The What
This week I read a phenomenal speech Sam wrote about the benefits of AI (more on this another time). I was completely blown away by the quality of work. I was also completely blown away that Sam would even try pass this off as their own. Sam, explain to me what ‘surreptitiously’ means… Alas, no luck. Sam, what point are you trying to make with this speech? Silence.
‘But miss, it’s so deep. AI writing about AI!’ Yes Sam, claps for you.
While this might bring a smile to your face, it highlights the importance of vocabulary and understanding. What percentage of words do you think you need to know in a text to ensure understanding?
You might be surprised to know the answer is 95%.1
Let’s do a little experiment. Here, 85% of words are known words – what can you understand about the text from this?
Now compare that to 95% of known words in a text:
And finally, 100%:
Just 20 words can be the difference between understanding or confusion.
Often, we are setting students up to fail because we haven’t equipped them with the knowledge to decode and understand the information they are reading. Understandably, this is a huge part of my subject area, but it applies to all areas of learning.
The How
‘…we should see reading, writing, vocabulary, speaking, listening, debate, and more, as the complex tapestry of great teaching, enacted in every lesson, in every phase and subject domain, by every teacher.’2
Here’s a few things you can try:
Ensure students do lots and lots of reading of challenging texts.
Support students to develop, connect and cohere their knowledge.
Give students targeted, text sensitive support to deploy reading comprehension strategies, with a gradual release of responsibility.
Prioritise ‘disciplinary literacy’ across the curriculum.
Provide targeted vocabulary instruction in every subject.
Actively teach Tier 2 vocabulary.
Embed retrieval tasks into learning, so students are revisiting prior knowledge.
Don’t gloss over vocabulary misconceptions. Always stop and address these.
Most importantly – take away the shame or embarrassment of not knowing. I don’t hesitate to say ‘I’m not sure’ and pull open the dictionary definition with my students.
The Why
The research surrounding the literacy and vocabulary gaps is shocking. Statistics show that too many students are leaving schools with low levels of literacy and the inability to read.
In fact, children born into communities with the most serious literacy challenges have some of the lowest life expectancies in England. A boy born in Stockton Town Centre (an area with serious literacy challenges) has a life expectancy 26.1 years shorter than a boy born in North Oxford.3
This of course has a knock-on effect; adults with poor literacy skills will be locked out of the job market and, as a parent, they will not be able to support their children’s learning.
For students who begin school with a poor understanding of language, being able to decode words is essential for equality, because their understanding of language, their vocabulary and their knowledge of the world will expand rapidly when they can read for themselves.
‘To be unable to read is to be locked out, to be isolated from discourse, to grasp the edges of conversations, to be without the knowledge of one’s companions. It is to be terrified of failure and haunted by its presence. It is humiliation and frustration, and it builds into anger, or despair. It is loneliness, and a formless sense of injustice.’ (James Murphy, On Reading)
While we might laugh when students like Sam use language they don’t understand, it is our responsibility as teachers and parents to help build their knowledge and bridge the vocabulary gap.
Miss P
‘The Percentage of Words Known in a Text and Reading Comprehension’ Schmitt, Jiang and Grabe
Alex Quigley 2020
UK National Literacy Trust