Online Courses for Teachers

Vocabulary-Building Strategies for Students in Grades 4-12

(Grades 4-12) / Flex Course

PDI Course Number: 101T02 / UCSD Course Number: EDUC40145

Course Description

Do your students struggle with academic vocabulary? Does vocabulary instruction often get set aside for more “important” literacy-related instruction? This online course for teachers is designed to increase the effectiveness of vocabulary instruction in grades 4-12. This course teaches about the importance of explicitly teaching vocabulary and what teachers can specifically do to enhance their literacy programs so that vocabulary development is constantly nurtured. The course begins by discussing academic language and how to choose, and then introduce, new words. Teachers will learn specific strategies such as Greek and Latin roots, structural analysis, word parts, semantic feature analysis, analogies, mnemonics, and morphology in order to increase student vocabulary. Strategies for using context clues to gain vocabulary understanding are shared. Teachers will learn how to incorporate graphic organizers such as concept maps and word webs into their daily instruction in order to boost students’ vocabulary knowledge, both in reading and across all content areas. The idea of using vocabulary games will also be explored. Differentiation for teaching content area vocabulary at a variety of skill levels is shared. Ideas for vocabulary assessment are also discussed, resulting in an in-depth understanding of just what it takes to foster a quality vocabulary program. By the end of this continuing education course, teachers will have gained many effective strategies for teaching vocabulary. This online professional development course is worth 3 ⅓ semester units/5 quarter units (50 hours of training) from University of California San Diego (UCSD) Division of Extended Studies. For detailed information on receiving university credit for your PDI professional development course, visit our credit page.

Need help? Allison Wynne, PDI Program Coordinator, is ready to assist.

"I've never taught course vocabulary with any real strategy. What a mistake. I never imagined there are so many great strategies that look super engaging. I know my students will love it and I can't wait to teach my first lesson. This was an awesome course." - Richard Drurey