Tool Tuesday: The Gift of Words!

OK, here we are. It’s the end of the “free” phase of summer. I always insist that summer lasts until the equinox (this year, September 22). Nevertheless, as I write this, my math-teacher-extraordinaire husband has gone off to his first days in his school building, and I am no longer free to watch game shows all day with him! Sigh. So this post brings another Summer Study Series to an end. Let’s do it.

As an SLP, I have always loved working with vocabulary development. Unlocking new words for students is so demonstrably gratifying. We can imagine that they will encounter new words later in their listening, reading, or general daily experiences with confidence, and hopefully find them to be tools to express themselves and even solve problems. Vocabulary is also an easy channel to target in the course of narrative intervention, context being a key to word learning. Targeted vocabulary can be part of the microstructure elements we emphasize when using Story Grammar Marker® to scaffold narrative retells or personal stories.

Grounding vocabulary instruction in context was a concept emphasized in Bringing Words to Life (Beck, Kucan, McKeown, 2002), the hugely influential text that established key practices in robust vocabulary instruction. These included selecting useful “Tier 2” vocabulary words, such as “exasperated,” linkable to words children already knew. Additionally, techniques included the provision of student-friendly definitions and systematic repetition of practice with words through playful activities.

I was excited to see some brand-new research involving vocabulary approaches, and thought this article would be a good introduction to those unfamiliar, or a refresher for others— with some tool tidbits too, of course. So, let’s review “Vocabulary Instruction for Children With Language Learning Disorders: Effects on Word Learning and Comprehension” (Harker & Stevenson, 2026)...

• The authors examined whether a robust (referred to here as “rich”), explicit vocabulary intervention would improve both vocabulary learning and comprehension in third-grade students with language learning disorders (LLDs), including students with speech/language impairment or specific reading-related learning disabilities.
• Five third-graders participated; three received the treatment, and two were assigned to a control condition. Admittedly, a small study, but still useful for our EBP files. All were reading at least a year below grade level and demonstrated below-average vocabulary and listening-comprehension skills.
• Treatment lasted 5 weeks, with two sessions per week. Each week, students were taught five vocabulary words using vocabulary instruction involving child-friendly definitions, multiple exposures, paraphrasing, examples/nonexamples, phonological and morphological awareness, drawing, and peer quizzing.
• Students demonstrated consistent pretest-to-posttest improvement during treatment, with a medium effect size. This is interesting given the short focus of the intervention during a summer program, and reinforces the value of targeting vocabulary in this way.
• Working with newer clinicians around vocabulary instruction, I noted they initially neglected the role of repetition and “spaced retrieval” over time. This study emphasizes the role of repeated practice with each word, recommending 3-5 encounters for good effect.
• Word retrieval maven Diane German has discussed the importance of “dual focus” in vocabulary instruction, including both semantic/meaning-based work and structural/phonological practice. The idea is that you need to be able to say the word to encode it in your brain to be able retrieve it. The authors also address this and discuss the struggles of one participant with articulation difficulties.

Some practical avenues to explore:

• These authors do not stress grounding of instruction in the context of texts, but rather building “encyclopedic” knowledge of a word for broad understanding. They note a previous study with a focus on blending vocabulary and narrative intervention, and this would be good to explore!
• Where to start with vocabulary selection? Beck et al have always endorsed mining a picture book for Tier 2 words, or selecting words relevant to the context. AI tools can lighten your cognitive exertion here.

Try a prompt such as: Consider the plot of the picture book Square by Mac Barnett. Select 3 tier 2 vocabulary words for 2nd graders relevant to the plot, describe how they are relevant, and provide student-friendly definitions of the words. ChatGPT returned the following very useful guide:

• Largely summarizing the types of activities described in Bringing Words to Life, here is a great resources of “playful” ways to practice targeted vocabulary and achieve repetition. Consider using visual methods like providing representative images of the vocabulary, or graphic organizers such as the Frayer Model:

Hope you’ve all had—and continue to have—a wonderful summer!