Amy Pennell's Blog

Vocabulary development is the backbone of any subject. Unfortunately, vocabulary development is not normally thought about outside of Language Arts. This article shows the importance of incorporating grammar into every classroom. If a student doesn’t understand or fully comprehend a word then they can’t move forward no matter whether the subject is language arts, geometry or social studies. The vocabulary workshop sessions presented a lot of useful information to the teachers which they used to create their own activities. It is obvious how much these teachers grew professionally from the workshops and how their students benefited from their efforts in the classroom. My favorite example provided was from Mr. Lucas Pasley. I love how he was committed to showing the entire form of a word to his students, especially the etymology. Learning in this type of environment provides students with knowledge that they carry with them to the next classroom. Knowing the history and roots of words brings “vocabulary” full circle, showing its importance. This article provides us all with information we can take directly to our classrooms.