Vocabulary Development
Students gain knowledge of words gradually through oral and written exposures. There are 4 levels of word knowledge listed and explained below.
Unknown word - Student is unable to recognize the word.
Initial recognition - At this level students have either seen, heard, or pronounce the word but lack the knowledge of what the word means.
Partial word knowledge - The knowledge of one meaning of the word is known to the students at this level.
Full word knowledge - This level is where students understand and know several meanings to the word and can also correctly use it in a sentence.
Students are able to learn words incidentally. This is done whenever a student reads independently or when a teacher reads aloud to the class.
Vocabulary development is extremely important because it is directly connected to reading and writing fluency. The more words a student knows, the less he/she has to pause in order to sound out a word that is unfamiliar.
Likewise, the more fluency a child has in reading/writing, the easier it is for that child to learn more vocabulary words. This is because their reading level is higher which allows them to read higher leveled books which potentially have a higher level of vocabulary.
Clink on this link to visit a website that has ways to improve/increase your child's/student's vocabulary development and knowledge.
To learn more about vocabulary development, see pages 225-228 in Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach by Gail Tompkins.