a single meaning.

2. High-Frequency Vocabulary
This tier is also sometimes called multiple meaning vocabulary tier, as the words within
it can have more than one meaning. These words are also important for reading
comprehension, used for direct instructions and may be descriptive.

3. Low-Frequency Vocabulary
These are words that are only used for a particular topic, so they may be called topic
vocabulary. A child's low-frequency vocabulary might encompass topics like the weather
or geography.

Types of Vocabulary
We may have different vocabularies to draw on depending on whether we're speaking,
listening, reading or writing.

1. Speaking
Speaking vocabulary consists of the words we can speak aloud. Containing around
5000 to 10,000 words, these words are used for communicating and giving instructions.

2. Listening
Our listening vocabulary is the words we can understand through hearing them said
aloud. Similar to the speaking vocabulary, we use these words to listen to what others
are communicating to us and what they might be instructing us to do.

Did you know? A fetus may start recognizing some words when in the womb. Your
listening vocabulary starts before you're even born!

3. Reading
Our reading vocabulary is how many words we can understand when reading. Reading
is also the main way to build and grow vocabulary - as you read, you encounter new
words you may not have seen or heard before.

4. Writing
Our writing vocabulary is determined by the words we can spell and use correctly in
context. People's writing vocabulary is typically smaller than their speaking or listening
vocabulary, which is why it's essential to work on it and keep learning new words.

Why is vocabulary important in reading?

Vocabulary is important for speaking and communicating, but it's also essential for
reading. It's the key to solid reading comprehension - it's impossible to read and
understand a text if you don't know what the words mean!

When reading a text, we use our vocabulary knowledge to decode what the text is
telling us. With a limited vocabulary, it'll be difficult to understand most of the words.
This will restrict the overall understanding of the text.

Reading is also what helps to grow and expand a person's vocabulary. The more a
person reads, the more vocabulary they'll know. But while a child is still growing their
vocabulary, it's important that they're given a text at the right level - one where they'll
understand most of the words, but there are some new ones to challenge and grow their
vocabulary.

What are vocabulary building skills?

If you've now seen how important having a strong vocabulary is and you're wondering
'what are vocabulary building skills?', then you're in the right place. Here, we'll go over
what they are and how to use them to build that all-important vocabulary.

So, what are vocabulary building skills?

Vocabulary building skills are what children need to develop their growing vocabulary.
Teachers typically encourage children to read widely and research. That's what building
a vocabulary is - seeing a new word, researching what it means, and tucking it away to
use later.

Here are some ways that teachers will help children to build their vocabulary skills.

1. Synonyms
Use words other than 'said', 'nice', 'good' or 'bad' - we've all heard that, right?
Using synonyms is a solid way for children to expand beyond their basic vocabulary and
add more to their high-frequency vocabulary.

Looking at words they already know and finding ones that mean the same, or have
similar meanings, is a simple and easy way to expand a child's vocabulary. Matching
games are often a fun way for children to develop their knowledge of synonyms.

2. Root Words, Prefixes and Suffixes

Root words form the basis of many other words. Knowing lots of root words and
the prefixes and suffixes that can be added to them will greatly expand a child's reading
and writing vocabulary. Not only will they be able to spell them, but if they come across
a new word with a familiar root word, prefix or suffix, they'll be able to estimate its
meaning.

3. Dictionary and Thesaurus Skills

Dictionaries and thesauruses are great tools to use when helping children to develop
their vocabulary. Children should develop the habit of researching a new word in the
dictionary whenever they come across one. This way, they can learn its definition. They
should also be encouraged to write down the word and its meaning to refer back to
later.

4. Reading
Never underestimate the power of reading! Reading is the best and most effective way
for children to grow their vocabulary. While they read, they'll consolidate their
understanding of familiar words while encountering new ones. They can use their
knowledge of other words to estimate new meanings, then use their dictionary skills to
learn the meanings of unfamiliar words.

5. Repetition
It's unlikely that anyone will remember a new word's spelling, pronunciation and
meaning after seeing it just once. That's why it's important to repeat a new word so that
it sticks. Write it down in a sentence, draw it in a fancy way, use word cards with it on to
play a game, or simply write it down multiple times. These activities will help a new word
to stay in a child's growing vocabulary.

Games to enhance vocabulary skills

Word Association - Word association is a simple and quick game to play. Players pair
up and one player says a word. The second player responds with the first word that
comes to mind. If a word is repeated or a player takes too long to think of a word the
game will end.

This game is a great way to help children unlock their prior knowledge of words by
having them quickly think of associated words. It’s also a great way to help children
think of better alternatives for certain words. Your class can keep track of points and
after each game and after each game, they can discuss the vocabulary used.

Vocabulary Bingo - Create your own bingo cards and include boxes with words in them
instead of numbers. Read out the definition of a word to your class and if a student has
the word that matches the definition they can mark it off. Once a student has matched
five words in a row in any direction they can say “Bingo” and declare themselves the
winner. You could introduce prizes into this game like sweets or a small toy as a reward
for the winner.

This game will help children revise the definitions of words and test their knowledge by
seeing if they know the meaning of certain words.

Pictionary - Pictionary is a great way to get your class having fun by competing against
each other. Split your class into two teams and have one student from each team go to
the board. Assign each team a vocabulary word and have one member from each team
take it in turns to draw this word. Whichever team guesses the correct word within the
time frame wins a point. Repeat this until all the vocabulary words have been drawn.
The team who guesses the most words correctly wins the game.

This game is a great way to get children thinking about vocabulary and writing devices
like descriptive imagery by drawing words as illustrations.

Word searches - A word search is a simple vocabulary game that works well in both the
classroom and at home. Word searches can be easily printed and used as handouts in
lessons or you can participate in a group word search by using a whiteboard. Have
children find an assigned list of words in amongst a jumbled square of letters. Make the
game more helpful for children by providing definitions of each word.

You can make your own word search or download one from the internet.

Charades - Charades is a great way to get children using their acting skills and having
fun whilst learning vocabulary. Set your class up the same way you would when playing
 Pictionary but instead have them act out the words you assign them rather than drawing
them. Whichever team guesses the word each student is acting out gets a point.

Who am I? - Vocabulary edition - This game is a yes or no game where children attach
a card to their head with a word on it. Children will pair up and player one has to
describe the word attached to player two and vice versa to see if they can guess the
word. Once the words have been guessed children can then switch partners and assign
themselves new words.

You can give your class a time limit to see how many words they can guess in a set
time or let them play against each other until one winner remains

Vocabulary Memory Cards - In this game, children will have to match cards with words
on them to their corresponding definition cards. Shuffle your word and definition cards
and spread them face down on a table. Have children pair up and take turns flipping
over the cards. Each card turned over needs to be flipped back face down if it does not
form a match.

Children will then need to remember where each card and its definition are to match
them up. The person who is first to match over half of the cards on the table is the
winner.

7 Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary

 Develop a reading habit. Vocabulary building is easiest when you encounter words in
context. ...
 Use the dictionary and thesaurus. ...
 Play word games. ...
 Use flashcards. ...
 Subscribe to “word of the day” feeds. ...
 Use mnemonics. ...
 Practice using new words in conversation.
What are the 4 types of vocabulary?
 Educators often consider four types of vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading,
and writing. Listening vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to
understand what we hear.

Top 5 Reasons Why Vocabulary Matters

 1 It Improves Reading Comprehension. Research has shown that kids need to
understand 98% of the words they read to understand what they are reading. ...
 2 It's Important to Language Development. ...
 3 Communicating Ideas. ...
 4 Expressing Yourself in Writing. ...
 5 Occupational Success.