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Wordle Wonder

 I have Wordled only once. In that one glorious try, I guessed the word in three attempts and proceeded to stop while I was ahead. By consulting some pretty sketchy data analyzing Twitter posts about Wordle, I discovered that my word knowledge is similar to 28% of people. Not a bad beginning and ending to my Wordle journey.

According to the New York Times, over 300,000 people play the Wordle every day. What if we channeled that genius and our classrooms became places of wordy wonder as well? What if students spent five minutes every day guessing important words in our content area units as a warm-up? What if word work was gamified, active, and something students looked forward to doing?

Research suggests that not enough of our instructional time is spent on vocabulary. In fact, in 2003, only 19 of 4,469 minutes were spent with a focus on vocabulary. When student achievement could increase by 33% with direct instruction of important words in the context of a unit, we have to ask ourselves how to find more time to teach intentional vocabulary.

Isabel Beck and Robert Marzano, among other educational researchers, have touted the importance of purposeful vocabulary instruction in all classes. Current educational bloggers have added active classroom strategies to the research. Betsy Potash's recent podcast and blog espouses creative strategies such as sketchnotes, vocabulary podcasts, and student-created posters around the classroom. Additionally, Angela Peery, on the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast, advocates for more casual discussion of vocabulary throughout the school day.

Regardless of which educational researchers or bloggers we follow, some themes are common when it comes to vocabulary instruction, and some resources could be vital to our success:

Teachers must teach the most important words directly

Learning That Transfers Concept Vocabulary for Any Content Area

Lead4Ward Content Vocabulary Resources

Students must encounter words multiple times

Conceptual Relationship Questions To Ask Every Day in Class

Learning That Transfers Acquire Phase Strategies

Students must actively engage with the words

Reading and Writing Haven Blog Ideas

Thoughtful Learning Minilessons

While my personal Wordle experience was short and sweet, we have to do better for our students. In order to be able to comprehend content in every subject area, students require consistent word work. Time to bring the Wordle wonder to our classrooms.


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