From the Trainer's Corner

By Miryam Jannol

During trainings for both KOREH and Pre-K KOREH, I have always stressed that becoming a proficient reader requires an adequate vocabulary. We know that some of the children we work with do not have large vocabularies. We also know that their vocabulary can increase when they hear or read rich material. But not everyone knows how to answer the following questions about time use: What is the most effective way to foster vocabulary gain? Is it better to read a child a short text of a different kind each session, or is it better to stay on a topic that stretches over several meeting times?

Important research suggests that children can learn words much faster if we stick to the same topic for several sessions, because word learning occurs much faster — up to four times faster — when the verbal context is familiar.

Suppose for example, you are reading to a child about kings and queens. If you extend that topic for the next few sessions by reading more fiction and non-fiction stories about kings and queens and how they lived, and what they did, the chances are that your student will increase his general knowledge and vocabulary faster than if you read about lions and zebras the next time and planets the time after that. Clearly, a good way to induce fast vocabulary gain for young children for whom so much is new and unfamiliar is to stay on a subject long enough for the general topic to become familiar.