consider when and how you will introduce the new vocabulary so tamariki have multiple opportunities to learn with all their kaiako. In the book, ABC and Beyond, Building Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Settings (2010), the authors suggest dividing words into three categories or steps. Step 1 includes common everyday words such as wet, tired and fast. Step 2 words are more sophisticated and replace familiar words, found in Step 1 such as wet becoming soggy or exhausted for tired. The authors suggest kaiako work to extend children with vocabulary that fall into Step 2. Step 3 are specialised words which occur infrequently and are specific to content areas such as in science and often need 'sparkling' to explain what the word means or to expand a child's interest. Talking Together / Te Kōrerorero (2020) suggest when creating word webs think about words that match children’s language steps or one step ahead. Planning when and how to introduce these words is also part of ensuring that all kaiako are on the same page and tamariki have multiple opportunities to learn new vocabulary with words repeated in a variety of settings. There have been many studies showing how children who were read to from an early age have a higher vocabulary than those who didn’t have the same exposure. But just reading books will not build a child’s vocabulary to their full potential, adults need to highlight new words to support comprehension and carefully select books that include unfamiliar words within the text (Weitzman & Greenberg, 2010). Weitzman & Greenberg (2010) also suggest selecting no more than five new words per book. This allows you time to introduce these new words along with explaining and discussing the words without losing the flow of the story. If your books contain mostly Step 1 words choose Step 2 words to introduce alongside this Step 1 word. Weitzman & Greenberg (2010) describe the strategy of ‘Shooting for the SSTARS: Stress the new word to focus the children’s attention (introduce the word before using it and pause before and after saying the word) Show the children what the word means (point to illustrations, use facial or dramatic gestures, or props, etc) Tell the children what the word means (the category the word belongs to, the word’s meaning or what it isn’t) and Relate the word to children’s personal experiences and knowledge, as well as to other words and situations Say it again – and read the book repeatedly (repetition increases children’s understanding, sense of competence and confidence). Kaiako and teams need to consider and plan how to extend children’s vocabulary and make words ‘sparkle’ both formally such as reading books or informally throughout the day during both play and routine times. Plan for when and how you can repeat new vocabulary in everyday conversations. Repeating words meaningfully and often will help our children remember new words, expand their everyday language and make words ‘sparkle’. References and more information Lowry, L. (2021). Using early childhood classroom activities to build vocabulary. The Hanen Centre. The Hanen Early Language Programme. Ministry of Education. (2020). Talking Together / Te Kōrerorero. Wellington Shipley K.G. McAfee J.G. (2015) Assessment in speech-language pathology: A resource manual. 5th. Boston: Cengage Learning. Weitzman, E., & Greenberg, J. (2010) ABC and Beyond, Building Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Settings. Toronto: The Hanen Early Language Programme. December 2022 { 33 }
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