VOCABULARY

In order to effectively process, store and retrieve words, we need to be able to use two sorts of information: semantic (what it means) and phonological (how it sounds).

 

Semantic (What it means)

e.g. helmet

• Category: clothes
• Function: protects your head
• Associations: motorbike, gloves, building site
• Similarities: hat, cap, hood
• When you might use it: dangerous activities

 

Phonological (How it Sounds)

e.g. helmet

• Syllables: two
• Rhyme: pelmet
• Initial sound: ‘h’
• Final sound: ‘t’
• Other sounds in word: e/l/m

 

Unless we know a range of words our ability to use language to communicate will be limited. Essential building blocks for sentences will be:

• Nouns: (Names of things) dog, house, cloud, monument
• Verbs: (action words) sit, run, sleep, jump
• Adjectives: (describing words) big, red, hot, happy
• Adverbs: (describing how you do something) happily, quickly
• Pronouns: (words which stand for nouns) I, we, it, they
• Other: under, through, next, yesterday, because, when, so

TOP TIP: Make vocabulary important in the classroom. Research has shown that even the most able child will not quickly acquire new words without explicit teaching.