Hundreds of thousands of teachers have used this highly practical guide to help K–12 students enlarge their vocabulary and get involved in noticing, understanding, and using new words. Grounded in research, the book explains how to select words for instruction, introduce their meanings, and create engaging learning activities that promote both word knowledge and reading comprehension. The authors are trusted experts who draw on extensive experience in diverse classrooms and schools. Sample lessons and vignettes, children's literature suggestions, "Your Turn" learning activities, and a Study Guide for teachers enhance the book's utility as a classroom resource, professional development tool, or course text. The Study Guide can also be downloaded and printed for ease of use (www.guilford.com/beck-studyguide). New to This Edition *Reflects over a decade of advances in research-based vocabulary instruction. *Chapters on vocabulary and writing; assessment; and differentiating instruction for struggling readers and English language learners, including coverage of response to intervention (RTI). *Expanded discussions of content-area vocabulary and multiple-meaning words. *Many additional examples showing what robust instruction looks like in action. *Appendix with a useful menu of instructional activities. See also the authors' Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked Questions and Extended Examples, which includes specific instructional sequences for different grade ranges, as well as Making Sense of Phonics, Second Edition: The Hows and Whys, by Isabel L. Beck and Mark E. Beck, an invaluable resource for K–3.

Research shows that vocabulary is the best support for students’ comprehension of narrative and information texts. Often, vocabulary instruction focuses on a few target words in specific texts. However, to understand the many new words in complex texts students need to know how words work. This book, written by an award-winning authority on reading instruction, shows teachers how to make small changes to teach more words and also how words work. Many of these small changes involve enrichments to existing vocabulary practices, such as word walls and conversations with students. Each chapter includes descriptions of teachers’ implementation of small changes to support big gains in students’ vocabulary. This book, which has sufficient depth in research and theory for graduate and undergraduate courses in vocabulary instruction, also offers practical steps that K–8 teachers can use in any reading program to help all students grow their vocabulary. Teaching Words and How They Work shows teachers how to: Identify the most important word families to teach. Teach students to use opening text as background knowledge for comprehending the rest of the text. Use word walls with more purpose and greater student engagement. Select the right words to teach from new information texts. Better understand limitations of leveled texts and how to adjust. Use assets and address challenges to support English learners. Access free mentor and teacher resources online at textproject.org.

The authors provide tools, tips, and examples for teaching vocabulary in this complementary companion to Bringing words to life.

This highly regarded work brings together prominent authorities on vocabulary teaching and learning to provide a comprehensive yet concise guide to effective instruction. The book showcases practical ways to teach specific vocabulary words and word-learning strategies and create engaging, word-rich classrooms. Instructional activities and games for diverse learners are brought to life with detailed examples. Drawing on the most rigorous research available, the editors and contributors distill what PreK-8 teachers need to know and do to support all students' ongoing vocabulary growth and enjoyment of reading. New to This Edition*Reflects the latest research and instructional practices.*New section (five chapters) on pressing current issues in the field: assessment, authentic reading experiences, English language learners, uses of multimedia tools, and the vocabularies of narrative and informational texts.*Contributor panel expanded with additional leading researchers.