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Concept Definition Map: Help With Common Academic Words
Many words are commonly used in classrooms across the content areas; students who have trouble with them may suffer confusion in many academic areas. Think of how often we use words/phrases like: compare and contrast, integrate, regulate, summarize, calculate, categorize, compute, and search the Net. Providing an opportunity for students to talk about these words and form broader concepts about their meaning can provide needed confidence and boost academic performance.
A concept definition map is a way of charting what these core academic words mean, how they are used in different contexts, and also what they are not.
To create a concept definition map, ask students to work from their own knowledge first, and then consult resources to:
- Write the concept word in the center box
- Write the definition in the box above it
- Write synonyms or similar words down the righthand side
- Write antonyms or dissimilar words down the lefthand side
- Write examples of the word (different contexts) in the three bottom boxes
See an example and download a template at: www.nwrel.org/learns/resources/middleupper/cdm.pdf
Mentoring Youth in the Benefits, Skills, and Joy of Literacy 3
My Daddy can’t read, and I can’t read that good, and I guess I won’t be able to help my kids to read neither if I don’t get better at reading. —Shane, middle school student (McCray, 2001)
Many teens lack adult role models with strong literacy skills. Mentors or tutors can fill the gap by showing enthusiasm for the contributions of reading—practical, entertaining, enriching—to everyday life.
Share the value/joy of literacy in your life. Each time you meet, share something you have read recently that was useful, educational, or just fun (jokes/cartoons, music or movie reviews, instructions, advertisements, news articles, Web searches). Example: On a Friday, show the top picks from the weekend entertainment section of a newspaper, reading aloud what you’d like to do and telling why. Then ask your youth to choose an event and do the same thing.
Provide guidance for use of learning resources. If possible, take your youth to the public library, browse through a nearby book store, and search the Internet, community directories, or phone directories for learning resources that can be fun, interesting, or useful. Examples: Help your youth get a library card, search for books, videos, and CDs, and find out where various resources are located. Conduct an Internet search on a topic your youth adores, visiting sites and making notes about the best ones. Identify a skill your teen would like to learn, and work through the Internet, libraries, or community education programs, to make a plan for learning that skill.
Model enthusiasm for learning new words. Demonstrate ways you expand your own vocabulary with a sense of challenge and enjoyment. Here’s a story one tutor told about learning a word that stumped him: I heard it on a Cajun record—lagniappe. It sounds like “LAN- yap”. The song went, Sittin’ on the porch, spittin’ through my tooth-gap; wavin’ at the neighbors, smilin’ too for lagniappe. I finally found it in a dictionary of slang. It’s Creole—mixed African and French. Lagniappe means a dividend or something extra, from little presents shopkeepers in New Orleans gave to customers. Louis Armstrong sang about it, too. The tutor shared this word, the slang dictionary, and the zydeco song with his mentee; it led to their looking at song lyrics, developing lists of slang words, and a discussion about Spanglish as another example of a creative language mix.
Demonstrate ways books are a pathway to learning. Everyone has books that have influenced their ability to make choices or do something well; find the ones you treasure, share them and the reasons you value them (could include how-to manuals, self-help books, cookbooks, reference books, magazines, joke books). Encourage your youth to build a collection of books significant to her.
You may face unexpected challenges as you interact with your adolescent tutee or mentee; students often bring unique personal needs and challenging backgrounds to their reading tasks. As you consult with them and create your literacy plans, remember that adolescents beginning their adult lives will need to read and write more than ever before; they will need literacy to cope with ballooning information systems and the requirements of jobs, households, and personal lives. Finally, with appropriate support, their improving literacy will feed their imaginations so they can create the lives they envision.
 Resources for Tutors, Book Selection Aids
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