Word Wise and Content Rich, Grades 7-12: Five Essential Steps to Teaching Academic Vocabulary [Paperback]

Douglas Fisher (Author), Nancy Frey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0325013829 | ISBN-13: 978-0325013824 | Publication Date: May 9, 2008

This book is a natural for a teacher study group. It is well worth the time spent reading and discussing with colleagues because the ideas it holds are basic to rethinking and transforming vocabulary teaching.

-Karen Bromley

Binghamton University, SUNY

Make the most of Word Wise & Content Rich with online resources for book study groups at no additional charge. Douglas and Nancy provide chapter-by-chapter study guides, audio podscasts, and video podcasts. Visit books.heinemann.com/wordwise to check them out, then get the book and start your study group today!

How do you teach students the words that are crucial to unlocking the concepts in your content area? Until now "assign, define, test" has been the default strategy. But with Word Wise and Content Rich, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey bring vocabulary in out of the cold and into the heart of daily classroom practice in English, math, science, and history.

Word Wise and Content Rich offers a five-part framework for teaching vocabulary that's tailored to the needs of adolescent learners yet mindful of the demands on content-area teachers. Grounded in current research, this framework gives students the multiple encounters necessary to lock in the meaning of new words forever. Fisher and Frey's five-step modelshows you how to:

• Make it intentional: select words for instruction and use word lists and up-to-date website lists wisely
• Make it transparent: model word-solving and word-learning strategies for students
• Make it useable: offer learners the collaborative work and oral practice essential to understanding concepts
• Make it personal: give and monitor independent practice so students own words
• Make it a priority: create a schoolwide program for word learning.

Use Word Wise and Content Rich, and close the word gap between low-achieving and high-achieving students. With its strategies, every student in your class-in your school-can access the textbook and develop the vocabulary needed for success in content-area reading.

Read Word Wise and Content Rich and get the last word on great vocabulary teaching.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Douglas Fisher's latest book with Heinemann is Background Knowledge, coauthored with Nancy Frey. It continues their exploration of the connection between language and learning. Their previous two Heinemann titles, Word Wise & Content Rich, Grades 7-12 and Learning Words Inside & Out, Grades 1-6, have helped teachers nationwide implement a five-part framework for building students' vocabulary. With word learning so important to comprehension, Background Knowledge takes the next step toward deeper understanding. In fact, Doug and Nancy are long-time collaborators, and they have focused on supporting deep understanding and improved literacy across the content areas in three other books: Checking for Understanding, Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, and Improving Adolescent Literacy. They are both classroom teachers and faculty members at San Diego State University and Health Sciences High & Middle College.

Nancy Frey's latest book with Heinemann is Background Knowledge, coauthored with Douglas Fisher. It continues their exploration of the connection between language and learning. Their previous two Heinemann titles, Word Wise & Content Rich, Grades 7-12 and Learning Words Inside & Out, Grades 1-6, have helped teachers nationwide implement a five-part framework for building students' vocabulary. With word learning so important to comprehension, Background Knowledge takes the next step toward deeper understanding. In fact, Doug and Nancy are long-time collaborators, and they have focused on supporting deep understanding and improved literacy across the content areas in three other books: Checking for Understanding, Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, and Improving Adolescent Literacy. They are both classroom teachers and faculty members at San Diego State University and Health Sciences High & Middle College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (May 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325013829
• ISBN-13: 978-0325013824
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #262,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent textbook with lots of practical strategies!, January 16, 2011

By 

Allison Bailey "La Petite Fille Rousse" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Word Wise and Content Rich, Grades 7-12: Five Essential Steps to Teaching Academic Vocabulary (Paperback)

I had to purchase this for an adolescent literacy class, and it was a great read. The authors are experts with ready-to-use strategies for the classrooms. There is also a website that accompanies these books with videos and even more strategies. I would definitely recommend this to secondary teachers as a useful addition to their professional development!

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Read, February 16, 2009

By 

Hope "Teacher" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Word Wise and Content Rich, Grades 7-12: Five Essential Steps to Teaching Academic Vocabulary (Paperback)

This book is a practical look at what works for teaching vocabulary across content areas.