ABSTRACT
Students who are verbally gifted enjoy vocabulary instruction. Word play, vocabulary games, and learning Greek and Latin stems are all activities that can be engaging to even the youngest students. Beyond this, however, it is important to understand how crucial it is that vocabulary instruction is intentional and robust, especially for students from low socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds and/or who are learning English as a second language. Beck et al. provided a useful framework for vocabulary instruction that includes three tiers of words vital to comprehension and vocabulary development. The framework is based on research that indicates that while most vocabulary is learned indirectly, some must be taught directly. Words are general academic words used across several content areas. Because of their lack of use in oral language, Tier 2 words present challenges to students who primarily meet them in print.
