What Teachers Can Do to Develop and Strengthen Young Children's Vocabulary

Vocabulary knowledge has been proven to be the foundation of later reading achievement. As children make the transition from oral to written language, teachers are instrumental in planning and implementing instruction to develop and strengthen students’ vocabulary knowledge. This paper describes and provides an example of how teachers can select and identify vocabulary using the three-tiered identification system for a shared read-aloud. Additionally, it highlights the strategy, Text-Talk: Read-Aloud Method and provides an example using the picture book, “A Garden in My Hands” by Meera Sriram, for students ages four to eight years.