Vocabulary · Tier 3: subject words
Frontloading before the unit
Teach the key subject words before the unit starts, so students can follow the first lessons instead of meeting every term at once.
- Bands
- 1 to 3
- Stages
- Upper elementary, Middle school and High school
- Settings
- Pull-out support, Small group, At home and Push-in support
- Prep
- Medium prep
How to do it
- Pick the eight to twelve subject words students need to understand the first lessons.
- Teach them in a short session before the unit, in class, in pull-out or as preparation at home.
- Use pictures, diagrams and home language translations.
- Give students a word list to keep.
- In the first lessons, point out the frontloaded words when they come up.
In a lesson
Science (middle school)
A week before a unit on electricity, the EAL teacher meets three band 2 students for twenty minutes. They match circuit, cell, bulb, switch, wire and current to pictures, then build a simple circuit, naming each part. In the first lesson, they recognise every word on the teacher’s slide.
What commonly goes wrong
- Too many words are frontloaded.
- The frontloading session has no link to the actual lessons.
- Only words are frontloaded, and the key idea of the first lesson is missed.
Adapting it
For a lower band
Use real equipment and pictures, and fewer words.
For a higher band
Frontload the key concept as well, and ask students to predict what the unit will cover.