School-Age Content

• Changes in language content:

  Vocabulary growth

  Multiple meaning words

  Use of figurative language

  Learning words via words
• Number of root words by grade 1: 10,000
• Number of root words by grade 2: 20,000
• Number of root words by grade 3: 40,000
• Number of root words in high school: 60,000
• Parent report is not helpful after age 3
• Derived words show the most growth
• Fifth grade is significant because they aren't learning more words, but use derivational morphology understanding to figure out unknown words
• Tier 1: High frequency in oral language, basic words, sight words, do not need to be explicitly taught
• Tier 2: Characteristic of written language, used by more mature language users, used across content domains
• Tier 3: Low frequency in written and oral language, limited to specific content domains
• Homonyms: Many words have multiple meanings (bat, cold, cup)
• Homographs: Spelled the same way with different meanings
• Homophones: Sound alike with different meanings and spellings
• Lexical ambiguity: The existence of multiple word meanings
• Phonological ambiguity: Varying pronunciations, confusing the boundaries of the word
• Metaphors: Use an expression to refer to something that is does not denote literally, in order to convey similarity
• Simile: Make the comparison explicit by using like or as
• Oxymorons: Figurative speech that combines 2 contradictory terms in order to achieve rhetorical effect
• Hyperboles: Form of figurative language that uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect
• Idioms: A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words
• Opaque idioms: Distantly related
• Transparent idioms: Literal interpretation
• Irony: Involved incongruity between what a speaker says and their intended meaning
• Proverbs: Statements that express the conventional values, beliefs, and wisdom of society
• School age children learn words by reading