Strengthening understanding of existing vocabulary
Supporting students to understand that words belong to the same class or category helps
students to define words. Students who store words in well-developed semantic and thematic
clusters can activate and retrieve related words when they hear or read them, which in turn
supports word recall, and oral and silent reading comprehension.
The teacher:
• spends a short time (10–15 minutes) every day on activities to expand students’
understanding of words
• relates words diagrammatically (see below)
• uses brainstorms to develop semantic clusters, for example:
– descriptive terms for the core word
car
(sleek, sporty, fuel efficient, guzzler, bomb)
– noun-action semantic clusters, eg
for things we cut with
(knife, sword, axe, mower,
shaver, clippers)
– thematic clusters by brainstorming thematic words
• encourages students to talk about related life experiences to develop thematic knowledge
• explains and models how the addition or replacement of a morpheme changes the
meaning of the word to which it is added.
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Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
English K–6
Speaking and listening
IMPLEMENTATION
Example: relationships with core word
Core word
car
Superordinate category
vehicle
Coordinates
truck, bus
Subordinates
Honda, Ford, Suzuki
vehicle
bus
car
truck
Honda
Ford
Suzuki
Examples of thematic words
for car:
trip, drive, lift, snooze, pillow,
I-spy game, steering wheel,
car wash, boot, brakes
