Plan vocabulary instruction for a unit

Students learn most words from reading, but the words that unlock academic texts need explicit teaching. Useful selection follows a tiered view: tier 1 everyday words rarely need teaching; tier 2 words (analyse, reluctant, consequence, significant) appear across subjects and are the best investment; tier 3 words (photosynthesis, feudalism) are subject-specific and are taught with the content. Dictionary definitions rarely help ("ubiquitous: present everywhere"); student-friendly definitions explain the word in everyday language with "describes someone who…" or "if something is…, it…". Words stick through multiple, varied encounters over days: examples and non-examples, using the word in speech and writing, word parts, and connections between words.

Plan vocabulary teaching for
ph:grade_level, teaching 10 words explicitly.

1. Select words. From the text (or, if only a topic is given, from texts typical for that topic and level), choose 10 words: mostly tier 2, plus the tier 3 words essential to the content. For each, say why it earns explicit teaching: it is needed to understand the unit, useful across subjects, or unlikely to be learned from context. If a text was given, only choose words that appear in it.
2. Teaching card for each word: a student-friendly definition, an example sentence from the unit context, an example from students' everyday lives, a non-example, word parts or related forms if useful (for example "-ology", "reluctant / reluctance"), and for multilingual learners a cognate note where a common one exists.
3. Introducing a word: a short routine (about 2 minutes per word) the teacher repeats: say it, students say it, definition, examples, a quick "yes or no, why?" question, students use it.
4. Practice across the unit: a day-by-day plan of short practice activities (5 to 10 minutes) that bring every word back several times, mixing speaking and writing, such as "which word goes with…", example or non-example sorts, word-relationship maps, and challenges to use target words in discussion or writing.
5. Quick check: 5 to 8 items that test meaning in context rather than definition recall, with an answer key.
6. Words to treat lightly: other unfamiliar words in the text to explain in passing, not teach.

• Definitions use words simpler than the word being defined and fit the meaning used in this unit; note when a word has a different everyday meaning (for example "table" in science, "power" in maths).
• Do not pick words only because they are long or rare. Prefer words students will meet again.
• If a pasted text has fewer than 10 words worth teaching, choose fewer and say so.
• Example sentences must be correct, natural and inclusive.
• Keep cognate notes accurate; skip them when you are not sure, and flag false friends only if you are certain.

Word selection

Table: Word | Tier | Why teach it.

Teaching cards

One block per word: definition · unit example · everyday example · non-example · word parts · cognate note (if any).

Introducing a word

The routine as numbered steps with teacher prompts in quotes.

Practice across the unit

Table: Day | Activity | Words | Time.

Quick check

Numbered items, then the answer key.

Words to treat lightly

Word: quick in-passing explanation.