A Teaching Routine for Academic Vocabulary in Grades PreK-1

Typically, teachers of young children may skip over complex words or concepts, believing them too difficult for young students to grasp, especially if those students' home language is not English. In fact, young students are capable of learning complex vocabulary if given the right supports and scaffolding.

This video walks viewers through a 3-step routine for teaching new vocabulary to young children that includes lots of opportunities to practice using the new word in different ways--through repetition, images, sentence frames, and more. It can be adapted for at-home learning and to supplement family reading activities.

The routine aligns with evidence-based practices from two What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides on teaching early literacy skills, and may be especially beneficial for English learners and dual language learners.

The classroom video was captured by Leading with Learning at WestEd, a project funded through an i3 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The video demonstrates key concepts from our ongoing webinar series to support literacy and language development for young students