Closing the Vocabulary Gap Resources

So I *might* have mentioned this already, but I have gone and written a book – published officially this Friday! ‘Closing the Vocabulary Gap’ has proven a labour of love for the last eighteen months of my life and I’m proud to get a hold of it and send it out into the world.

You can read theTES review of my book by Dr Jessie Ricketts HERE.

The book is inspired by countless experiences in my classroom and my school; a host of conversations with teachers at all phases about the difficulties students are facing in grappling with the new bigger and harder curriculum; and, finally, a wealth of research evidence on how we can ‘close the vocabulary gaps’ that exists in our classrooms and beyond.

I wanted to ensure that this book offered insights and practical solutions for teachers at every key stage and phase.To support this, I have added free resources to my blog to run alongside the book – making it more user friendly. I will surely add to the resources, but you can now access the following at RESOURCES available on the main menu:

  1. CTVG Infographic – this is a handy overview of the key recommendations from my book.
  2. CTVG Reading List – I have collated the key reading texts that supported the book on a shareable side of a4 (with a full version available – including websites and tweeters – on my blog).
  3. CTVG – 7 Strategies for Exploring Unfamiliar Vocabulary’ – this is a companion resource to the SEEC model, offering accessible strategies to Explore an unfamiliar word.
  4. CTCG – SEEC model – inspired by research from Graves, Marzano, Beck, Lemov and more, this simple framework offers a clear evidence-informed approach to explicitly teaching a new or unfamiliar word.
  5. CTVG – Next Steps 10 Questions – this list of question prompts, from the final chapter of my book, offers some considerations for tackling vocabulary in school.
  6. CTVG – Exploring Etymology PPT – this PPT offers a starter resources for exploring the etymology of individual words.
  7. Cracking the Academic Code – Teach Secondary article – this article relates to important aspects of chapter 4 of my book.
  8. One Word at a Time – Teach Secondary article – this article is an accessible way in to the ideas and strategies developed in my book.

Also, there is a range of upcoming blogs supporting vocabulary instruction, to go with alongside these resources, with links and prompts for teachers and more.

You can grab a copy of the book now:

Amazon (Paperback)- HERE

Amazon (Kindle) – HERE

Routledge – HERE

Waterstones – HERE

 

7 thoughts on “Closing the Vocabulary Gap Resources”

  1. Suzanne Hughes

    Thank you so much for sharing you thoughts and resources. It is useful to have an idea of the books you have been looking at as well.
    I work in a one form entry Primary and have been developing our approach to reading and now we are realising more and more that we need to close the gap in the understanding of vocabulary. This is made even harder when their experiences and exposure to rich language are weaker.

    1. Alex Quigley

      Thanks Suzanne. You are in a very similar position to a whole host of schools in my experience – the majority, not the minority. Background knowledge of words and the world is so cubical to reading comprehension. Having a great curriculum is so key, but steering a path through it using explicit vocabulary instruction proves a great aid I think. Alex

  2. Alex, it’s currently out of stock everywhere! Do you have any idea of when it will be arriving at Amazon etc?

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  4. Thank you for this marvellous support site. I’ve read and re-read this book and highlighted lots of pages! I’m about to introduce the concepts and issues you raise to all teachers with the purpose of helping pupils to better understand word origins and therefore to boost their vocabulary, comprehension and indeed use of metaphors. It’s been fascinating preparing my INSET especially looking at Common Entrance and GCSE questions. If one steps back for a split second to consider the possible pitfalls caused by the dense vocabulary in questions it’s staggering!
    A great book!

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