Ann Staman Hollingworth

Teaching word meanings at the primary level is often overlooked because there is so much else to cover, but vocabulary development will improve students’ listening and reading comprehension through their school years and beyond. Of course you already knew that… Listening Vocabularies Because young children don’t have the skills for unlocking unfamiliar words, teaching vocabulary for them begins with readalouds. Hearing new words naturally within a story helps kids learn their meanings, and going over the words before and after the reading improves retention. Demonstrating how to use context to figure out word meanings is a first step toward close reading. It’s also fun to...