Binominals and Lexical Density

Literacy Strategies

In an effort to promot the use of literacy strategies in subject areas I produced this document. This offers teachers a selection of strategies other than RT.

Scones, Language and 321

Teaching the language of instructions or procedure improves engagement and helps with comprehension.

Inquiry Review

Food Chains and Food Webs Junior Science

In comparison to fiction, nonfiction texts often present greater challenges for our students. The flow of a narrative in fiction aids comprehension as one event seamlessly transitions into the next. While this may seem like an oversimplification, the accumulation of detailed information in nonfiction can be overwhelming, particularly when it requires familiarity with a specialized set of vocabulary. It is essential for educators teaching disciplinary subjects to pay attention to the lexical density of the texts utilized in their instruction. Research indicates that students benefit from multiple exposures to new vocabulary in order to effectively assimilate new terms. This is particularly pertinent when they encounter subject-specific terminology predominantly found in fields such as science or technology.



Food Chain and Food Webs

Reciprocal Teaching at Tamaki College 2025 -a discussion document

Art: Henri Rousseau and Lexical Density

This art text offers another opportunity to use Reciprocal Teaching Strategies. Again the lexical density will be a problem for many of our Year 11 students. Not only are students required to process sophisticated noun groups such as 'unconventional renderings,' 'outrageous imagery' and 'hybrid influences' there is the whole history of European art rolled up in the text. There is a reference to many famous artists. A Google search should help students develop an understanding of various art movements such as Realism and Cubism but it is less likely to explain the controversy and vitriol which raged during this period of art history. Loaded terms such as 'high and low sources' carry immense cultural baggage along with such art history terms as Orientalism and Surrealism.

Karen Fergeson hunted around for a suitable text for her Year 11 students, she then added a vocabulary grid and a prereading activity. I added to the prediction exercise, I added a map, a keyword list and an art movement matching exercise. We taught the lesson together adding discussions on the various art movements and trends related to the period.

The scaffolding of this two-paragraph text still seems inadequate but there is a time factor to consider when delivering the Curriculum. Non-fiction texts have a lexical density and cultural underpinnings that far outweigh fiction texts. The structure of a non-fiction text also creates problems for many of our students.