EPIC Teacher's Guide - Book - Page 10
The story is read a few more times, interactively, allowing pupils to become
progressively more involved in the reading. During the reading, questions are asked
to establish understanding of the events and progression of the story as well as to
elicit the relevant vocabulary and lexical chunks that have been learned. Pupils can
show recognition of the characters in the story, say how they believe the characters
are feeling at different points in the story, and answer questions related to the
events and settings.
After this, discussions revolve around the pupils’ personal and affective responses to
the story as they make connections between the story and their own real-life
experiences. They reflect on the story and what they have learned from it.
Stage 4: Acting Out the Story
In this final stage, the pupils put to active use the language they have learned from
the story. They act out the story including the sequential events of the story as well
as the characters’ actions and emotions.
A full list of all story scripts in the program appears in Appendix I.
7. Teaching Vocabulary
The nature of learning vocabulary is dynamic and continues over time (Webb and Nation
2017). Hatch and Brown refer to four essential steps in vocabulary learning, all of which are
applied in Epic’s careful methodology for introducing and practicing vocabulary:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sources for encountering new vocabulary
Getting a clear image of new words – visual, auditory or both
Making a memory connection between the form and meaning
Using the word through a continual process (not rote memory) – recycle vocabulary
as often as possible
(Hatch and Brown 1995)
Like Hatch and Brown, Nation (1990) recommends teaching and learning vocabulary
strategies for young pupils that involve demonstrating lexical items through pictures and
verbal explanations. Specifically, he praises word cards as an “excellent way of quickly
increasing vocabulary.” (Laufer, Meara, and Nation 2005). Early learners respond well to the
picture learning method, in which new words are presented with a corresponding image
(Tonzar, Lotto & Job 2009). Epic includes numerous flashcards to illustrate the meanings of
new words and each is presented with a verbal and written cue.
Vocabulary needs to be encountered and re-entered abundantly through various sources
and modes. Each additional encounter with a word creates new understandings, enhancing
knowledge to encourage higher levels of understanding and encouraging retention (Schmitt
2017; Schmitt, Cobb, Horst, & Schmitt 2017; Waring and Takaki 2003; Laufer, Meara, and
Nation 2005). Through each activity in Epic, words from the Pre-Foundation word list are
strategically recycled in different modes: flashcards, songs and chants, communicative
games, stories, drama, and multi-sensory tasks.
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