Wicked Problem Project Part A - Description of Need or Opportunity

Systematic Vocabulary Instruction The important educational need I am seeking to address with my Wicked Problem Project is how to effectively teach academic (content specific) vocabulary. Educational researchers have concluded that "systematic vocabulary instruction is one of the most important instructional interventions that teachers can use." (Classroom Instruction that Works, Marzano, et al. 2001) For my own students, I have identified 50 technology specific vocabulary words they need to recognize and understand in order to perform proficiently on our 8th grade county-wide technology assessment.  Additionally, our Reading School Improvement (SI) Team has identified teaching content specific vocabulary as an across the curriculum goal for our school.  I think the strategies I am proposing for using technology to address this problem in my own curricular area will be transferable to other content specific situations and therefore will help in our school's quest for overall improvement. Our Language Arts Department Head indicates that the way teaching content specific vocabulary is currently handled in our school is that: "1) it is ignored, or 2) students define words and draw a picture to go with the definitions and that’s it." While the second solution is better than ignoring the problem, we feel we can and should do better. I propose using technology to address this educational issue by utilizing Web tools and interactive games that make learning vocabulary fun and interactive for students and offers teachers tools for designing and implementing "a comprehensive approach to teaching academic vocabulary." (Building Academic Vocabulary, Marzano and Pickering, 2005).  The first step in addressing this educational issue for the different curricular areas involves identifying crucial academic vocabulary for subject areas and grade levels. I have done this in regards to technology vocabulary for 8th graders. I've heard that there is an initiative taking place in our county at the ISD level to identify the crucial vocabulary for all core subject areas. This identification would be helpful in getting school-wide or even district-wide participation in implementation of a comprehensive approach to teaching academic vocabulary. In the meantime, I plan to ask two four-person teams of 8th grade teachers to join me in implementing technology infused instructional processes for teaching vocabulary in their subject areas. These teachers represent science, social studies, math, and language arts curricular areas. According to the research, students will benefit in significant and lasting ways from this instruction. In Building Academic Vocabulary, Marzano and Pickering identify a six-step process for teaching new terms: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term. Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term. Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their notebooks. Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another. Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms. Technology would be very useful in Step 1 of this process. The teacher needs to introduce the new term to students in an informal way. As Marzano and Pickering suggest, this could be done by using video or computer images as the stimulus for understanding the information. Teachers could also use technology to find or create pictures that exemplify the term. These technology integration activities could be achieved using a web browser, presentation software, and a projector with screen or interactive whiteboard.   Steps 2 and 3 of the process require the students to restate in their own words a description, explanation, or example of the term. The method suggested for this step is for students to keep an Academic Vocabulary Notebook where they record the term, it's meaning in their own words, and a picture to represent the term or concept. In the case of my one-computer-per-student classroom, it makes much more sense for them to create an electronic academic vocabulary notebook. I will try using the format shown at the following link (http://www.jonesapr.com/techterms/sample_app_pages/) as a model for students to create their own entries. Students could use Prezi, SlideShare, PowerPoint, or Google Docs for this on-going project. To engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms (Step 4), I will have them add to the slide they've created for each term. Options for this additional clarification of the word would be to add a list of synonyms or antonyms, list related vocabulary, add an additional picture or graphic, or create analogies or metaphors with the term. On-line dictionaries and thesauruses would be useful references in this activity. In Step 5, students revisit the terms and discuss them with each other. This could be accomplished with a classroom think-pair-share activity where students pair with a partner to view and discuss each others slides. I also think a threaded discussion would be an effective tool to get students collaborating on the word meanings. The 6th and last step, involving students periodically in games that allow them to play with the terms is easily and effectively impacted by the use of technology. PowerPoint templates for Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune, Bingo, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Password are available specifically for this purpose at http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/ppt-vocab.html.  Other games and websites customized  with technology (or other academic) vocabulary will give students choice in practicing these concepts.  Examples of sites include: http://quizlet.com, www.zooburst.com, www.onelook.com, and http://www.eduplace.com/kids/sv/. The following table organizes the technology suggestions with the steps of the process. Indicators of a successful project will be: Student's vocabulary slides with meanings of terms written in "their own words" and meaningful illustrations or graphics to accompany their definitions. Observation of student's informal discussions with each other of the meanings of the words and why they illustrated them the way they did. Accurate responses when we play vocabulary games. Class-wide average test score increase of 5% or more (compared to previous years) on the 8th grade end-of-the year Technology Assessment (these results will be available in June.) The closest effort I can find to what I am trying to accomplish with my project can be seen at http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/TN.html .  Schools in Tennessee are taking a state-wide approach to using Marzano’s six-step process for teaching academic vocabulary.