Vocabulary is something that I did not like doing in high school because it always felt like busy work to me. I don't remember ever actually using the terms or even keeping them in mind after the test. Teachers often require students to memorize many words that are not used very often. I think it is a really good idea for teachers to get in students' heads regarding this issue. If the words are too difficult for teachers to integrate into his or her daily speech, the words will be that much more difficult for students to use. I also liked the idea of teachers using a few new words each week then introducing them as vocabulary words to the students. Students will be able to understand the words better because it isn't the first time they have come in contact with them.
I like how Beers explains the importance of explaining to students how to use context clues. This means that students must "see relationships among words and can make inferences about the passage" (Beers 187). I think that if a teacher understands how to present the material more creatively and interactively with students their classroom will flourish because of that. Vocabulary is one of those subjects that is difficult to teach because it has been taught the same way for many years-- it is time for teachers to break the mold!
