Read Grow Inspire Book Week Slogan 2023 (Part 7) VOCABULARY

"Here is a fun tidbit that blows my mind every time I think about it. Research suggests that humans use the same three to 5 000 words in everyday conversation. Sound like a lot? Not when you consider there’s nearly 200 000 words in the English language. Books are like our gateway to this massive amount of words, and the more we understand their meanings and nuances, the more likely we are to speak or write them." 

Joanne Henderson-Klabe 

Broadening our vocabulary and thus the range of what we understand comes through repetition of seeing or hearing a word in context.

The Book Week slogan  allows for teaching wonderful vocabulary that children may not know through everyday speech. They are words associated with books, reading, science, procedure...Tier 2 and 3 words if we use English K -12  jargon. As teachers we are supposed to ask ourselves 

• How generally useful is the word?

• How does the word relate to other words, to the ideas that students know or have been learning?    

• What does the word bring to a text or situation?

Can't we just read quality literature and explain any word that students might ask or wonder about? How else do they come across new words, words to use in their own writing, words that just sound good and they want to use to impress? I want children and words to flourish hand in hand.

When the preschool classes grow seeds or seedlings, they borrow masses of books from the library and they don't just borrow the very simple ones. The teachers use vocabulary such as sprout; bloom; flower; stem; petals; roots; even germinate. They borrow the nonfiction books about parts of plants. They get very excited about watching sunflower or bean seeds grow. They look closely at Tilda's Seeds, an oversized book by Melanie Eclare which uses large photos to document the process involved in growing sunflowers. Yes, it is out of print and the clothing is dated but the planting and instructions are so vivid. It uses the word 'sprout'! They borrow Because of an Acorn  by Lola M Shafer and they  wander down the forest path to learn how every tree, flower, plant, and animal connect to one another in spiralling circles of life. An acorn is just the beginning. They are not limited by a 'published' unit that tells the teachers and students what to learn and how to learn it.

Year 1 used to do an author study of Eric Carle when they studied minibeasts. They became invested in his illustration process, his themes, especially change and how exciting and inspiring it can be. Using words like metamorphisis, chrysalis, cacoon, phosphorescence encourage students to explore new words, practise saying them and add them to their vocabulary.

This year while doing a See Think Wonder routine with a year two using a series of photos of hollows in trees, I was surprised how few of them used or knew the word 'hollow'. They knew the photos depicted 'holes in trees', but when we went on to explore A Hollow is a Home by Abbie Mitchell they took great pride in using the word 'hollow' appropriately. Next time I will also be able to use Life in a Hollow by David Gullan as well. When Year 2 look at trees and how large their role is in ecosystems there's a new set of words they need. Some haven't heard of seedlings or saplings, but if they had read stories such as Little Sap by Jan Hughes,  A Tree is a Home by Pamela Hickman or All About Trees  by Polly Cheeseman then when it comes to reading factual books such as A Hollow is a Home their background knowledge and vocabulary is already to use.

A new picture book, The Garden at the End of the World by Cassy Polimeni and Briony Stewart has just arrived in bookshops. It is about the  Global Seed Vault in Svalbard in Norway. 'Deep in the bowels of an icy mountain on an island above the Arctic Circle between Norway and the North Pole lies a resource of vital importance for the future of human­kind.' What a wonderful concept? But, we have a seed bank right here in Sydney too. It is at the Botanical Gardens at Mt Annan and is known as the Australian Plant Bank. It is well worth a visit, but even if you never go there, isn't it wonderful that our students can know that we are doing things to ensure all plants and seeds survive. 

Of course READ GROW INSPIRE hasn't been exhausted. There are so many 'rabbit holes' to go down, but this is probably enough for me, because just as I say a published unit and its chosen resources are only as good as the author's knowledge and experience, and that you need to 'own something' or 'have made it your own' to teach it well, it is time to do some planning of your own. Hopefully you will have access to some of these books. I realise the library I work in is not your average school library. The staff and students here are very well resourced. Sadly with the new more prescriptive syllabus, the library has become under utilised.

READ as many picture books as you can

GROW your reading skills, your vocabulary and your knowledge 

INSPIRE yourself to read more, grow more and do things a little differently!