Acquiring Vocab: The Vocabulary Acquisition System

One of the things I struggled with as a student and still struggle with today is Vocabulary. I find myself understanding how words work in a sentence but not necessarily their meaning. Words like Nonchalant, Serenity, Proforma, etc. I can use them in a sentence so it makes grammatical sense but and when asked to define them I stumble. I also see this in my classroom with my students. They can use the vocab we talk about but can't necessarily define it correctly. Thankfully I don't ask my kids straight up what words mean I stick to can they apply their understanding of them in context. For example we recently just wrapped up learning about the parts of the Engineering Process. In the version that I teach there are 5 to 6 parts as illustrated in the image tot her right with the 6th part being present your solution that I present as your way out of the circle.

Over the many years that I taught this I seen many a kid struggle with understanding each of these parts. I find that putting them into context and using illustrations helps with building their understanding and use of them in real life projects. That being said I have been shown a system that helped me and other students with learning and understanding vocab that works at helping people not only learn but how to use vocab correctly.

Over last summer I took a class on drone flight that helps students earn the commercial drone pilots license (FAA Part 107). This was a very rigorous class that was more than just how to fly a drone, if anything that was what we did the least. It covered topics such as the 7 levels of US Airspace, Weather and its affects on flight, communication, and most importantly all the vocabulary involved in drone flight. And true to the English language it is full of words with multiple meanings. This set me into a slight panic as I knew I wasn't good with vocab. However as part of the class we were introduced to a tool/system called the Vocabulary Acquisition System by the instructor from Advanced Aerial Education (AAE). By the way if you are looking for a drone flight curriculum I would check these guys out. They instruction and curriculum is top notch and will help you and your students prepare for the FAA Part 107 exam. But I digress I want to get into the tool/system for vocab.

The system they showed us has 3 parts that when followed help you learn vocabulary and how to use it in a way to helps it to stick in your brain. It is very easy to do and can be done in a low tech way with just 3x5 index cards and a writing implement. I will qualify that I may be over simplifying it a bit but you will get the general gist to be able to use in your classrooms. It utilizes the use of flash cards that is more rigorous than just the simple memorize the word and definition way. It can be done both individually and with a partner and I highly recommend that you have students practice both with partners and individually.

Step 1: Learning the words and definition 
In this step students simply make flash cards out of 3x5 index cards. On one side they write the word and the other side they write the definition, preferably in their own words. Cards are shuffled and randomly drawn out 1 at a time. Students say the word and then say the definition/meaning of the word. If they get the meaning correct words go in a pile on the right; If they get it wrong they go in a pile on the lift. Any wrong words the cards a shuffled again and the process is repeated until there are no cards on the left hand pile.

Step 2: Identify Relationships
After mastering step 1 with 100% accuracy students work on ID'ing relationships between words. In this step students shuffle the cards randomly and draw out 2 cards. They then say what the words have in common or how they differ. You go through the deck of cards same as before, putting correct matches on the right and wrong matches on the left. This process is repeated 2 times to 100% accuracy. However there is a catch, if you get any wrong you have to go back to step 1 and start over. ID'ing patterns may seem easy but gets hard both as more words are introduced and you have to find similarities.

Step 3: Sentence Formulation
This is the final step and where the rubber meets the road in my opinion. Once students have mastered how vocab relate to each other they move to application of the word. Students shuffle the cards into a random order. Then 3 cards are drawn and arranged in any order the students wants. They then must correctly use the 3 words in a sentence. With words correctly used placed on the right hand side and those not used correctly on the left hand side. This is repeated 3 times with any slip ups causing you to go back to step 1 and repeat the whole process.

It seems like a lot of work but I am here to tell you that it works. Yes you and your students will grumble and complain (I know I did). But after awhile when you see how well it works and how easy it is to do the grumbling will minimize. The trick is to have students hold themselves and their partners accountable. You can't just say oh yeah I messed up but I understand the word so I will just put it in the right hand pile. You have to be honest for it to work. The beauty is that it is pretty easy to catch students who are not using the system. If they say they have the words mastered then have them run through the system with you. If they have been practicing they should be able to run through the word stack at 100% accuracy, if not they haven't.

I have used this system with my middle school kids and have seen great results even with my non-graded after school program. I have kids who can correctly use terms like Pitch, sUAS, Roll, and yaw in the aviation context. What I really like is the simplicity of the activity. All you/students need is a set of index cards and time. It is something that can be done at home and at school and doesn't require a ton of background knowledge if you are doing it with family members (the definition is right there). It is also a good entry task activity to start out the class.

I can see so many applications for this beyond aviation. It is great for science classes where there is a ton of vocab. It can be used in a social studies class with all the vocab that comes up with government, civilizations, etc. It is a natural in foreign language classes and all the vocab they have. I also see it as being especially useful in Special Education and English Language classes, helping kids master everyday English words. The possibilities are endless.

I look forward to hearing not only how you use this system as well as other ways you help students acquire complex vocab.

As always "Go Forth & Do Great Things!"

Link to Podcast on this topic