Waitsburg Students Are Wordly Wise

WAITSBURG - It's widely known that words are among the mightiest of weapons - but only if you know how to use them.

To that end, the Waitsburg school district staff has devoted a great deal of effort and creativity this year to arming its students to fight well. They won't be using words to slay any dragons, but teachers and administrators are hoping a concentrated focus on vocabulary will give students an edge when taking on the state assessments.

Last year, Waitsburg teachers decided it would be beneficial to focus on teaching students vocabulary words categorized by Common Core standards as "Tier 2" words, especially those used in the state assessments.

"Research shows that one of the greatest predictors of success in life - not just in school - is a good vocabulary. The rationale is to identify key words our kids will see in the assessments so they have a clear understanding of how to respond appropriately," said Superintendent Carol Clarke. At this year's goal-setting meeting the staff decided to take that goal one step further.

"The difference this year is that each building uses the same set of words, as we 'share' our students between buildings and teachers throughout the day. Our goal this year centers around staff collaboration," said high school principal Stephanie Wooderchak.

By seeing and using words in more than just a language arts setting, students experience the various contexts in which they can be used. "These are the words our students will see most often throughout their academic careers in the form of state testing and career and college preparation courses," said Wooderchak.

The Preston Hall and high school staff meets monthly to select relevant "Tier 2" words to focus on for grades 6-12. Each staff member - including secretaries, paraprofessionals and even the custodial and maintenance crews - supports the use of the words across the curriculum and tries to find unique ways to incorporate them into the students' day. At the end of the month, staff reconnects to share how they have incorporated the vocabulary words and to select new words. The elementary school does the same thing with their own sets of words used in grades K-5.

The district has responded enthusiastically to the project. A massive crossword puzzle with the words "Describe," "Summarize," "Report," and "Explain" takes up the large bulletin board outside the district office in the elementary school. Visitors to the high school will notice the words "Enhance," "Broaden," "Derive," "Expand," and "Elaborate" taped to the risers of the stairs that lead to the classrooms.

Nearly every classroom has the words displayed in some form or other. Mrs. Leid has a Word Wall, and Coach Bartlow has them listed on a white board in the gymnasium. Mrs. Abel has created a Word Jenga game and Leid lets students place a sticker on a piece of paper when they use a word correctly, creating a competition between classes. Dr. Clarke includes the new word list in the elementary school newsletter each month.

Clarke said the project has also led to increased professional discussions as staff members share instruction ideas and attempt to evaluate progress. Clarke said that one of the challenges is how to pre and post test to determine a gain in knowledge. "Even though we may not have a strategy right now, this is a good focus for the staff and just the conversations around instruction are valuable," she said.

The project has been a hit with both teachers and students. "I love that we are choosing common words every month that we teach across the curriculum," said middle school language arts instructor Sarah Reser. "I think it helps kids see that these words aren't too hard and that they don't apply to only one class.

Common Core State Standards have broken vocabulary into the three tiers of usage seen below. Waitsburg School District is focusing students on "tier 2" words as they relate to state assessments.

- Tier 1 Basic words that commonly appear in spoken language. Because they are heard frequently in numerous contexts and with nonverbal communication, Tier 1 words rarely require explicit instruction. Examples of Tier 1 words are clock, baby, happy and walk.

- Tier 2 High frequency words used by mature language users across several content areas. Because of their lack of redundancy in oral language, Tier 2 words present challenges to students who primarily meet them in print. Examples of Tier 2 words are obvious, complex, establish and verify.

- Tier 3 Words that are not frequently used except in specific content areas or domains. Tier 3 words are central to building knowledge and conceptual understanding within the various academic domains and should be integral to instruction of content. Medical, legal, biology and mathematics terms are all examples of these words.