In the land of Education there was one called Institution.

He had ruled this land for hundreds of

years now, and although criticized by many, his rule remained strong showing no signs of letting
up soon. All who lived in the land had to serve 12 years in his “school”. Those who worked at
the “school” facility were respected, but had little say in how the population spent their time and
efforts throughout their sentence. Every 25 years, a conference is held between the workers and
Institution, to make certain suggestions towards the curriculum and the welfare of those under
their tutelage at “school”. This year is a revolutionary year however, due to the fact that for the
first time in history, there is an active participant in the “school” present. This is typically not
allowed, but the participants advocated very hard for a representative to be able to keep their best
interest in mind. The participant is a child named Change. The following is the resulting
discourse from the current Conference of Education.

Institution: Those who wish to share their ideas for building an improved curriculum may now
step forward. I ask that speakers organize themselves by seniority so that I may understand the
position from which they speak. The conference has now begun.

Munro: I am Munro. I speak with 12 years of experience, and my concern is with the speed at
which participants in our “school” are able to learn new words. I have spent much time
examining this phenomenon, and my verdict is that they learn very slowly. When a participant is
taught a new word, we accept it as such because they are able to repeat it back, or can use it
effectively within the timeframe of them being in class. But this does not prove that they have
learned this word, because there is a high chance that they will not be able to use it in upcoming
classes. That is because a singular learning experience does not equate to a word learned, again,
because word learning is slow. I insist that a solution to this problem be found.

Institution: Thank you Munro. Perhaps some recommendations would be of help next time, but
we will do what we can to stay aware of this issue. Whoever is next may now step forward.

Flack: I am Flack, and I have compiled many studies with my associates Field and Horst. We
have had this work ready for 6 years now. Together, we have collected information about the
effects of storybook reading on the learning of more words. One thing this information has
shown us is the importance of dialogic reading techniques while reading. These include pointing,
describing images, asking questions, and providing definitions. These techniques are proven to
increase word learning by more than one word per participant, which is significant.

Field: Hello I am Field. Another relevant finding of our studies is the benefit of tokens on word
comprehension. These are the increased number of occurrences of a target word in a given
reading. When one is exposed to the word they are trying to learn multiple times throughout a
text, they are given more opportunities to become comfortable with the definition of this word,
and the contexts in which it might be found. This is related also to the dialogic technique of
asking a learner to repeat the word they are learning throughout an exercise.

Horst: In addition to these findings shared by my partners I, Horst, bring forth another important
technique that can often be overlooked, leading to less effective learning exercises. That would
be the moderation of how many target words are included in a test or practice of vocabulary
comprehension. In a text with too many unknown words, whether regulated specifically or not, it
may not be evident if a participant has learned some of the words being tested because they are
lost in the overall meaning of the text. Context clues are lost if they can not achieve a basic
understanding of a majority of the text, which can then lead to a better focus on the intended
target vocabulary. With these three major strategies for learning, we believe participants will
ultimately be able to learn more easily and effectively.

Institution: Thank you very much, the three of you. These comments have been helpful and I’m
sure we can find a way to implement them if we are able to find a relevant context.
Change: Excuse me, may I offer some thoughts on the presentations thus far?

Institution: You are here for a reason I suppose, speak your mind.

Change: It strikes me that the relevant context for these findings has already been presented.

Institution: Go on.

Change: Munro presented the problem that teaching a participant a word once does not equate to
an effectively learned word. Field then proceeded to enlighten us on the benefits of providing
learning materials that feature multiple occurrences of a target word, resulting in better and more
complete comprehension of that word by the learner. As I see it, we have a problem and a
solution, in other words a clear path forward that if implemented, could benefit the learning
process executed at “school”. Also, the findings that Horst brought us may help indirectly by
focusing on fewer words at a time, but in the end learning those words better and faster than in
the alternative. All of what has been presented gives hope to future participants, and even current
ones like myself, when it comes to the efficacy of this program.

Institution: Your commentary has been noted. Thank you for your participation. Can the next
speaker now step forward please?

McKenna: Gladly. I am McKenna, and I have worked with my associates to address the learning
needs of a specific demographic of participants for the past 4 years. That is those who experience
emotional and behavioral disorders. These participants require additional attention because they
are likely to have more difficulty with comprehension than the average participant. One of the
most important strategies for learning in this case is providing a clear example. What that means
is that the example must draw a clear connection to the definition so as to not clutter the learning
experience for the learner. It also helps when the example is specific to the type of use the word
will be in when they first encounter it in their lesson. In other words having an example is good,
but specifically having an example that fits these descriptions above is crucial for guiding the
learning process along the best path possible.

Garwood: My name is Garwood, and I have also been working alongside McKenna and our
associate Werunga to find what learning strategies work the best for participants who fit this
demographic. Another key method that we found in our research was the need of the participants
for an opportunity to engage. This could mean being given options of all varieties, such as the
option to read a story of their choosing as opposed to one assigned. The opportunity to engage
could also mean positive reinforcement when it comes to group discussion, so that they are
encouraged to engage further. Any further involvement of such varieties has proven to have a
positive correlation with learner engagement and subsequent comprehension. You will hear the
rest of our findings from Werunga.

Werunga: Yes thank you. Expanding on what was mentioned by Garwood, we found that
participants were much more likely to feel engaged when encouraged by their educators.
Specifically the encouragement to take risks and apply effort lead to a more involved learning
experience. This is very important because as already explained, engagement is extremely
beneficial to comprehension.

Institution: These were well presented thank you for what you have shared with us today.
Whoever is next may proceed.
Weaver: I am Weaver and with my collaborator Mutti, we have done similar research in terms of
addressing a specific demographic of participants. Our study addressed learners in juvenile
detention centers. We sought to find what factors lead to a better learning experience for youth
who fit this description, and how we could help build their reading comprehension as well as
engagement. By far the number one factor that resulted in higher comprehension was interest in
the material. When learners were given the opportunity to select a reading based on their
individual interests, their engagement increased, which gave them the incentive to learn as many
unrecognized words as needed to gain a full understanding of the book or text. My associate
Mutti can explain further.

Mutti: Yes thank you Weaver. I think it’s important to note that we came up with our own study
for this research 3 years ago, and that in part had to do with the very little existent research on
the subject. In our findings, in addition to interest, rapport with the instructor had a significant
effect on the level of comprehension. This level of comfort on both ends of the learning
experience made it easier to ask questions when unsure of the answer, and made participants
more excited to learn the material in order to discuss it with who they were learning it from. Both
of these main factors were facilitated by a one on one learning experience, and the patience and
care to create a trustworthy environment.

Institution: I hardly see a chance for such circumstances in our “school”, but thank you for your
presentation. Now onto the next.

Dazzeo: I am Dazzeo, and as of 3 years ago I have been working with a new model for learning
with my partner Rao. We felt that participants were not engaging with the traditional textbook
definition style of learning words, so we embarked on a hunt for newer methods that learners
might prefer. What we landed on was the Frayer model. This consisted of filling out the word
and type of word, definitions, visual and written examples, and then the synonyms and antonyms
of the word. Rao will explain the rest.

Rao: The Frayer model worked well for us because it included an example, typically multiple
definitions, and it allowed for student engagement when it came to filling it out. The only issue
was that the on paper version of this was sometimes difficult for students who had trouble
focusing, so that’s when we decided to convert it into a technology based model, using google
slides with vocabulary terms on each slide. Now participants can be more engaged, as well as
have even more freedom when it comes to how they find a visual example of the word. Finding
funny pictures that fit or incorporate the definition seems to be a big hit. We recommend this
method to anyone teaching vocabulary in the “school”.
Institution: Thank you for your specific recommendation. I imagine we could find someone to
incorporate this new method. Am I correct in believing that those were our final speakers? If so,
thank you everyone and we will consider what has been presented today, and reconvene in
another 25 years.

Change: I have something to say.

Institution: What is it.

Change: I feel the need to make apparent the similarities between the final three presentations, as
they were clearly connected.

Institution: Why should their connection matter, they came to the same conference did they not?

Change: Because they can be used to help each other, and together create a learning framework
that benefits the participants.

Institution: If you say so.

Change: If the incarcerated youth need to be interested in the material they are reading about, the
Frayer model provides a method that can be used to build student interest, specifically in the
words they’re trying to learn, meaning this has the potential to assist even in situations where the
material overall is not as interesting. It also allows for creativity when picking a visual example.
Engaging in this creativity and sharing with the teacher could help build a rapport, which is
another important factor of comprehension according to Weaver and Mutti. Continue to draw
connections from the Frayer model when considering the needs of participants with Emotional
and Behavioral Disorders. McKenna, Garwood, and Werunga concluded that what these students
benefited from was a clear example, opportunity to engage, and encouragement to take risks. All
of these can be found in the Frayer model: with an example provided, the opportunity to be filled
out by individual participants, and even the opportunity to take risks by sharing the more creative
portion of finding a visual of their own choice. Even returning to the concerns of Munro, the
above methodologies could easily be repeated throughout a lesson as opposed to given in mass
amounts. That way enacting tokens within a lesson plan, and cementing a learner’s
understanding of a word by that much more. There is a web that connects all of the presentations
made here today, and with what I have laid before you, that web can be used to begin a new and
improved era of learning in Education.

Everyone except Institution chants: Here here!