All About Words: Increasing Vocabulary in the Common Core Classroom, PreK-2

All About Words: Increasing Vocabulary in the Common Core Classroom, PreK-2 Susan B. Neuman and Tanya S. Wright Teachers College Press; 1st edition Paperback. 176 pages. 2013.

Susan B. Neuman and Tanya S. Wright's practical and useful book, All about Words: Increasing Vocabulary in the Common Core Classroom, PreK-2, provides clear and applicable ideas to create systematic opportunities for children to learn words and to ensure that they receive high-quality oral vocabulary instruction. Although this book is written for PreK2, their recent research findings encourage particular attention to the depth of processing words and their meanings, describe the importance of addressing academic language, and provide an intentional roadmap for teaching content rich words when planning instruction that can be applied at any grade level. Throughout the book, Neuman and Wright provide helpful links to key features of the Common Core State Standards, especially for PreK-2 teachers.

The authors challenge us to question whether we are teaching in a way that children will retain the words. They express the urgent need for practitioners to think about how we can begin to accelerate curriculum in vocabulary. As practitioners, we know that vocabulary is the most critical skill we will work on with children throughout their careers. Neuman and Wright's research-based practices from their own studies specify that we have to be much more strategic about "word learning" to support engagement in complex texts. They emphasize the point that vocabulary instruction must address the present national and state standards by systematically planning for, teaching, and reinforcing new vocabulary words.

Susan Neuman's research addresses the belief that most of the words we use stand for concepts, and these...