Vocabulary is one of the 5 Big Ideas in reading instruction (National Reading Panel, 2000).  The role that vocabulary plays in creating “good comprehenders” (with comprehension being the ultimate goal for readers) cannot be overlooked; knowledge of words is necessary in order for students to use comprehension techniques such as  using their own experiences to find meaning in the text, retelling what they have read in their own words, making predictions, and generating questions.

A student’s vocabulary is a strong indicator of future academic success, because those with more advanced word knowledge can understand new ideas and concepts more quickly.  It is a vicious cycle: students with inadequate vocabularies have a difficult time understanding what they read, so they read less.  Therefore they learn fewer words.  Students with well-developed vocabularies read more, so they learn more words and become better readers.

Research has shown that adequate reading comprehension depends on the reader already knowing 90-95 percent of the words they are reading (Hirsch, 2003).  Knowing most of the words in advance allows them to grasp the main idea easily so they can then make inferences to determine the meaning of words they didn’t know previously, thus expanding their vocabularies.  Readers who do not know the meanings of 90-95 percent of the words will have difficulty comprehending the text and will not be able to infer or learn the meanings of the words they did not previously know.

The resources in this section will provide access to the presentations of experts in the field, and vocabulary lesson plans, demonstration videos, and websites.