Common Core Standards: Academic Vocabulary

What is academic vocabulary?
Academic vocabulary is defined as words that are not used in everyday conversation. These types of vocabulary words are used to explain a concept, and are most often found in academic text. Academic vocabulary is organized into 3 tiers: Tier 1 is described as basic or high-frequency words, and Tier 2 words are referred to as "general academic" words or "rich vocabulary" since they include multiple meaning words that are subtle forms of familiar words. Academic vocabulary in Tier 3 are "domain specific" and include words, such as isotope or refinery, most often found in informational text.

Why are common core standards emphasizing academic vocabulary?
Building students' academic vocabulary is a stepping stone to their ability to meet the other ELA demands, including close reading and comprehension of both complex and informational text. There is a specific emphasis with common core standards to use academic vocabulary for understanding words and phrases, how they relate to one another, and other contextual subtleties to assist students' with expanding their vocabulary.

How does Kurzweil 3000 support academic vocabulary guidelines?
Kurzweil 3000 helps build academic vocabulary with reference tools like multiple dictionaries and translation tools to understand unfamiliar words, and a thesaurus to explore alternatives. Vocabulary words can be highlighted by students and extracted to create study guides. Similarly, teachers can create vocabulary lists or customizable word listsfor students so they can study new words and utilize more complex words in their writing.

With Kurzweil 3000, students who struggle to read independently are able to read grade level materials on their own. This provides them with additional exposure to unfamiliar or less familiar words they would otherwise not be exposed to helping them expand their vocubulary.

Informational Text

Text Complexity