 It is very important to increase student vocabulary, since the words that we understand influence our very thoughts and our perception of the world around us. A lot of students come to classrooms with vocabulary that is limited by their environment and experiences. As teachers, how can we increase the number of words that they have at their disposal?
1. Discover your students’ current level of performance. It will be very difficult to explain the meaning of the word economy, if your student does not have an understanding of the word money. This is a very simple example, but you see the potential problem. You must check to know if students have a good base vocabulary to begin with, because you cannot build on something that is not there. There are a variety of assessments available, such as the Reading Level Indicator (RLI) that can help you define where your students stand.
2. Check for understanding. A lot of students will simply coast along in class, not asking questions, appearing to be lazy or disinterested, when in fact, they do not understand the material. Often check for understanding of the content, using ways that do not single students out. Reteach the vocabulary, if you discover that many students do not understand the words in the content. Repetition can be quite efficient.
 3. Embolden students to read a wide variety of materials. If your children realize that reading is only something that is done from a textbook, then reading may not be very appealing to them. This fact is not unusual, as many students come from homes where there are no bookcases, only entertainment centers. The student vocabulary will stagnate, if they do not have the opportunity and encouragement to read materials of their own selecting.
4. Break down words. Educate students how words originated, which can often be quite interesting. Teach the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes and do activities where students try to guess word meanings based on those word parts.
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