Miss Stetson's Classroom: Academic Vocabulary

Last school year at a facility meeting I was introduced to tier 2 vocabulary. It was near the end of the school year so I listened, but my thought was actually consumed with packing up my classroom wondering what I would be teaching next school year. It was not until I started planning for my reading class. I came across the term again Academic Vocabulary or Tier 2 vocabulary. I was intrigued and decided that this school year I would try to introduce new words to my classroom.

What is Academic Vocabulary or Tier 2 Vocabulary? They are words that are not used in everyday conversation, however they are used in explaining a concept or most often found in academic text. Tier 2 words are the richer vocabulary terms seen in academic text.

I created this bundle for the students to define, draw a picture, write the synonyms, and write a sentence using the new vocabulary terms. I did not write antonyms for there words because I wanted to focus more the like terms to build their vocabulary rolodex (yes, I know what these are). I have found a lot of different list that were recommended for 3^rd grade. This was the list of words that I found I liked the best. I do not believe that there is “one set” that is perfect. I feel that the students seeing and using the terms will build their vocabulary.

I am still using story vocabulary as well. I will only introduce 1 or 2 words a week and focus on them with my story vocabulary.

I have listed this product in my TPT store for 3^rd grade teachers. If you are in any other grade this list would work for you as well. I have included word cards for each of the words, a word list, worksheet for each word, and a blank worksheet for your regular weekly vocabulary.