Closing the Vocabulary Gap

As teachers grapple with the challenge of a new, bigger and more challenging school curriculum, at every key stage and phase, success can feel beyond our reach. But what if there were 50,000 small solutions to help us bridge that gap? In Closing the Vocabulary Gap,the authorexplores the increased demands of an academic curriculum and how closing the vocabulary gap between our ‘word poor’ and ‘word rich’ students could prove the vital difference between school failure and success. This must-read book presents the case for teacher-led efforts to develop students' vocabulary and provides practical solutions for teachers across the curriculum, incorporating easy-to-use tools, resources and classroom activities.

1. Closing the vocabulary gap – problems and solutions 2. What every teacher needs to know about reading 3. What is in a word? Know your roots 4. ‘Wot d’ya mean by academic vocabulary’ 5. Developing vocabulary and ‘disciplinary literacy’ 6. We need to talk about spelling 7. Practical strategies for closing the vocabulary gap 8. Next steps

Alex Quigley is an English teacher and Director of Huntington Research School, York, UK. He can be found on Twitter @HuntingEnglish and blogs at www.theconfidentteacher.com.