Feild Observation #2

Lindsey Payne

RICA Domain 4: Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Background Knowledge

RICA Competency 11: Vocabulary, academic language and background knowledge: instruction and assessment

Grade Level: First grade

            I observed Mrs. T teach her class about word families and relations. She used a semantic map or word map to illustrate the relation of word meanings. It is also called a semantic web. Mrs. T’s lesson falls under direct teaching of specific words in competency eleven. Mrs. T began with an anticipatory set by asking each student to think of what a family is. She went around the room calling on students who had their hand raised. Several students mentioned specific people in their family. Almost everyone could name several definitions of a family. This discussion activated their prior knowledge. Mrs. T then asked the students to name someone in their family. She wrote the student’s responses on the word map as they were given to her. The students were reminded that each relation connected with the category of family. When she wrote sisters and brothers, she connected boy and girl to further relate the concept. Then Mrs. T wrote a small cloud with the word pets at the bottom. She only wrote one word because she wanted to use it for a subsequent lesson. The word map is posted on the classroom wall for future reference. Last week I directed students to look at the word map when they were working on writing sentences.

            Mrs. T’s use of the word map is very helpful for students. As the RICA text states, “They not only teach the meanings of words but also help children activate their prior knowledge of key concepts associated with the target word.”(Zarrillo 81). Every student knew what a family was before the lesson. They understood the concept of both a brother and a grandmother being considered family. One student mentioned their babysitter during the class discussion. Mrs. T said that a babysitter can be considered family based on the definition the class came up with. The word map introduced the concept that even a non-blood relative like a babysitter could be considered family. The word map helps with contextual redefinition.