InTASC Standard #4: Content Knowledge

Brief Description of Evidence:

  In the spring semester of 2022 in EDUC 233 Literacy Development Through Children’s Literature, myself and a partner created a presentation on the meaning, importance, and different ways to teach vocabulary in the classroom. We looked at what the signs of learners that were struggling with learning vocabulary would look like and how to assist. With this, we created a small activity that was an example of how to teach vocabulary to a class. 

 

Analysis of What I Learned:

  From this activity, I learned about the importance of vocabulary. I learned about what age vocabulary starts and that it doesn’t end, we continue to learn new vocabulary every day. I learned about the importance of knowing the content that you are teaching and the vocabulary words you are using in your classroom. After researching the pillar of vocabulary, I discovered that there are so many other pillars that go along with vocabulary that each learner needs to better comprehend what they are learning and reading. From this activity, I took the knowledge from Neil Fleming’s theory of VARK. This theory expresses the different learning styles that include visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic (VARK, 2020). During this activity, we were able to visually have flashcards available on the screen for each learner to be able to look at on their while also auditory listening to the vocabulary word and the meaning. With this activity, we asked each learner what they thought the vocabulary words meant, from this, I learned just how different each learner interprets specific words and how they can oftentimes have two different meanings. We used the portion of VARK theory of reading and writing by having each learner write their definition of the word on a whiteboard and by this they were also kinesthetic learners. I learned how helpful using all portions of VARK’s theory can benefit both the teacher and the learners. 

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence in the InTASC Standard:

  This artifact best demonstrates my competence in standard 4 because I was able to teach the vocabulary words that the students needed to learn while also letting the students create a connection from the vocabulary that is meaningful for them in their own lives. I used several different approaches to teaching vocabulary words while using the tools that were accessible such as a whiteboard and online flashcards that I created to assure that every student participated in the learning. We were able to go over the vocab words and then give the true meaning of the word while also seeing where the students were at in the learning process. While doing this activity, I had to do some of my research on different ways to teach vocabulary in a fun interactive way. I had to be sure I was mastering the content that I was teaching to my students.