Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher's Manual

This book should be mandatory reading in teacher education programs. I used it as the basis for my case study in a teacher induction program in an alternative education setting. The students were able to make substantial gains in classroom performance once they mastered the academic vocabulary using the techniques in this book. Students were able to use the vocabulary in meaningful ways and not just recite the vocabulary like a spelling list. The class textbook, which is many grade levels above their reading level was suddenly accessible and a useful learning tool. I highly recommend this book for new teachers and experienced teachers struggling with students' weak vocabulary skills.

Marzano has a lot of great ideas and good points to make in this book. It is written in a way that is accessible to a regular practitioner -- you don't have to be a PhD to understand it! The area of content vocabulary instruction is so important -- and this book helps make it happen. I especially appreciated the sections on teaching ELLs.

This is one of many books that instructors can use to teach vocabulary. There's nothing that I haven't seen before in other places, but it is nice to have it in one book. The thing that makes this book unique is the listing of vocabulary terms specific to each subject and on 4 ability levels. For example, in "general history," the first term in Level 1 is "Abraham Lincoln," in Level 2 it is "A.D.," in Level 3 it is "adaptation," and in Level 4 it is "abortion." That is what I enjoyed and will be able to use in my library.

This book changed the way I teach vocabulary! I've tried for years to improve vocabulary instruction in my classroom, and using the strategies from this book is the first time I've observed real, solid and enjoyable vocabulary learning in my students! This book has everything you need "soup to nuts" to set up a vocabulary program in your room. The best part is, you can do in about 15 minutes per day! I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's an easy read. The vocabulary lists make up the bulk of the book. Reading the actual information in this book took me less than an hour! It is a tremendous resource I refer back to all the time!

I found some great advice on teaching vocabulary for my middle school social studies class. I especially liked the graphic organizer where students must write their own definition and draw a picture to illustrate the concept. I used it for some Ancient Civilization terms and my students quickly grasped the concepts I taught them.