Vocabulary Knowledge Rating
I chose the VRT tool to implement with my guided reading groups. I chose that tool because my kindergarten students were really struggling with content vocabulary in whole-group instruction and guided reading. One of the biggest concerns the teachers at my school complain about is the students at all grade levels not understanding grade-level vocabulary terms. After using this tool with my students, I found out that many terms (even simple terms) that we assume students know is just not true. One example is terms they would see in nonfiction texts and words that have multiple meanings.
The VRT tool allows students to score their understanding of terms they will see in an upcoming story or text. After reading the selection students then go back and rescore their knowledge and understanding of the terms introduced.
Over the 2 week period of using this tool with a group compared to a group not using it the scores were distinctly different. The group using the tool performed much higher on post assessments than the group not using the tool. I am looking forward to continue using this tool and many others in the thoughtful classroom resource book.
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