Allen, Janet (1999).Words, Words, Words: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4-12.
York, Maine: Stenhouse Publications.
Relying on an extensive review of the research concerning vocabulary acquisition, Janet Allen has written a book that describes new methods and strategies for teaching words to students. She states, "As teachers, we must structure word learning so that it is both meaningful and lasting" and proceeds to recount the lessons she employed to achieve those goals.
Through her own teaching experience, Allen concluded that the traditional method of assigning weekly word lists for students to memorize and regurgitate was not an effective strategy for helping students learn new words. Turning to research that proved what methods of vocabulary instruction did work, she incorporated her findings into her teaching and developed a variety of different approaches that met her goals of meaningful and lasting learning. In 110 easy-to-read and understand pages divided into five chapters, Allen discusses these different strategies, primarily focusing on reading as the foundation for vocabulary growth. Her lessons are practical and would be easy to implement; she even provides copies of the worksheets she uses.
Each of the activities she mentions reflects exactly the techniques that the research shows are effective and she carefully cites the article or book which backs up her use of a particular strategy or lesson. In perhaps the most important chapter, "Reading As the Heart of Word-Rich Classrooms," Allen elaborates on her emphasis of reading as essential to vocabulary growth and supplies titles of books that have worked for her, as well as suggestions about how to incorporate reading and word acquisition into lessons covering variety of subject areas. Appendices provide additional sources of information about teaching vocabulary, suggest word games to use in class and list the titles of the books she mentions.
Though limited to the teaching lessons of one teacher, Words Words Words, does provide a range of strategies, solidly backed by research, for offering students of any age a rich learning experience that will enhance their vocabulary and may even help them enjoy playing with words and language. Any teacher who is interesting in exploring new ways of teaching new words should read this book.
Pages: 156
Price: $17.50
ISBN: 1-57110-085-7
Reviewed by Shellie Jeffries, Wayne State University
