Every class period holds a new purpose, goal, promise. Students enter the classroom with expectations of gaining new knowledge. Words, however, are the gateway to the new world of knowledge, and, if students cannot understand the instructional vocabulary, they cannot enter the new world of knowledge. Typical vocabulary instruction and assessment has involved matching new words to their definitions, but chapter seven of Adolescent Literacy (Beers, et. al) describes three newer methods for secondary vocabulary instruction along with a new…
