Brick and Mortar words

Brick
 and
 Mortar
 Terms:
 Clearing
 the
 Roadblocks
 to
 Comprehension
 

The
 sheer
 quantity
 of
 academic
 vocabulary
 facing
 teachers
 and
 students
 is
 overwhelming.
 
 Most
 
teachers
 struggle
 to
 “cover”
 them
 all
 within
 the
 allotted
 amount
 of
 time.
 
 Often
 times,
 even
 those
 words
 
that
 are
 directly
 taught
 become
 forgotten
 by
 test
 day.
 
 The
 struggle
 to
 build
 students’
 academic
 
vocabulary
 is
 a
 very
 real
 one.
 
 Teachers
 everywhere
 are
 trying
 out
 new
 strategies
 in
 hopes
 that
 they
 will
 
find
 a
 solution
 that
 works.
 
 Before
 initiating
 specific
 instructional
 strategies,
 it
 is
 helpful
 to
 think
 about
 
some
 guiding
 principles
 for
 teaching
 academic
 vocabulary.
 


 It’s
 not
 just
 about
 the
 boldfaced
 words
 in
 the
 textbook.
 

Durto
 and
 Moran
 (2003)
 coined
 the
 terms
 “brick”
 and
 “mortar”
 to
 describe
 two
 types
 of
 academic
 
language
 students’
 encounter.
 They
 describe
 the
 content
 specific
 key
 words
 as
 “brick”
 terms.
 
 These
 are
 
the
 boldfaced
 words
 in
 textbooks,
 the
 key
 concepts
 listed
 in
 curriculum
 guides,
 and
 the
 critical
 ideas
 for
 
any
 given
 subject
 area.
 
 In
 a
 5th
 grade
 Social
 Studies
 class,
 the
 brick
 terms
 may
 be,
 “patriots,”
 “Red
 
coats,”
 “taxation
 without
 representation,”
 “democracy,”
 and
 “Stamp
 Act.”
 
 Zwiers
 (2008)
 provides
 an
 
additional
 insight
 into
 “brick”
 terms,
 explaining
 that
 they
 “extend
 across
 a
 continuum
 from
 concrete
 to
 
abstract
 –
 hard
 bricks
 to
 soft
 bricks,
 so
 to
 speak.”
 (p.22)
 
 In
 the
 list
 above
 “patriots”
 and
 “Stamp
 Act”
 
land
 on
 the
 most
 concrete
 end
 of
 the
 spectrum,
 whereas
 “democracy”
 and
 “taxation
 without
 
representation”
 are
 abstract
 terms
 that
 are
 more
 difficult
 to
 understand.
 As
 students
 progress
 through
 
the
 grades,
 the
 “brick”
 terms
 shift
 toward
 the
 abstract
 end
 of
 the
 continuum.
 
 
 

All
 the
 academic
 words
 other
 than
 the
 core
 content
 words
 that
 students
 need
 to
 know
 in
 order
 to
 fully
 
comprehend
 what
 they
 read
 and
 hear
 are
 referred
 to
 as
 “mortar”
 terms.
 
 In
 continuing
 the
 analogy,
 
Dutro
 and
 Moran
 called
 these
 “mortar”
 words
 because
 they
 connect
 and
 strengthen
 the
 core
 concepts.
 
 
Much
 like
 a
 house
 of
 bricks
 without
 any
 mortar
 would
 fall
 over,
 instruction
 focused
 on
 key
 vocabulary
 
without
 teaching
 any
 connecting,
 processing,
 and
 transition
 language
 sets
 students
 up
 to
 “fall
 over”
 
academically.
 
 “Mortar”
 terms
 include
 connectives
 like
 “therefore”
 and
 “because,”
 words
 used
 to
 
communicate
 complex
 thoughts
 such
 as,
 “maintain,”
 “represent,”
 and
 “inevitable,”
 and
 words
 used
 to
 
describe
 higher
 order
 thinking
 skills
 like,
 “analyze,”
 “contrast,”
 and
 “establish.”
 (Zwiers
 2008)
 
 This
 type
 
of
 academic
 vocabulary
 is
 often
 overlooked
 by
 teachers
 as
 they
 focus
 in
 on
 the
 “bricks.”
 
 While
 teaching
 
“mortar”
 words
 is
 difficult
 because
 of
 their
 abstract
 nature,
 the
 effect
 of
 such
 teaching
 is
 significant.
 
 
Students
 can
 take
 their
 understanding
 of
 “mortar”
 terms
 and
 use
 them
 in
 to
 communicate
 academically
 
in
 all
 subject
 areas.
 
 
 


 Teachers
 shouldn’t
 do
 all
 the
 work
 

One
 of
 the
 most
 effective
 ways
 a
 teacher
 can
 build
 academic
 vocabulary
 in
 her
 students
 is
 to
 teach
 them
 
how
 to
 become
 independent
 learners
 of
 new
 academic
 vocabulary.
 
 That
 is,
 teach
 students
 “word-­‐
learning
 habits”
 that
 will
 enable
 them
 to
 decode
 and
 comprehend
 new
 words
 on
 their
 own.
 (Zwiers
 
2008,
 p.
 189)
 
 
 

There
 is
 a
 wide
 body
 of
 research
 that
 supports
 analyzing
 word
 structures
 to
 gain
 deeper
 understanding
 
of
 the
 word
 meaning.
 (Marzano,
 2004,
 Zwiers,
 2008,
 McCollin,
 O’Shea
 &
 McQuiston,
 2010).
 
 Explicitly
 

teaching
 common
 roots
 and
 affixes
 (prefixes
 and
 suffixes)
 equips
 students
 with
 a
 large
 bank
 of
 word
 
parts
 that
 they
 can
 then
 utilize
 to
 determine
 the
 meaning
 of
 other
 words.
 
 While
 there
 are
 extensive
 lists
 
of
 common
 Greek
 and
 Latin
 affixes,
 Marzano
 (2004)
 explains
 that
 teachers
 only
 need
 to
 explicitly
 teach
 
the
 few
 that
 occur
 most
 commonly,
 for
 example,
 the
 prefixes
 “un-­‐,“
 “re-­‐,”and
 “in-­‐“
 and
 the
 suffixes
 “-­‐s/-­‐
es,”
 “-­‐ed,”
 and
 “-­‐ing.”
 
 (p.77)
 
 

Teaching
 students
 to
 use
 the
 context
 surrounding
 the
 unknown
 word
 is
 another
 way
 to
 help
 them
 
problem
 solve
 when
 they
 encounter
 an
 unknown
 word.
 
 Zwiers
 call
 this
 “scoping
 out
 the
 neighborhood”
 
around
 the
 word
 to
 figure
 out
 the
 meaning
 that
 would
 make
 the
 most
 sense.
 (p.191)
 
 When
 students
 
become
 skilled
 at
 learning
 the
 meaning
 of
 academic
 vocabulary
 on
 their
 own
 through
 word
 analysis
 and
 
context,
 teachers
 are
 free
 to
 deepen
 the
 level
 of
 instruction.
 

Don’t
 give
 up
 on
 your
 flashcards
 yet
 

Students
 need
 multiple
 exposures
 to
 new
 academic
 vocabulary
 terms
 in
 order
 to
 internalize
 their
 
meanings.
 
 Directly
 teaching
 terms
 within
 the
 lesson
 they
 are
 found
 is
 important,
 and
 it
 is
 equally
 
important
 to
 continue
 to
 expose
 students
 to
 those
 terms
 over
 time.
 
 Encourage
 students
 discuss,
 use
 
and
 play
 with
 new
 academic
 vocabulary.
 
 Ideas
 include:
 
 recording
 new
 words
 in
 a
 personal
 dictionary
 or
 
academic
 journal,
 making
 flashcards
 with
 a
 description
 and
 visual,
 putting
 new
 terms
 on
 a
 word
 wall,
 
playing
 games
 like
 Jeopardy
 and
 Pictionary
 using
 the
 terms,
 conducting
 groups
 and
 partner
 discussions
 
about
 academic
 terms,
 including
 terms
 in
 personal
 writing,
 comparing
 and
 contrasting
 terms,
 creating
 
metaphors
 and
 analogies
 for
 terms,
 and
 creating
 kinesthetic,
 auditory,
 and
 tactile
 connections
 for
 new
 
terms.
 (Marzano
 2004,
 Zwiers,
 2008).
 
 The
 more
 interactions
 students
 have
 with
 a
 word
 using
 new
 
contexts,
 the
 more
 deeply
 they
 will
 understand
 the
 term.
 
 

References:
 

Marzano,
 R.
 (2004).
 Building
 background
 knowledge
 for
 academic
 achievement:
 research
 on
 what
 works
 
in
 schools.
 
 Alexandria,
 VA:
 ASCD
 

McCollin,
 M.,
 O’Shea,
 D.,
 &
 McQuiston,
 K.
 (2010).
 ”Improving
 vocabulary
 and
 comprehension
 skills
 of
 
secondary-­‐level
 students
 from
 diverse
 backgrounds.”
 Preventing
 School
 Failure,Vvol.
 54
 Issue
 2,
 p.
 133-­‐
136.
 

Zwiers,
 J.
 (2008).
 Building
 academic
 language:
 essential
 practices
 for
 content
 classrooms.
 San
 Francisco,
 
Ca:
 Jossey-­‐Bass.