Word Generation: Using Online Tools To Support Effective Implementation of an Academic Language Program (SERP Institute)

Presenters

Catherine Snow (Primary)

SERP-Boston Research Director; Professor of Education
SERP Institute; Harvard Graduate School of Education

Description

In this webinar, SERP-Boston Research Director Catherine Snow, Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will provide an overview of Word Generation, a program for students in the middle grades that uses research-based principles for teaching vocabulary and designing instructional units focusing on all-purpose academic words. In addition to vocabulary instruction, Word Generation provides opportunities for students to engage in purposeful academic discussion and write persuasive essays. The webinar will also provide an introduction to the free Word Generation website, and describe its use as a support for teacher engagement and professional development in the major pedagogical strategies supported by Word Generation. These pedagogical strategies include promoting academically productive classroom discussion, ensuring the recurrent use of targeted words in semantically rich contexts and supporting student engagement by providing a space for their deeply held views to be heard and debated. Dr. Snow will also discuss results from two years of implementation in eight schools, providing evidence of the program's effectiveness in achieving its main goals as well as in bringing about higher levels of student motivation.

This presentation is co-sponsored by SERP (Strategic Education Research Partnership) and SchoolsMovingUp. The Word Generation Program was developed by the SERP Institute in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools. SERP's mission is to mobilize the expertise of teachers and school administrators and the power of scientific research, political will and financial resources in a collaborative endeavor to improve student learning.

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